Tuesday 11 August 2020: Anne Blayney is the lead copy-editor behind the Sewcialists team. Make sure you have a read of their latest ‘About us’ post featuring the Copy-editing team.

Yes, Anne or Anniebeeknits, is more of a knitter than a sewist yet she volunteers her time for the Sewcialists.

In this podcast, Anne discussed what this team does. From planning and creating content, this team does their array of tasks in their own time. Yep. They’re another keen group of volunteers that make each blog post understandable, compelling and topics that resonate with sewcialist followers.

They come up with topics and ideas, and then they write, co-write, or coordinate all the amazing posts you see on offer here. They find guest authors, interview interesting people, gather images, and invite the community to challenges, theme months, and other fun stuff. They also run the Instagram account, which is a huge job all on its own. Think of them as the curators of the art gallery that is the Sewcialists community: They set the grand vision for what we showcase and amplify. They’re also the comms or media team, getting the word out about the exciting new exhibits, and the docents (museum/gallery speak for guides or interpreters) who show everyone around and answer questions.

Tuesday 18 August 2020: In part 2, Anne discusses the issues around masks and ppe as this is now an issue we’re facing in many Australian states. The initial blog post published in April was about what it’s like sewing masks and making PPE was definitely a moment in time when our Northern hemisphere sewists were making masks by the hundreds. The mask making requirements in Australia and New Zealand have been required of us as we’re being required to wear masks since July.

Anne discusses how sewists were feeling when they starting to sew masks and scrubs as they were dealing with protecting the community in their countries. You should read this post because the editorial team discussed their approach to making masks at that point in time.

Hopefully you can also contribute to the post where Donna is researching mask making. Why not help with her research by contributing to the research survey.

Another great post on masks was published in April – A Scientist’s thoughts on DIY masks. This is still an informative post for makers of masks. This post is not medical advice. Always defer to information from the health authorities, and make an informed decision that is right for you.