Within the online sewing community such as Sewover50, people become friends through their love of sewing. Sewing is our common interest and once you start chatting online, many people become friends for all sorts of reasons and in many countries. We’re hoping to publish more podcasts like this about online sewing friendships.

Rosie and Donna

Tuesday 28 March 2023: ‘Sewing is an act of emotional repair’ is a term Rosie Perl discusses towards the end of this podcast. This is a term quoted from Louise Bourgeois.

She’s also now learning to adjust patterns to suit her body shape with her good friend Donna.

You can hear the joys that sewing brings Rosie in this podcast.

Her husband is now hooked on restoring pre-loved vintage sewing machines too.

Lots of great stories from a wonderful textile artist and Sydney local.

Below is an image of the Elna sewing machine Rosie mentioned that her husband has found and restored.

This image is from http://needlebar.org/main/elna/

Helga and Nicole

Tuesday 22 March 2022: Helga and Nicole chat about bra sewing.

This was an unplanned podcast where we were discussing how to get started when you’re thinking about sewing your very own bra.

Tuesday 8 March 2022: Do you want to know what Helga and Nicole are working on next? Have a listen to part 2 of their friends podcast.

Thursday 3 March 2022: Helga of Salixsews and Nicole of Septemberfaden are sewing friends both online through SewOver50 and locally in Augsburg, Germany.

Their friendship started on Instagram and through SewOver50. They’ve both felt very welcome by SewOver50. Nicole was a guest editor for SewOver50 and it was Helga who reached out to her and they realised how close they live to each other.

The Mirridresssewalong has helped bring both Nicole and Helga closer to their online sewing friends Julie of Consistentlydifferentdesigns and Gabriele of Kissntuss.

Tuesday 8 March 2022: Helga and Nicole talk about their sewing plans and get togethers.

Gabriele and Julie

Thursday 20 January 2022: Julie and Gabriele discuss their plans for 2022 and beyond. They hold SewOver50 in high regard.

You’ll also hear the background of their twinning sewing projects.

Tuesday 18 January 2022: Gabriele and Julie are sewing friends from the SewOver50 community.

Gabriele reached out to Julie though a DM. She helped Julie become more comfortable with general Instagram functionality like stories and chatting.

In part 1, you’ll hear how their sewing friendship has grown and grown.

Seamripper and friends

Thursday 16 December 2021: Seam ripper and friends on Instagram, run by 2 friends Sabine and Murni are today’s sewing friends podcast for Sewover50.’

Seam ripper and friends is a collaborative Instagram account that was an idea of Sabina and her friend Murni supported her to start this very recent sewing account.

Seam ripper and friends has a team of volunteers that are experimenting with this account to engage a variety of people since they started this account this year.

Murni stated that Sewover50 rocks and Sabine is also in awe of the work that Sewover50 does to engage people from all communities on Instagram.

Their friendship and online team demonstrates that Sewover50 does intersect with all communities.

Dorota and Lizzie

Thursday 2 December 2021: Dorota @librarianka and Lizzie @solizziesews are local sewing friends that met via the SewOver50 community.

Their sewing interests brought them together and they share many more interests across many parts of their lives.

Dorota’s Instagram name means female librarian and her explanation is quite interesting. Dorota is a recent maker. Lizzie has been a maker most of her life with pottery as one of the media she has explored throughout her artistic life.

Lynne and Linda

Tuesday 23 November 2021: Lynne of @lyonsmadewithlove and Linda of @grannylindasews who are today’s sewing friend guests. We really should have included Marilyn of @mazzarinie in this podcast as well.

It all started with a dress! Lynne had taken part in an Instagram challenge called Swap, Share, Sew, the purpose of which was making new friends. She was partnered with another sewist and they both made a dress. Lynne wore her dress to the local mall, where she had coffee.

Later that day Lynne received a message on Instagram asking if she’d been in Costa that morning. Linda had recognised Lynne’s dress from an Instagram post. Lynne replied to Linda and they just ‘clicked’ and agreed to meet up for coffee. That was the start of their lovely friendship.

Then the pandemic hit and they continued their friendship from afar, via Instagram and WhatsApp. Lynne and Linda have been a great source of moral support to each other during lockdown. Linda said Lynne boosted her confidence for her sewing. Linda lacked belief in her own makes and said that Lynne’s encouragement and belief in her transformed the way she felt about herself. Lynne had some illnesses this year and Linda unfailingly supported Lynne throughout, cheering her along.

They’ve made many new Instagram friends and they recently had a meet-up of 16 at a local fabric shop. Lots of sewing chat, coffee and cake. 

As Lynne said ‘I can’t tell you how grateful I am for my friendship with Linda and for wearing that dress to a coffee date. We will continue to be friends, supporting and encouraging each other for many years to come.’

Sheila and Sue

Tuesday 26 October 2021: Sheila of Sheilasewsherclothes and Sue of Modelled_by_Madge are today’s sewing friend guests from the Sewover50 community.

Sewing brought these two sewing friends together but they have more than sewing that keeps them together.

Yes they have different fit issues but they work together to create clothes they love to wear. Both Sheila and Sue provide great suggestions if you’d like to find a sewing friend online.

Nancy and Julia

Tuesday 31 August 2021: Nancy Chen Bajraktari @iusedtobeacurtin is a sewist who lives on O’ahu for the last year and she enjoys print mixing and upcycling clothing. This feeds her obsession with vibrant prints and exploring all sewing possibilities. Julia Cost @juliaallissoncost is a painter and textile designer born, raised, and based on Maui.

Sewing brings people together. They stay together as friends once they start chatting to each other and in these times, we’re lucky we can become friends with global friends.