Hello and welcome to the Making Stitches 2024 Christmas Special! As always at this time of year, I'm taking a look back at some of the year's highlights for Making Stitches. Included in this year's extravaganza is Tansy Forster from

Thank you for joining me for the 80th episode of Making Stitches Podcast! This time I'm sharing a chat I had with Becky Davies-Downes from William and Tilda, who, after almost two decades working...

This time on Making Stitches, I'm doing something a little bit different. I want to speak to you about food poverty, especially in my home city of Manchester and how I need your help to try to making things a bit easier for those who are findin...

Hello and welcome to the latest episode of Making Stitches - back after a longer than anticipated break!This time, I'm sharing a bumper episode featuring lots of creative chats with some of the lovely people I met at this year's Yarndal...

My guest for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast has a background in law and human rights and a passion for crochet too. Dr Gemma McKenzie is a researcher in the Midwifery Department at King's College London specialising in maternity rights...

When my guest on today's episode was about to leave a career in London for a quieter pace of life on the Cornish coast, one of her first concerns was where she would be able to buy yarn from. Fast forward a few years and Jane Abraham not only h...

One of the unexpected things many people experience when they lose a loved one and have to sort through their posessions, can be unfinished craft projects. Maybe the person who has died was partway through making a baby blanket for a new family...

This time on Making Stitches Podcast, I'm thrilled to be sharing a chat I had with knitting & crochet designer, Emma Varnam.To date, Emma has written 13 books filled with inspiring designs for your home and to gift, from granny squa...

For some of us makers, there's the desire to take our creativity beyond something which is purely a hobby. Whether we opt to teach our craft to others, design patterns or sell finished items at craft fairs or online, there are many ways to pote...

Yesterday marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Along with the military commemorations, there was a very special one created in yarn, by hundreds of knitters & crocheters around the globe - The Longest Yarn....

Hello, I’m thrilled to be back with another series of episodes of Making Stitches Podcast. This time I’m doing something a bit different, instead of launching the new series with a new interview, I’ve taken a dive into the archives.Sinc...

Ten years ago, Heather Gibbs was looking for an outlet for her crochet creativity and set up her blog; Keep Calm and Crochet On UK. Little did she know that her blog would be going from strength to strength a whole decade later, but that she wo...

Hello and welcome to Making Stitches Podcast!My guest for this episode is the historian and writer, Barbara Burman, whose latest book is 'The Point of the Needle - Why Sewing Matters'. Barbara, a retired academic from the University of ...

Welcome to the first episode of Making Stitches in 2024! Sorry for the longer than anticipated break.  This is the first of the final three episodes in series seven.  This time, I’m sharing a chat I had late last year with ...

Hello there and welcome to the Making Stitches Podcast 2023 Christmas Special. Join me for a selection box of treats looking back at the past 12 months in my podcast world.You can hear from guests including Dr Mia Hobbs from the 'Why I ...

Jane Czaja has been trying to spread the love of crochet for decades, from teaching beginners groups back in the 1980s to running a crochet and chat group in her local library now! Jane has always been a maker, and since her retirement from com...

This time on Making Stitches Podcast, I want to share a great initiative which is happening in my home city of Manchester. Homelessness is a problem all year round in towns and cities across the world, not just here in the UK and it's a complex...

Hello and welcome to this latest episode of Making Stitches Podcast where I'm taking you out on the road with me to the second Great Northern Textile Show which happened a couple of weeks ago in Manchester.You'll hear from a selection o...

Back in July, Black Sheep Wools, the largest independent yarn shop in the UK celebrated its 40th birthday. Friends of Black Sheep Wools were invited to join in with a two-day-long birthday party at the Craft Barn in Culcheth, Warrington. I went...

When clinical psychologist, Dr Mia Hobbs, was studying at university, her mother suggested taking up knitting would be a great antidote for intensive study. Mia took her Mum's advice and started knitting a shawl which grew gradually as she work...

Hello and welcome back to Making Stitches Podcast, it's so good to be back with you. I had to take and extended break from podcasting due to a lot of 'stuff' going on, but I'm thrilled to be back with you now with the first episode of Series 7!...

Hello! Making Stitches is coming back very soon for a 7th series. Among my guests in the coming weeks will be food stylist & photographer turned sewing designer Jen Rich to talk about her new book aimed at beginners and established sewists ...

Way back in December 2022 I promised you this episode of Making Stitches with crochet designer Catherine from Catherine Crochets. Unfortunately, life rather got in the way of those plans, so now, six months later than originally promised is the...

It's that time again, as 2022 draws to a close, I'm taking you on a romp through this year's Making Stitches back catalogue with a few of my highlights.You can hear from Figen Murray, Amanda Bloom from Cosy Life Boxes, Rafael Alcaide fr...

In this, the first of two Christmas and New Year specials this year, I catch up with a few old friends of the podcast: Lisa & Lynda-Rose from The Crochet Sanctuary (my first ever guests on Making Stitches) and Christine Perry, otherwise kno...