A year ago, I took a deep breath, and hit “publish” on a post announcing that the Sewcialists was coming back to life! The Sewcialists blog was first started in 2013 as a space for community theme months, but this time I also wanted to fill a gap in the sewing community for a progressive, diverse, inclusive community where many voices were heard.
I talked with a friend right after the relaunch, and I remember her asking, “You keep saying “we”! Who do you have helping you out?” I gulped, and told her “So far it’s just me, but I really hope some people will join me!”
Flash forward to today, and we have nearly 10 000 followers on Instagram, and the participation in our theme months nearly doubles every time! But what matters most to me is that we’ve featured over 100 different sewists in our posts this year, which means a lot of voices have been heard, valued, and celebrated!
What has blown me away more than anything is people’s excitement to write for us and become part of a bigger project. We have more volunteers to write for our theme months than we can handle, and I hope you agree that our authors come out with consistently high-quality and inspiring posts!
In the Who We Are series, we’ve had over 20 honest, vulnerable, challenging posts about ethnicity, age, size, gender, orientation, health, and so much more. Some of our authors have really gone out on a limb sharing things that they normal keep very private, and you as an audience have been supportive and good listeners every time! I can’t thank you enough.
And finally, none of this could become possible without the tireless work behind the scenes by the 80 volunteers in the Sewcialists Blog Team group on Facebook. EIGHTY!!! Can you believe it? I can’t. 80 people who support our mission. 80 people willing to help edit, brainstorm, and pitch in as needed. I’d never have imagined it a year ago.
THANK YOU, SEWCIALISTS! Thank you for reading, commenting, writing post, and doing the work to make this all happen. It’s a group effort, and I can’t wait to see where we go next!
I’d love to know: What posts or aspects of the Sewcialists have really resonated with you this year?
I love that this is a gathering place for all different types of sewists. It’s so easy to end up in an echo chamber of people who look like me/think like me/sew like me, but when I’m here I know I’ll always end up with something to think about.
Thank you for saying that! The “Echo chamber” effect was one of the conversations that prompted the relaunch, because as you say, it’s to easy to think that your corner of the sewing world is all there is!
I so enjoy reading different sewists’ stories. I like being part of a very diverse, international group all of whom love to talk sewing.
It’s nice to know we all have more in common than we have different!
I love the sharing on Sewcialist!
So often I sew alone into the night, thinking “all the other sewists have it so together”!! And I felt quite alone struggling to find my style, working to ditch RTW, wanting to stop buying so many patterns, and fabrics that aren’t what I need.
With everyone sharing here,the Sewcialist filled my negative thinking with empowering thinking! I’m not alone. Others are struggling with me. With sewing we have so much in common. And together with help from the Sewcialist we are figuring it all out. And I’m becoming a more productive sewist!!
Thank You!
That is so nice to hear! I”m really glad that our open conversations have helped you feel like you aren’t alone, and reinvigorated your sewing productivity!
Thank you (and the whole volunteer team, and the contributors) for your hard work – the diversity of voices is so welcome and interesting, and it is so good to learn from you all. I think there’s an aspect of the sewing community that can be a little heterogeneous, and projects like Who We Are (and SewQueer, and the Curvy Sewing Collective, and others I’m forgetting or am yet to discover) make it much easier to see oneself reflected in the community, and to see what we share and what we can learn from each other. I mean, anyone can start sewing, but it’s much easier to persist and grow and participate when you know there’s someone else out there too. <3
Yes! I was chatting with Shannon from Sew Queer the other day, and saying how Curvy Sewing Collective is the wise older sister (aka. Jane from Pride and Prejudice), I like to think we’re the sassy younger sister (Elizabeth), and Sew Queer is the odd sister who will grow into a badass spinster (Mary). Which begs the question: What site is going to come along and be our Kitty and Lydia? And who is going to take the baton for men’s sewing, and be our Mr. Darcy??
When I look at my local community, I get concerned that the art of sewing is going to disappear with ‘old’ people like me (those in our 50s+ who took home ec in school), but then I see all of the unique and wonderful sewcialists who post and it gives me great hope. Thank you to all who share, and those who volunteer to keep this site going.
I really appreciate that our readers are multigenerational! Lots of love for sewing at all ages!
I love the “who we are” posts. They include such a wide range of people. I always find them interesting and relatable.
I”m so glad! I was nervous when we first started the series, because it hadn’t been done before… but I’m so glad that the community was ready to run with it!
What an inspired idea this project was. Thanks to the team for all the work, and to all the wonderful, interesting people who shared their sewing lives. Such different sewists, yet how much we share in this lovely community.
Thank you! I totally agree that we have more that brings us together than divides us, and we can learn so much from listening to each other!
Thank you so much for giving the Sewcialists’ a reboot and to everyone that contributes. Every post is a delight and I really enjoy the theme months, looking at everyone else’s sewing and taking part. The series on “Who We Are” has been fantastic and really relatable. It is so nice to find something that resonates and inspires so very much. Xx
Thank you for being supportive right from the very start!!!