Stitch and Bitch

Back when I had my studio and gallery on the wharf, I also held a stitch and bitch night once a week. It was a casual gathering where locals came for a cup of tea and a chat on a Tuesday evening.  They would bring knitting, sewing, sketching, collage, card making - anything and everything creative.  And I loved it!  I saw some great community spirit and forged new connections and watched friendships form.

And then I had to close the gallery because the space was no longer available (insert sad face here.)

One of the things I really missed was stitch and bitch night.

I was able to move my studio into our flat, but I couldn't really hold gatherings there.  The driveway was tricky and parking non-existent beyond one car.  The stairs leading up to it were steep and there really wasn't a good space for a group of chairs, so I just put it out of my mind.

Then we moved off the boat and into an apartment and I moved everything out of my flat studio back into the home.  And THEN we moved out of the apartment into this house we are in now.

Man.  That's a lot of moving crap round in just a few short years....

Anyway, to cut a long story just a bit shorter, I really wanted to find a way to hold stitch and bitch again, but I couldn't really have it in this house either.  I started thinking about alternative venues and I decided to approach my daughter's primary school.  It's a small school with a fairly cozy hall and it's not far from where I used to hold stitch and bitch.  The school likes being involved in the community, because the community in turn supports them, and so they said yes!

Stitch and bitch started up again on Tuesday nights about three months ago, and it couldn't be going better!  The hall is great, it has tea and coffee making facilities, a few tables that I can set up and enough space for people to spread out patterns or quilts on the floor.  There is plenty of parking, good heating and it's easy to find.  It's neat that quite a few of my old regulars are coming back and great that there are new faces joining in too.

Have you ever thought about starting up a group like this in your community?  If you have, I urge you to go and ahead and give it a go.  People are really keen to make connections with others and if it's a low key, no expectations gathering, you'll even net the shy ones.

I use Facebook and IRL notice boards to advertise and I put out a weekly reminder on Facebook.  Sometimes I have two people turn up and sometimes I have six or seven - I don't give myself any expectations on numbers and am quite prepared to sit by myself for a quiet evening of sewing, but it's never happened yet.  Last night we had a fun crafty 'destash' night where we brought along our excess craft supplies cluttering our cupboards and had a buy/sell/swap night!

I always come home with a 'feel-good' feeling.  I enjoy chatting with nice people, I like working on projects with other people around to give feedback/support but I also like knowing that I'm the one making this little community happen.  Maybe not very altruistic of me, but it's a good feeling nonetheless.

Stitch and Bitch

This is happening tonight.  Have you considered starting something like this in your own community?  It's worth it - friendships form, collaborations evolve, inspiration abounds, laughter erupts, stimulating and sometimes lively discussion happens.  It's one of the best things I've ever organised.

Stich and Bitch

One of the most worthwhile things that I feel I've done with the studio and gallery (have a look at my Facebook page here if you want to know more about Opua Arts) is to host a weekly stitch and bitch session.

I just got a tweet from a participant that said, "It's a very special thing you do there on a Tuesday night."  Which made me all warm and fuzzy inside.  Because that's exactly how I feel about it too.

Every Tuesday from 7pm till 9pm we gather in the upstairs space of my studio and gallery and sit and stitch and sketch and knit and embroider and sew and quilt and laugh and talk and pick each other's brains.  There is a regular bunch of women who attend and then there are less regulars and then there are the once-off visitors.  And I advertise it for any creative work, not just stitching.  It makes for wonderful, varied and interesting evenings.

A lot of the women I had never met prior to these sessions but we share a love of hand work and being creative.  That forms a common bond before we even start talking.  And then the socialising effects of tea and biscuits kick in...

There is a little community forming and connections being made and I take a secret pride that they are happening in part because of me.  Yay!  I wanted to give something back to the community, and whilst that outwardly doesn't seem to be a huge thing (no big free children's education programs or public art donations here) I feel that friendships and support networks are being formed and that is no small thing either.  It really warms my heart and makes me smile to see these women who didn't know each other a couple of months ago greet each other with broad smiles and sit down for a good old chat.

Our last Tuesday night was a funny one, with lots of jokes and laughs.  The one before that got a bit deep and meaningful.  Some have been quieter, some smaller, some bigger, some with visitors who could barely speak English, and some with just a couple of us so we could have real heart to heart conversations.

I'm also loving the inspiration I get.  It's like my brain creativity sparks up a couple of notches just by being in proximity to other creatives.  I love my quiet, isolated working times, but I think a group of creatives watching each other work fires creative synapsis is a way isolated working doesn’t.

So if you are local and reading this, come along and join in.  If you aren't so local, are you in some form of group like this, or have you tried forming a social creative group of your own?