By Kate Bowen-Viner, PhD candidate and Brigstow Co-Stitch Researcher

When I was 15 years old, I was an avid stitcher and sewer. I even sewed a silk dress for my then two year old niece and hand embroidered the decorations (see picture below)! I’m not sure exactly why, but I stopped sewing/stitching regularly after that project. Recently though, through my role as a researcher on Brigstow’s Co-Stitch initiative, I’ve been rekindling an interest in stitching and what it does in communities.

What is the Co-stitch initiative?

The Co-Stitch Initiative is a co-produced research project bringing together academics from across the University of Bristol with civic partners, groups, individuals and the creative industries to explore what stitching does in communities.

As part of the initiative, facilitators are working with participants in different communities across the Bristol region and supporting them with stitching projects. Such stitching projects include making bags, badges and organisers with guidance from facilitators, as well as participants inventing and creating their own designs. Communities taking part in the project include refugee women from Hong Kong and Ukraine as well as Bangladeshi women.

In my role as a researcher, I have been attending stitching workshops alongside participants, as well as stitching and talking with them about their stitching practice. I have also been reading the existing literature about community stitching.

Find out more

If you are interested in what stitch-related objects can do in communities, and/or the co-stitch initiative more broadly, visit the Co-Stitch website