Hallelujah, it’s 2021! COVID isn’t about to magically disappear, but at least we have vaccinations on the horizons. Hold firm my friends, we are going to make it through this together!
For the last few posts we’ve shared the Top 5 Sewing contributions from our whole team, focusing on personal experiences. For this post though, we’d like to set our goals for Sewcialists as a whole for the next year. Please hold us to these plans!
- Expand beyond blogging and Instagram posts and stories.
We have published blog posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the last three and a half years, and we firmly believe that blogging is the best way for us to share in-depth personal stories and discussions. However, we heard you loud and clear in our recent Instagram discussions that blogs aren’t always convenient to read, commenting can be difficult, and many people interact with us mainly on Instagram. This year we are going to experiment with how some of our content could make use of other platforms, like IGTV, IG lives, podcasts, and more! If anyone reading this has experience with video editing, livestreaming etc, we’d love any advice you have to offer.
2. Always Be Questioning.
As Gabby quoted in her recent post, “human are allergic to change.” She reminded us to always be questioning, and that goes for our community too. Are we pushing hard enough? Are we sticking to our core value of positivity? Are we organising our volunteer team in an effective way, and coming up with content that connects with our readers? Are we keeping ourselves sustainable, so that we can continue this for years without burning out? Who has not been invited to the table yet? How do we ask them to write voluntarily for us, if they have been systemically taken advantage of, or have no reason to trust us? We talk about these questions a lot behind the scenes, and I know we’ll come up with more questions than answers in this next year as well.
3. Celebrate the excellence of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) makers.
An integral part of the Black Lives Matter movement is making sure that BIPOC lives don’t just matter, but that they are celebrated. In the words of BLM, “By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.” As an elementary teacher, I think of this in terms of how I chose books for my classroom: Are the only minority characters in books where they are winning over oppression, or are there also books where the kickass main character just happens to be a minority? We always seek out diverse contributors, but this year we pledge to make a special focus on highlighting BIPOC creativity and joy.
4. Make sure our volunteer team feels appreciated and inspired!
A casual reader may not appreciate how much work goes into running a community like this, but trust me, none of it would be possible without the incredibly smart and hardworking team behind the scenes. There are the copy-editors who review every post, make sure every picture has alt-text and all language is inclusive. We have 5-8 temporary editors on board at any given time, helping out for 6-12 months. They come up with the ideas and direction, find authors for each post, and take turns on email, social media, and more. Then there are my partners in crime, the permanent team of Chloe and my dear sister Anne, who are on call 24/7 to solve problems, make decisions, and keep us on track. Finally, of course, all our amazing guest authors and readers! It’s our goal that everyone on the team have a voice and feel like their time is worthwhile. I foresee more snack swaps in our future!
5. Finally, our goal is to listen to you.
When the going got tough this year, we sometimes defaulted to coming up with our own ideas about what to do next. This coming year though, we’d like to make sure we are getting your ideas for theme months, mini challenges, new series and more! Look out for chances on the blog and via Instagram to share your ideas. We value your input!
There we have it – 5 goals for 2021! If you’d like to see our goals from last year, you can check out our Sewcialists Manifesto. I think we did alright, considering the unique challenges of 2020!
What are your goals for 2021? Large or small, we’d love to hear about them in the comments!
Please don’t give up blogging for entirely for Instagram. I couldn’t handle yet another social media account….
I totally agree with Suzanne. Please keep blogging.
I totally agree: I read the Blog, rarely look at Instagram, which is really becoming an extension of FaceBook…thank you for all your efforts.
Hi, although I have Instagram and find still pictures ok I really struggle with IGTV and the scrolling, brightly coloured ‘stories’ they are absolute hell for me a lot of the time, they move too quick! I have neurological episodes triggered by brightly coloured, complicated screens. I often read the blog then comment quickly on Instagram on my phone. I’ve been unwell in the months leading to now so unable to add to the conversation re the blog til today. I’m grateful your blog background is grey and I can cope with looking at it. I do use those blue light filer specs and phone apps but contrast/ movement is still an issue. I believe people with migraine and epilepsy can have similar issues. I appreciate your efforts regarding accessibility and consider being able to access the blog part of that. I feel a bit bad when I’m not up to commenting as I appreciate the work that goes into this site and the accompanying SM platforms.
thanks to Sewcialists I can now follow a range of sewers from different countries with different backgrounds, different sexes and sexualities, different ethnic make up with different reasons for sewing from me. I’ve found I have something aside from sewing in common with all of them, be it a love for a certain colour or style, a reason for loving certain garments- whatever!. They are so generous to share so others can learn.
My favourite themes this year were the world fabrics and sew queer. I love seeing what people make each month too and although I’ve not done a challenge yet they are very inspiring and educational especially while I’m finding making anything a real challenge due to health/ disability constraints.
thank you to all who contribute to the Sewcialists blog, permanent, temporary and guests.
Keep the blog!! I don’t have IG because time spent on social media means less time sewing. I have a hard enough time just with Facebook, much less adding IG to the mix. I also may not look at social media for a day or two if I’m in a sewing project so I would miss out on a lot if it was just IG.
Kick ass characters that just happen to be minorities? I recommend the work of Octavia Butler especially if you like sci-fi or near future speculative fiction. Her main characters are black women who are AMAZING people.
Thanks for blogging. Instagram is more visual and hit or miss for me in terms of in depth content.