I was a child when my great-gran taught me how to sew, crochet, embroider and knit. When I was off school, on Thursdays, she would sit me down and teach me to make clothes for my doll and decorations for its home. As any kid, I did my best emotional blackmail (crying, whinning and making excuses) to get out of it, but if you know anything about African mothers, you know that none of that behaviour is acceptable. Turns out these afternoons are some of my favourite memories with my Gramma. Fast forward to 2015 and my third month in hospital. Bored out of my mind, a mate brought me 3 yards of fabric a sewing kit and that month's Burda. Sewing while hospitalized makes you seem nuts. When I recovered enough, I decided to more seriously reconnect with needle work. I was not about to pour my money in a bunch of books at that point, so I turned to the Internet. I waited for the Internet most of my life. the concept enthused me. I knew the CERN had it and could hardly wait. It took us longer than I had hopped to get it to where it is now. the Internet, I always say, is for learning and sharing not porn & shopping. I decided to follow my own advice. Here are some of the youtube channels I binge watch to learn, relearn, refresh my memory and find inspiration. If you too want to use YT to start or continue your sewing journey here are some of my faves. And as they say on YouTube: "Like, share, subscribe and don't forget to ring the bell!"
PS: all visuals are screen grabs from youtube. If you disagree email me!
Daniela Tabois
Daniela is an OG on the 'Tube
Daniela learned to sew at home and got into refashioning her thrifted clothes to be fly within her parents budget [Haitian Times 2015] I watched every tutorial she has made to reacquaint myself with the process of sewing something from scratch. I also learned alot about draping, but I am not that skilled or brave yet. Her BAMF energy was life to me in hospital. Visit her Etsy store and her namesake website for beautiful and modern bridal designs!
Ms. Hong is very active on social media (photo from zoehong.com)
The Alaskan is my total sewing Auntie! Hahaha! She has a professional background in design and education. She is a warts and all, no BS kind of person and I come to her channel for theory, business knowledge and advice. She teaches illustration and takes her viewers on the design process before any sewing occurs. Fascinating stuff. Zoe is also from a sewing/fashion loving family. She is very respectful of her audience and her channel is basically a MOOC.