As our community grows, it is important to share who we are, and why we are here!
- We are all Sewcialists. If you read the blog or follow us on Instagram, you are a Sewcialist! The origin of the word comes from combining social media with sewing — we are people who love to connect about sewing online! You can also contribute to our blog as authors or take part in our theme months by tagging your theme makes on Instagram, but even if all you do is read and cheer on other sewists, you are a Sewcialist and we love you!
- We believe there is strength in recognising our diversity. We are united by our love of sewing, but there is power in recognising that my experience as a CIS, straight, white, petite plus Canadian woman is probably different in some way to yours! Our Who We Are series is a chance to openly discuss how our overlapping identities give us each different perspective. It’s about listening to each other, and expanding our viewpoint past our own experience.
- We value community. We host theme months four times a year which anyone is welcome to join. That means we carefully choose our theme months to be as open to interpretation as possible, so that everyone can take part in some way. For example, our past themes of “TNT Patterns“, “Stripes“, and “Me-Made May” are open regardless of gender, orientation, size, ethnicity, age, faith, health, income, or any other factor!
- We are volunteers. The Sewcialists was founded in 2013 by a diverse group of online friends — from the start, we had a range of ages, genders, nationalities, orientations, and backgrounds! Nowadays, the blog and Instagram account are run by over 80 volunteers in a Facebook group, a team of 5 volunteer editors, and myself (Gillian). We’ve had over 100 authors on the blog, who are sewists just like you. While we may eventually ask for help with running costs, like hosting fees, we firmly believe that this community is stronger as an authentic not-for-profit voice.
So, who are we? We are the Sewcialists, and we are a sewing blog for everyone!
I’d love to know: How long have you been a Sewcialist? How did you find us? And do you have any questions about our community?