The Black Women Stitch 2024 Wall Calendar is available for preorder NOW! Do not miss out on your chance to  and get your stitch together with a year of artistic inspiration!

In this episode of the Stitch Please podcast, Lisa welcomes Tiffany Turned, a talented sewist, to share her transformative journey into sewing. Initially skeptical, she discovered her passion through a 30-minute skirt tutorial. With a background in civil engineering, Tiffany approaches sewing with precision and relishes in its step-by-step nature, appreciating the nuances that make a garment special. She champions cost-effective sewing, laying the foundation for her blog and vibrant social media presence where she shares valuable insights and reviews.

Tiffany praises the sense of community in live sewing sessions, crediting the Black Sewing Network for fostering camaraderie. She discusses setting ambitious goals, emphasizing the importance of flexibility in the face of unforeseen circumstances. Tiffany's digital sketches in Adobe Photoshop serve as a visual guide for her projects, especially in intricate color-blocking. Recognizing the strengths of different platforms, Tiffany adapts her content creation process, emphasizing the visual appeal of sewing on Instagram. Her sewing journey is a testament to analytical thinking, creativity, and an enduring love for the craft, evident in her carefully crafted content and active engagement in live sessions.

This episode showcases how Tiffany's sewing journey is a tapestry woven with threads of analytical thinking, boundless creativity, adaptability, and an unwavering love for her craft. Her dedication to enriching the sewing community is palpable in her meticulously crafted content and enthusiastic participation in live sewing sessions.

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Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville, Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Tiffany Turner

Tiffany Turner is a passionate sewist who discovered her love for sewing in adulthood. Tiffany always admired the idea of creating her own garments to have the perfect fit and style. In 2014, she finally took the plunge, inspired by a tutorial from Mimi G. Over the past decade, sewing has become her unwavering hobby. Tiffany has a background in civil engineering and her analytical mindset is evident in her meticulous approach to sewing. She enjoys breaking down sewing projects step by step, much like her engineering work. Tiffany encourages others to embrace this creative outlet and is dedicated to sharing tips, tricks, and reviews reflecting her commitment to building a supportive sewing community. Embracing social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, Tiffany continues to inspire fellow sewists while maintaining her love for this fulfilling hobby.

Insights from this episode:

• How Tiffany, a seasoned influencer, leverages her engineering background for a meticulous and analytical approach to sewing, treating patterns as blueprints for her creations.
• Tiffany's journey started with a desire for custom-made clothing as an adult, overcoming initial challenges with support from her husband. Tiffany's engineering mindset seamlessly integrates into her projects, relying on templates and structured approaches for planning and organization.
• Employing tools like Adobe Photoshop as a strategy for strategic planning, especially for complex tasks like color-blocking, showcasing the importance of digital sketches.
• Flexibility is key in Tiffany's approach; she advocates for adapting patterns, emphasizing creativity and liberation in the sewing process.
• How strategically utilizing various platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and her blog, tailoring content to each one's strengths and target audience can help to further reach.
• Actively participating in sew-alongs with the Black Sewing Network, Tiffany values the sense of community and shared experience these events offer.
• Tiffany encourages listeners to prioritize enjoyment and avoid unnecessary stress, highlighting the importance of finding joy in the process of sewing.
• Sharing knowledge and empowering fellow sewists is a core value for Tiffany, aiming to provide valuable information in her content.
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Quotes from the show:

• “I think that's such a powerful claim in so many ways. The idea that you could look at clothes in a store and say I like this thing about it, but I don't like that thing about it. Instead of saying, let me see if I can buy another thing that looks like what I want, you said, let me see if I can make it.” - Lisa Woolfork, Stitch Please, Episode #208
• “That's how I think I sort of look at sewing patterns, right? Like you have a pattern and you have this 2D piece of tissue or paper or 2D flat fabric and then you turn it into this three-dimensional object. And so I think that transfers very similarly to me. Like when we look at someone's outfit and we say, oh my God, that's so cute and we immediately start like deconstructing it in our heads so we can put it back together for us later. I think my engineering brain is just very attuned to doing that.” - Tiffany Turner, Stitch Please, Episode #208
• “I feel like one of the contributions that I appreciate about your work, Tiffany is how you are. Like, it's like you're a big cheerleader for sewing and you're not, yeah, you're not just gonna say ra ra, I love sewing. You say all that, but then you also equip people for success. and I see that in your channel.” - Lisa Woolfork, Stitch Please, Episode #208
• “I really love the way you think about structure and the way you think about planning. I love all of that. I love templates. I love like, OK, these are the three steps I know I have to do every single time, that just makes me, it just gives me a sense of confidence, you know, like I might not be able to get to the exact outcome as I might envision it right now. But I do know if I follow these steps, I'm gonna, it'd be much closer to it.” - Lisa Woolfork, Stitch Please, Episode #208
• "A plan is a set of guidelines. A plan is a set of possibilities. A plan is a set of actionable options.” - Lisa Woolfork, Stitch Please, Episode #208
• "I tend to see sewing as a laboratory practice something that's meant to be freeing and in some ways, patterns can absolutely be that." - Lisa Woolfork, Stitch Please, Episode #208
• "You don't buy a pattern because you and your friends all want to look, exactly the same or exactly like the person on the envelope." - Lisa Woolfork, Stitch Please, Episode #208
• “It’s more of a guideline or a road map. But if I decide to take a detour, so be it.” - Tiffany Turner, Stitch Please, Episode #208
• “It can be very solitary because typically it's you and your machine in your space, whether that's a whole floor, a loft, or a corner at the dining room table… The Black sewing network makes it like a group activity all of a sudden.” - Tiffany Turner, Stitch Please, Episode #208
• “Most people will say that you regret the things that you didn't do, not the things that you did… I agree. I feel like if it's something out there that you want to try and you in any way shape or form have the means to do it, do it. If you want to sew, learn to sew.” - Tiffany Turner, Stitch Please, Episode #208

Resources Mentioned:

• Black Sewing Network
• Youtube: TipStitched
• Adobe Photoshop Program
• Microsoft Paint Program
• Youtube: Mimi G Style
• Simplicity: Mimi G

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Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Tiffany Turner

Blog: TipStitched

Instagram: TipStitched

Facebook: TipStitched

TikTok: TipStitched

Pinterest: TipStitched

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

This episode was produced and managed by the Fermata Audio Collective

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Lisa Woolfork 0:00

Carmen 0:52

Hello, this is Carmen Green, founder and curator of the Black Sewing Network experience. Black Sewing Network, also known as BSN, is a network that amplifies and celebrates Black voices in the sewing community 365 days a year. We host daily live sew alongs, sometimes multiple times a day, primarily in the TikTok space, but also across all social media platforms. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your schedule to tune into the ladies of BSN series on the Stitch Please podcast. Special thanks to Lisa of Black Women Stitch for always being so supportive of BSN, and for sharing this amazing platform with our incredible host. You can find our up to date sew along schedule at www.blacksewingnetwork.com and we would love to see you join us at our next sew along. Thank you again for all your support and enjoy the rest of this episode.

Lisa Woolfork 1:59

Hello Stitchers. Welcome to Stitch Please, the official podcast of Black Women Stitch. The sewing group where Black lives matter. I'm your host, Lisa Woolfork. I'm a fourth generation sewing enthusiast with more than 20 years of sewing experience. I am looking forward to today's conversation. So sit back, relax and get ready to get your stitch together.

Lisa Woolfork 2:25

Hey friends, hey! It is Lisa from Black Women Stitch and the Stitch Please podcast. Coming to you live, or I'll be recording, from Charlottesville, Virginia connecting to Atlanta, Georgia. As I say every week, this is a very special episode, because this episode is helping us to do two things at once. One, we're talking a little bit more about the Black Sewing Network and some of the wonderful folks that work with them. And two, you is to be introduced again, or in a new and different way, to one of the most quintessential sewing influencers. This is someone who has worked in the blogosphere. This is someone who is active on Instagram. This is someone who is starting to take over TikTok. She also has a YouTube channel, and something that I really appreciate that's close to my heart, she is a planner. And I love a planner! She lays out her sewing plans for the for the season. She has little tiny pictures and everything. She does pattern hauls. And she actually, check this out, sews is the pattern she buys. Like, what?

Tiffany Turner 3:35

--Sometimes, sometimes.--

Lisa Woolfork 3:37

What kind of nonsense is that? I mean, you buy them and you cut them? We have all the time in the world, I guess.

Lisa Woolfork 3:45

And she's also an engineer, which is another amazing thing. I know quite a few people who are sewists and quilters who are engineers. Latifah Saafir is an engineer. So to have Tiffany Turner, also known as TipStitched!, with us today is a great treat. Welcome, Tiffany! Welcome to the Stitch Please podcast.

Tiffany Turner 4:04

--Thank you!-- Thank you, thank you so much. You're so kind. Like, that made me sound way more impressive than I am. I appreciate!

Lisa Woolfork 4:11

What are you saying? You are impressive! And you just got to start practicing it more. So, I like to ask folks, like what is your sewing story? Was it something you started as a small child? Is it something that you did as an adult in need of a stress reliever. What is your sewing story?

Tiffany Turner 4:23

Lisa Woolfork 5:24

See, this is why you can't let kids borrow nothing. Thieves!

Tiffany Turner 5:28

She has another one.

Lisa Woolfork 5:29

Okay, so you stole your momma's sewing machine. And then what happened?

Tiffany Turner 5:33

I stole her sewing machine, and I made the skirt. And it turns out dreadful! Like, there's still a picture somewhere on my Instagram feed. I share it about once a year. It was trash. It was trash. It was (unclear) knit. It was trash.

Lisa Woolfork 5:46

--Oh, God!--

Tiffany Turner 5:46

And it looked like nothing like Mimi's skirt. And I was pissed! And my husband said, "why in the world would you think that the first time you touched a sewing machine, it will come out perfect?". And I was like "because I followed the instructions." Like, ain't that what you supposed to do? And he was like "stick with it." And I was like, I bet he regrets that now. But anyway, so yeah, so that was my story. And once I started, I was just very hooked. I always wanted a hobby, but I'm a Gemini, and I'm like really scatterbrained and I have lots of personalities and lots of interests. And sewing is literally the only thing I've ever stuck to. It's been about a decade now. And I'm still in love with it as I was when I started. So I'm just happy I finally found it. My only regret is not starting sooner.

Lisa Woolfork 6:32

I think that's such a powerful claim in so many ways. The idea that you could look at clothes in a store and say "I like this thing about it but I don't like that thing about it." And instead of saying let me see if I can buy another thing that looks like what I want. You said "let me see if I can make. Let me see if I can make it."

Tiffany Turner 6:55

I think that comes from, like I said, like my mother especially, she is a person when we would go shopping, with clothes, with shoes, with anything. If you saw a dress with the floral pattern, she would look through all the sizes that were her size. So she was a size 10. She would look at every size 10 in the store and be like "I like where this pattern placement is better on this 10 than I do that one."

Lisa Woolfork 7:19

--Wow...--

Tiffany Turner 7:19

And, so I started looking at that kind of stuff really early. Like okay, this shoe has all the blue, but none of the red and then this shoe- because I want mine to be the same. And I would like, switch a shoe out of one box into another box. And be like, okay, I like that set together better. So, I don't know. That's just how I always looked at things.

Lisa Woolfork 7:36

Tiffany Turner 8:05

---Oh, that's---

Lisa Woolfork 8:06

Please say more about how, like, the work that you do with the engineering might connect to how you sew.

Tiffany Turner 8:13

So they definitely, I do think, help each other. Growing up, I always thought of myself as a very analytical person. I was a person who loved math, who loved science. I'm very, what's that, left brained, I guess? I was always very analytical in that way. So I didn't really think I was creative. Because, I really did so well in that. It wasn't until I became an adult that I sort of realized that that can transfer over from one side to the other. And I was like, "oh, this really makes sense!" So for me, my background is civil engineering, which is basically just building, literally, anything. And so, I do plans and I do 2D work that becomes 3D projects; roadways, buildings, structures, bridges, those kinds of things. That's how I think I sort of look at sewing patterns, right?

Lisa Woolfork 9:01

--Yeah--

Tiffany Turner 9:01

Like you have a pattern and you have this 2D piece of tissue or paper or 2D flat fabric, and then you turn it into this 3 dimensional object. And so I think that transfers very similarly to me. Like, we all do. We look at someone's outfit, and we say "oh, my God, that's so cute!" And we immediately start, like, deconstructing it in our head so we can

Lisa Woolfork 9:20

--Yeah--

Tiffany Turner 9:20

--put it back together for us later. I think my engineering brain is just very attuned to doing that.

Lisa Woolfork 9:27

Yes, yes. Oh, I think that's such a great answer, because it does show how sewing is an art and it's a craft. But it also picks up some elements of engineering and design. Like, there's certain things you have to do when constructing a pair of pants to help them go over your leg. You know, like, that's something that comes from structural engineering; the way that the thing is meant to be put together.

Tiffany Turner 9:52

And the steps, like, you do this seam and then you do this seam. And sort of like you can't build a house without the foundation first, and then the frames, and then... So, I think I sort of approach it in the same way. Now, that is also has its limitations. I'm not a person who's gonna buy a dress form and start draping. That don't make no sense to me. That's not,

--Yeah--

there's no math in that. It's just like,

--Yeah--

naw, I can't do that.

Oh, that is so awesome! I used to have a dress form, and I had to get rid of it because every time I would come down to the sewing room, it would scare the shit out of me. Like, I always thought there was somebody in here who looked like me but didn't have a head. And it was unnerving, okay? And I

--That is scary--

It's unnerving and so I'm like, you know what? I'm just gonna fit it on the body I have, okay. I'm like, I can't have no extra bodies laying around. Clearly my nerves aren't built for that. But one of the things I do appreciate, and we see this when we look at your, at your wonderful YouTube channel, is the way that you blend, fashion, sewing, and DIY. I feel like one of the contributions that I appreciate about your work, Tiffany, is how you are like, you're a big cheerleader for sewing. Yeah, you're not just gonna say "rah, rah, I love sewing!" You say all that, but then you also equip people for success. And I see that in your channel. Can you talk a little bit about how you organized your work since the beginning since starting out with a blog to like, basically equip people to enjoy sewing too?

Yes, I initially, I mean, if anybody's been following me way back, they remember I used to go by "Frugal or Frugie Fashionista" because I was all about saving money with sewing. I've sort of progressed past that now. It's a problem. But, that was my thing in the beginning so I was very eager to show people that you could sew, learn to sew, and sew your own clothes, and it didn't have to be the super expensive hobby. Which it still doesn't have to be, it just sort of is fun when it is. So, I guess I always wanted to have a value add. And when I was looking for new patterns, I wanted to know, you know, what people thought about them, see the reviews, see them on other bodies. When I was a new sewist, I wanted all the tips and tricks. You know, it wasn't that I didn't want to do my own research and learn as I went, we didn't have the same social media, exactly back then,

--Right--

There's a lot of YouTube videos. And it was a lot of searching. Because there's different ways to do multiple things. So, I never was satisfied with just knowing one way. I was like, Well, how do I know if this is the best way if I don't see another way. So just as I learned, I wanted to share what I learned.

--Yeah--

with other people. And I do like things, despite the mess that my sewing room currently is, I do like things fairly structured. So in my mind, I was always thinking about, like, how I can do the (unclear). And like, even with my blog posts, there's a template and I follow the template every time, that way, no one's surprised and I don't forget to cover anything.

I really love the way you think about structure and the way you think about planning. I love all of that! I love templates. I love, like, okay, these are the three steps I know I have to do every single time. It just gives me a sense of like, confidence. You know, like, I might not be able to get to the exact outcome as I might envision it right now. But I do know if I follow these steps, I'm gonna be much closer to it.

--Exactly--

Yeah, that is really enjoyable. Now, the blog is something that you did that was visual. So you had images, you had text, you, you know, you told stories, you broke things down, you described your process really beautifully. Have you discovered any difference in shifting from a written and photographed medium to something like YouTube, for example, where you're doing face to face videos, you're you know, you're reviewing things, you're showing examples?

Um, you're definitely right. There are some similarities and some differences. So for me, I'm a very vocal person. I'm a very animated person. Most of the time I'm very vocal, like most people have to shut me up. So I do like the YouTube, and say like the TikTok, where you're doing most of your information from videos. My problem with that is is I'm a perfectionist. And I tend to want to rerecord things and get it just right.

--Oh, my--

And so it takes me a lot longer to prepare the videos, right? I'm working on progress not perfection. Working on it.

--That's right. That's right--

So, that's my biggest hindrance there, But like, talking naturally and not having a script and just, you know, sharing the information? I really enjoy that part. Whereas with a blog, honestly, I really hate taking blog photos. I really do.

Oh, really? It doesn't look like it! It's just, your pictures look very cheerful. You do not want like somebody who is, you know, resentful in front of the camera.

I do not like it. One, is I take my own photos. It's me and a tripod out on the street, on a lake, on the sidewalk in front of my house. Like, that's that's me. One of those is my neighbor's backyard. Like I was like a picture anywhere. I don't really mind that part. But like just setting it up and making sure that I go out at the right time of day and finding a good background to use and then like not using the same background every time because like it's sort of bored to death. It's just, I don't know, it's a lot of work to get like fully dressed just like if I'm getting fully dressed to go to something and I can take pictures while I'm there, that's fine.

--Yeah--

I'm gonna have to just get fully dressed to go take photos, and then come back home and eat dinner. Like, that's not thrilling to me. But, I want the pictures to look a certain way so of course I do it. And, you know, like there are a lot of people who don't show their face and show their garments on like, the dress form or something like that. I just, that doesn't really speak to me. So like I have to put it on and I don't have anybody else to put it on. Like, I don't have a model. So it just has to be me.

--Right--

And then, writing the blog post. One of the reasons why I do the template is I realized that I was spending a lot of time trying to come up with the correct verbiage and make sure that I caught, like, tips that I thought about while I was sewing the garment, or like, what did I change so people will know. So that's why I came up with the template. That way that I would not forget the things that I wanted to share each time. And so, they're they're just different. I'm not a writer. I don't really like writing. But, the blogging can be done from the comfort of my sofa in pjs. Whereas, like a video,

--Yes--

I can get dressed and get my ring light out and do all things. So, you know, I try to do both.

And I think you do both effectively. If you are a Patreon supporter, and seriously, why are you not totally joining Patreon? Really, a lot of fun, and you get to have videos of these great episodes. So if you are a Patreon supporter, you could see this amazing image right now of Tiffany in two different dresses. Both of them look kind of summerish to me, but they are both lovely. So, can you walk us through the two looks we have right here?

So the two looks here, I forget the pattern number for the first one. But that is Mimi's pattern. I think it's, um, I'm not gonna say. It's the Simplicity pattern is one of Mimi's patterns. And it was really cute on her. I had it for a couple of seasons and did not sew it right away. I like mixing prints.

--Yes--

It's really fun. And this is actually the same print but on two different scales.

--Oh, yes!--

And I just thought, it was a cute combo so I went with that. And then the one on the right is actually a jumpsuit. It's McCalls 7577 or 7757. It's a lot of sevens and fives. And that floral fabric is from Melanated Fabrics, Mimi's store here in Atlanta.

--Yeah--

And I've made that pattern before. And, as I like to say, I outgrew it.

--Ah! I see. Uh huh---

So, we had to make it again. So yeah, this is my second version of that. And, it's just a really cute jumpsuit that I feel like I always dress up or dress down.

Exactly! I love it! I love the fullness. I love the drama, And, are those pockets?

Yes.

I mean, I love that.

I love anything with a pocket. If I can add a pocket. If there's not a pocket and I can add a pocket, I add it.

I think you're right, because I think that that would be just so terribly sad to have pants that, like, voluminous and no pocket. So I'm glad that that pattern has that.

Black Women Stitch is happy to celebrate the 200th episode of the Stitch Please podcast with AccuQuilt. It's our birthday, but thanks to AccuQuilt, we're giving gifts. All September, we count it down to 200 episodes in October. Every week, we gave away one Accuquilt Go! Me Fabric Starter Set, and culminated with the grand prize giveaway of the Go! Big Electric Fabric Cutter Starter Set. If you are new to AccuQuilt and are thinking about investing in their system, the Ready. Set. Go! bundle is your best value. Ready. Set. Go! provides everything you needed to get started; an AccuQuilt Go! cutter, the eight inch cube with eight essential dies to create 72 blocks, a die to easily cut multiple strips, squares, and diamonds. You also get a pattern book. And the best part is, at any time, you can upgrade your Go! cutter to the fantastic Go! Big, which is what I have. Where the AccuQuilt magic can happen at the touch of a button. June Tailor, a well known name in the notions game, is now part of AccuQuilt. Links to AcccuQuilt's wonderful products can be found in the show notes.

I want to turn a little bit to talk about the planning that you do. And what we're looking at now, y'all, is her end of summer reveal. She makes a plan. And then she follows her plan. And then she documents how much of her plan that she did. I mean, what's not to love? I say that because I'm looking at the caption. This is a screenshot I took of an Instagram post and it says "I didn't make as much as I planned but I did..." And I'm like, thinking, "what are you talking about?" Because all of these are amazing. Especially, this swimsuit right here. When I talk about how you out there killing them. Um, in that in that middle left photo, and again, if you had the Patreon, you can see what I'm talking about. because wowee! So tell us about this image reflects the end of your summer plan. How did how did it go? What the rest of the rest of the caption say?

So, this was, I think, "I didn't make as much as I planned, but I did make a few good looks" or something like that. And yes, that was not everything that I had planned. I used to always do exactly what you said, the here are my plans. I always say I reserve the right to change my mind because I'm an artist, and I'm sensitive about my itch, so it could always change. But, I usually put out a plan for the season, and then I'll do, I'll make hopefully most of it. And then I usually would do a recap at the end of the quarter. And then I do another one at the end of the year, typically. But um, yeah, so the problem is, is that I do make a plan, so thank you for like, giving me my kudos for that. I do try to make a plan. My hard part is sticking to the plan. So that bathing suit was not on the plan. That ended up coming up because Simplicity and McCall's had their Barbie pink challenge.

--Oh--

So, the only pink fabric, because I'm not a pink person, the only pink fabric I had was that swimsuit fabric. And I was like, well, swimsuit it is.

I love it! I can't believe that that swimsuit was an accident. Or that swimsuit was serendipitous.

Yeah, it was totally like, oh. I was like "what can I possibly make out of like this small remnant of pink?" I think I bought it for my daughter's. I don't know why I bought it. But I was like, okay. So I had to make that work. And then of course, I needed something to wear to the Renaissance show, which I know you also attended. So I had to have something to wear that. And I think that was before she said definitely wear silver. But either way, I was like, I'm gonna wear silver. And that was like another thing that I sewed, maybe two days, or the day before the show. So, some of them, and then the skirt set, that wasn't planned either, now that I think about it. That came about because I found that remnant fabric at Walmart. I got like, four yards of fabric for $10 for some, I don't know. And I was like, "oh, I can make this a set. Watch me." So that's where that came from. I was a little bit off the summer. I just, I don't know. But I had fun making what I made.

I am just sitting here. Sitting on my hands, very glad that I can't bop you on the forehead for talking down about yourself through the computer. Because there is nothing about this grid that says I didn't do enough. Or I didn't do what I thought I was gonna do or I didn't do what I planned. Because

--I just set really high, unrealistic goals. That's the problem.

That's probably it.

Like I could probably not sew everything on that fall vision board, if I made something every other day. Because I'm going to add more stuff to it. That's that's the problem.

Yeah.

If I would just stick to what's on the board, that would that would be one thing. But I'm always going to add a few extra things because a challenge comes up, an event comes up, a new pattern drops that I fall in love with and it's gonna have to get inserted in there somewhere.

And I think that that's one of the great things about a plan. Right? A plan is a set of guidelines. A plan is a set of possibilities. A plan is a set of actionable options. A plan is not a contract.

Exactly, exactly.

It is not that. It's not something that you have to follow to the letter of the law. You are the law. You're the one that wrote it.

And I think that's why a lot of sewists have a problem. Cause everyone's always like "oh my God! I can't believe you plan all that out." But I do think that's part of the thing with sewists is typically, we're creative people. We just like to be led by the touch and the feel and the colors and the whatever, right?

Yes!

But just because you make a plan exactly, you do not have to stick to the plan. The plan can be changed.

Of course. And this is one of the things about sewing that I wish more people would practice. I tend to see sewing as a liberatory practice, something that's meant to be freeing. And in some ways patterns can be that. Patterns can absolutely be that but they can also be incredibly restrictive. You know, whether because they're not size inclusive enough, which I find a big problem, or because they want you to make it look exactly as it does on the envelope. But that doesn't seem to be like the goal of buying a pattern. You don't buy a pattern because you and your friends all want to look--

--exactly the same--

Exactly the same. Or exactly like the person on the envelope. Like, these are all meant to be suggestions. You know, that's why they call them fabric suggestion.

I totally agree.

You know, you have to understand the principles right? Like okay, well this fabric, this is a swimsuit. They're calling for stretch fabric at 70% stretch. If I make mine out of denim, it'll be the world's worst swimsuit. You know, that makes sense. But for everything else, I just feel like when I look at this grid, and y'all you get to see how she puts these things together, the way she draws on and has these colorful illustrations that look these gorgeous, perfect mock up of what she's gonna make. And I can, I can see you in these looks, I can see like, oh, I can't wait to see her in that. In this one in the lower right corner that has the big cutaway. And I always wondered how that skirt would with work with a bra, without a bra. I can't wait till Tiff makes it so I can see.

You'll find out.

You know, like epic. That is ridiculously fun. And also, I think by making a plan, it's like you're offering a promise to yourself.

Yes.

And you're not breaking your promise by changing your plan. You're keeping your promise by making anything.

And that's probably how I look at it, is like, I'll lay all this out. And, I usually backtrack when it comes to jeans. Like I always put a pair of jeans. And every fall and winter, I put a pair of jeans, I ain't made a pair of jeans yet. So, one of these days, hopefully this season, I'm actually going to make, maybe not both, but at least one of these pairs of jeans. like let's keep up the---

--Good--

But yeah, I put it up there as sort of like, you know, like an ambition. Like, you're setting the goal for yourself. And then I don't beat myself up if I don't get to it because life happens. Like let's be honest. Things happen. You, your husband, your kids, your family, whatever. Work happens, things happen where you know, maybe I mean like poor you and the ankle. Like, you don't know what may happen.

You don't know.

So you have to be flexible. If that if something pops up. One of the dresses on this board, the plaid dress? I had that fabric to make a cardigan. And as soon as I saw this pattern drop, I said "nope, switch it!"

Oh, yes!

So as long as you haven't cut it, you can still make these changes. And so that's sort of how I look at it. Like you said, it's more of a guideline or a roadmap. But if I decide to take a detour, so be it.

I love it. Now tell me a little bit about the program that you use to create this plan that we're looking at. Y'all, again, Patreon supporters get to see this and y'all can be a Patreon supporter so you can see it. But it is the cutest like, the cutest little doll clothes.

I love that. I love doll clothes. I never thought about it like that. That's cute.

But the doll is you. And I'm like, that's something like "ooh, I can't wait!" I'm like these little tabs on the shoulders so I can like fold them over and put them on your picture.

You know what? Now you're giving me new ideas. You give me new ideas. Okay..

I think I'm a Idea Factory. I can't help it.

So going back to your earlier question about the engineering and how that ties into my hobby of sewing, this is one of the many ways that it does. This is Adobe. Now, you could probably use Illustrator, but I'm not as familiar with Illustrator. So I actually do these in Adobe Photoshop.

Okay.

And you can do something similar in paint, because I do understand that Adobe, you know, comes at a cost. You can't really do the patterns, but you can definitely do like the solids, colorblocking, stuff like that. So yeah, so I have a YouTube video that actually walks you out through how to do this. Ccause I used to get questions a lot, so I did a video because I wanted everybody to be able to do it too. And I do this because I can't draw. I'm not a sketcher. I can maybe imagine it in my head and sort of know how I want it to turn out. But I don't know how to translate that to other people to see with my hand. Which sucks because my dad is an artist. Really pisses me off that I didn't get that talent.

You got a lot of other ones though. So, no complaints.

I can't be greedy. You know what I mean? So I decided, I decided that, oh, I can do this thing that I do at work but I can use it for this. Yep, let's do it. So that's where this came from. Because usually, like I said, I can sort of visualize it in my head. But you know, sometimes I love the color block. And there's nothing color blocked really on this board. But I love the color block. And sometimes in your mind you're playing with the placement of like, do I want the darker color here or the lighter color here? Or do I want these two the same color or different or you know, whatever. And what I would do is I would print out the line drawings from the website of whatever pattern I was trying to use. And I would like color it in with a colored pencil. And then girl, imma put that in the folder. It's gonna be in a drawer. I'm not gonna do with it.

I don't know where it is. I had it . It was just here a minute ago.

It was just on the cork board but I don't know where it is. So, that's when I moved to doing it digitally once like sort of do it faster. And two, because I can save the file. I'm not gonna lose the file. So, that's that's sort of why I ended up doing it that way. But if you have access to Adobe, you can certainly do it. Watch my YouTube video, I walk you through it. And if you don't have access to Adobe, you can definitely do it in Microsoft Paint, which is free. It comes on I think all Windows machines. I'm sure there's something you can do it in an Apple. Sorry, Apple users. This is not like drawing. Anyone can do this. And I'll just take the line drawings and then if I have a picture of the fabric, or if the fabric is available, like if I bought it online, then I just take a screenshot or save the image of the fabric and then you just blend them together.

I really love it. And what we'll do is, I'll make sure that the link to the video of walking people through drawing the line drawings will be included in the show notes for this episode. So, y'all listening to this episode, you can go to the notes and it'll have a direct link to Tiffany's video. So you can see how you can adapt these techniques for yourself.

Now, it's hard to believe that you've been in this game for almost 10 years. And Black Sewing Network has just celebrated its one year anniversary. And so I seen you doing sew alongs with them. It's just so wonderful that your, you know, your influencing career has extended of course that long, but also that it's something that gets, its renewable. It's always something new, something different. Can you talk about what it's like to be on the Blacks Sewing Network and doing the sew alongs with them after having such a long, decade long, influenceing career with other forms of media?

So it has been a blast. If you know about Black Sewing Network, you know about Carmen. And Carmen is going to annoy you until you do what she wants you to do. Like there's this, no you can't. It's not even worth fighting. If she asks you just go ahead and do it. So I think that she had started it. Like, I'm sort of new. Like I'm not an OG BSN. Like watch her but not like participate. I was not hesitant about TikTok, but I was like, I just can't figure TikTok out. And she was constantly like everybody, y'all need to go live. You need to go live. You got no followers, you need to go live. And I was like "well, I have the followers." She's like "why you ain't going live then?" I was like "what am I supposed to talk about? What am I supposed to do?"

Right?

And she was like "just sew something." And I was like "don't nobody want to see that!" She was like "they do!" And I was like" Carmen. "So it did take a little persistence. But once she talked me into it, it was so fun. Because one of the things that you don't really see on my YouTube channel is sew alongs. You see tips and tricks. You see how tos. You see other things but you not see sew alongs as because I did two. And them things took me, like, all day. I think the problem is, is that I'm not patient. And I'm a quick sewer. So, setting up the camera, getting the right angle, talking through step by step makes it a project take three times as long for me.

It's very true. That's true.

And I was like, I'm not interested in doing this. Like I'm not gonna do anything. But when you sew live with Black Sewing Network ,one, you're not sewing alone. Because I love sewing. It is an amazing hobby.

Yes.

It's a hobby that's also productive, because like you walk away with a tangible thing.

That's true.

So I very much love it. But it is, it can be very solitary.

Yes. Yeah.

Because typically it's you, your machine--

--That's right--

--in your space. Whether that's a whole floor, a loft, or a corner at the dining room table. Like it's still just you and maybe people walking by.

Exactly.

And so, the Black Sewing Network makes it like a group activity all of a sudden.

It's true.

And I'm like "oh, this is cool!" Like we sewing. I don't even care if you jump on my live if you ain't sewing what I'm sewing. But I'm saying like, just the fact that we're both sitting there sewing is like "yeah, let's go."

Exactly.

Yeah, that's probably my favorite part of TikTok is the live component. Because you can go live on Instagram but they make it more difficult. So, I think Carmen had just like, a genius multimillion dollar idea when she was like" oh, yeah. We just gonna do a whole thing. Just sewing. Sewing all the time." And I was like, this is genius. And so now that I did that first one where I was like a guest, I think she was hosting. It was a Sunday service, and I was the guest. And I was like "oh. Oh, I like this." When she was trying to get people to join in to do the power hour, I was like "I'll do it.

--I'll do one--

--"I can do one." And then she was like "okay, we're doing all the Nomi patterns. We're doing those for fall. Who wants to do them?" I was like "I can do one of them, too." So like, she's like "oh, you got you caught the bug now?" Yes, Carmen.

Exactly. Now, you gotta admit she was right. That's what just gotta admit it,

I guess. But yes.

I really do love that because it's a way to keep the pipeline of sewing, flowing. There's, I think something that I have been learning is that not everybody who follows you is on one place. I'm on Instagram a lot because that's what I'm used to. Black Women Stitch started on IG. Sometimes a little bit of Facebook stuff to promote the show. And I post on all the platforms to promote the episodes. But in terms of being there, I'm typically on Instagram. But TikTok is huge. And it has a much better search engine feature. It's one of the top rated search engines, even outstripping Google. People will go to TikTok to look for something.

Yes.

To learn how to do something. So, to be there. It's kind of worth doing, in terms of discoverability. And I just love how Carmen made it easy for me to get started. Because I wanted to do it, but they have that 1000 follower threshold, which is not that easy to get if you don't have like, built in connections ahead of time. So I was just really fortunate. I had some followers on a pretty empty account. And I think Carmen looked at this, she was like "you need to post more." And I was like "okay." And she was like "okay, we're gonna help you." And so it worked out great. But I think the hardest part, and I think we might have mentioned this earlier, is like, the demands of social media. Do you have a good strategy or practice that you found for yourself about how do you appear? How can you promote the project of Tip Stitch in all these different social platforms?

So I'm going to say that I am continuing to work on that.

Okay.

Because my mother used to say, as a child, like, everything ain't gonna go well. Either your house is in order, and your job is a mess. Or your job is going great but your kids acting up. Or your kids and your husband are great. And then something, like somethings falling apart all the time, right? And so just because there's so many different modes, and all the modes are different--

--Yeah--

--which is what I do like about, like, TikTok live, is like, no one is expecting perfection. It's not the same as recording sew alongs because you're doing it live with me. If I have to unpick it, you're gonna watch me unpick it.

Exactly.

And then, I think that's also relatable because then people realize that everything doesn't come out daisies every single project. Like sometimes you gotta to undo some things, right? So I feel like my initial approach was just to share whatever I was sharing on Instagram on all the platforms.

Okay.

That definitely didn't work because each platform has a different target market, I guess. Right?

Yeah.

So on Facebook, you can do a little bit of everything. You can do the videos.Yyou can do still images. You can do live. You can get texts if you want. Twitter never worked for me, because sewing is a visual media. So I was like, why would I put that on Twitter? Like, just saying for pictures. Which is why Instagram always made the most sense for me, because it was like it's photos and a little bit of blurb. But it's mainly about the photo and --

--Exactly--

--that way, it's just like, "ooh, look at pretty pictures." Just keep swiping, keep swiping. And then I guess I should have known we were in trouble when Instagram and YouTube started adding the reels and the shorts. And I was like "oh, so TikTok ain't going no where. I guess I gotta go over here and join. Okay."

Yes. Or the short form video, everybody is going to be doing it now.

Right? So I was like, crap, this is not going anywhere. Okay, now I got to figure out how to do this too, because I told you, I didn't love doing the pictures. But I worked that out. So now I gotta figure out how to do the video too. Man, y'all asking for a live. And then I got to do a vertical video for TikTok. But I also got to do a horizontal video for YouTube. Like, what do y'all want from me?

I need an assistant.

So I'm learning now, out of sort of, what I'm working on. I have not 100% implemented it yet. But what I'm working on is figuring out a way to, as I approach each new project, because as Carmen loves to say "you're doing the work anyway." Right? You're sewing it. You're cutting it. You're putting it together. You're wearing it. You're doing all, you might as well like, document it. So what I'm trying to do with as I'm starting a new project is identify what I want to document and then market that to the medium that makes the most sense.

Yes. Yes, that's wise.

Pattern reviews will probably mostly still stay on my blog.

Yes.

Because I initially started my blog really as a sewing diary to myself. So I'm gonna want to remember the changes in the size and that like, so the review is going to live there. The still photos are of the finished garments that are more curated will stay on Instagram. And then whatever gets shared on Instagram probably will get shared on Facebook because they just, they work so well together. And then TikTok will be more behind the scenes and the work that goes into it. So I feel like that's not a magical solution. But I think that you just have to figure out what you want to highlight, and then put that up amongst the platforms.

I think it's a great strategy, because it's kind of like you're using everything that you're doing. And you're not trying to put everything in all the buckets. You know, you're not trying to do behind the scenes, plus reviews, plus sew alongs, plus educational promos. You're not trying to do everything in all the places.

Because you'll just burn out. You'll burn out trying to recreate it for each thing. So I can't do that. I tried and it's tiring.

Yeah. And it's meant to be fun at the end of the day.

Right.

Oh gosh, this has been so wonderful. Tiffany, I'm so grateful to you. I'm going to ask you the question I ask everybody at the end of the Stitch Please podcast. The slogan of the Stitch Please podcast is that we will help you get your stitch together. What advice do you have for our listeners to help us get our stitch together?

Oh, man see, this goes back to me being talkative. I have so many. My main one though, is basically what Nike says, "just do it." Most people will say that you regret things that you didn't do not things that you did. And I agree, I feel like if it's something out there that you want to try and you in any way, shape or form have the means to do it, do it. If you want to sew, learn to sew. If you want to make shoes, learn to make shoes. If you are afraid to make a certain brand of pattern because everyone says those are harder, screw them. It might have been harder for them, that ain't got nothing to do with you. Make that pattern. If you want to challenge yourself with a bathing suit, make a bathing suit. If you want to challenge yourself with a wool coat, make a wool coat. Like whatever it is, do it. Sittin' around worrying about how it's gonna turn out ain't gonna get you no coat. So just go ahead and cut the fabric and just try. If it fails, it fails. But at least you tried.

On that note, we are so thankful to Tiffany Turner. Thank you so much for being with us today. We will make sure we have links to your socials in the show notes, especially that video to start with how to make that wonderful plan. That's really great. Thanks.

Thank you.

You've been listening to Stitch Please, the official podcast of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. We appreciate you joining us this week and every week for stories that center black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. We invite you to join the Black Women Stitch Patreon community, with giving levels beginning at $5 a month. Your contributions help us bring the Stitch Please podcast to you every week. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your support. And come back next week and we'll help you get your stitch together.