Not everyone does social media, but as someone who does, I can see its pitfalls:
it’s so quick that sometimes it’s easier to post something on social media than to give it more time and space in a blog post,
not everyone uses social media and I have no real control over who sees what I post as they’re now all controlled by algorithms (with the exception of Twitter)
and its advantages:
because I post regularly on social media it acts as a kind of diary.
So, for a while now I’ve been trying to think of a way to bring the 2 (blogging and social media) together and this is what I’ve come up with. A blog post at the end of each month to collect the highlights of my news and news I’ve found elsewhere and shared on my social media channels.
So, here goes……
- I started doing the #100daysproject, where you set yourself a creative theme or challenge and post a photo a day of your progress. I set myself a #100daysofpattern challenge to continue the work I started on my screen printing course at the end of last year and have included some of my posts here: top centre is work I started at a collage workshop led by local Brighton artist Esther Cox, centre left is a one of my designs printed on a length of cotton poplin from Spoonflower that I’ll be sewing up very soon and centre bottom is one version of a pin print I started working on.
- Some gorgeous makes from my patterns old and new popped up on Instagram this month, my highlights were these 2 completely different Fulwood dresses (centre right) – I just love how the same pattern can produce such different results! Bottom left is Naz’s 2nd make from a new pattern I’ve been working on for a while (perks of being a MIY Workshop student), she’s a big fan of it already.
- We shot the last batch of samples for “A Beginner’s Guide to Sewing With Knitted Fabrics” this month (centre image and top left). I got the neon pink fabric paint out for that top left sample and I was soooo happy with the results, I can’t wait for you to see the finished thing.
- Finally I had a relaxing long weekend with the dogs back home in Sheffield for my dad’s birthday (top right and bottom right), highlights included visiting one of my favourite places – Yorkshire Sculpture Park. If you’re ever up that way (just off the M1 between Sheffield and Leeds), go visit; if you like art and the outdoors you’ll love it.
I have two Facebook pages; a MIY Collection one and a MIY Workshop one. Occasionally I share interesting things I’ve seen elsewhere on Facebook, my blog posts and this month links to my Sewing Dictionary and Fabric Dictionary. Have you seen them? They’re right here on my blog:
SEWING DICTIONARY FABRIC DICTIONARY
Fabulous Granville #wrapskirt from #beginnersguidetoskirtshttps://t.co/XlQfdJN7kw
— Wendy Ward (@thatwendyward) April 3, 2017
On Twitter I shared this review of the the Granville Wrap skirt from ” A Beginner’s Guide to Making Skirts”,
Great zip tip. https://t.co/JIjbXjVmFO
— Wendy Ward (@thatwendyward) May 1, 2017
this great tip for zip ends from C-L Hardie (sewing producer on the Sewing Bee TV shows)
At last!! I’ve long loathed these mysogonistic “titles”.
Please Stop Trying To “Empower” Women With Cutesy Titles https://t.co/3eGDf18I5G— Wendy Ward (@thatwendyward) April 27, 2017
and a polarising piece about feminism and labels which really is a thought-provoking read if you’re a woman, a feminist, running a business, or all of the above…..
I have to confess I mainly use Pinterest for my own ideas / inspiration (I’m thinking I really should up my Pinterest game……..one day, soon…) and have most recently been collecting images that have been inspiring my print / pattern experiments…..
I’ve recently discovered John Piper’s beautiful collages thanks to Esther Cox
and have become a little obsessed with Ellsworth Kelly’s beautifully simple line drawings of plants and flowers.
I did also find and pin some great sewing resources recently,
such as this great illustration of how to sew a cuff placket.
Last but definitely not least, each April sees growing awareness for Fashion Revolution Day and this year I had a timely postal delivery of this Kickstarter project by Safia Minney (founder of ethical clothing company People Tree) that I backed way back last year.
Anyone who buys clothing from high street brands should read this book, but I know that most sewists in particular will find it useful (if not shocking). You can get a copy here.
So, that’s it, my April on Social Media. I’d love to know what you think?
