Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter!   Check out our  merch here Leave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode. Join the Black Women Stitch PatreonAmazon StoreDubsado helps me organize the podcast. Try it for 20% off. Nikki BrooksBeaute’ J’adore is the love child of Nikki Brooks-Revis: who is a wife, a mom to an awesome toddler,  proud pet parent to Callie, Nelson, and Curious, sunglass lover, fashion admirer, foodie, DIY fanatic, closet Martha Stewart skincare enthusiast who also happens to be the style blogger for Mood Fabrics and a licensed pattern designer for McCall’s Patterns. Lisa WoolforkLisa 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. Insights from this episode:Nikki’s sewing storyHer transition from the corporate world to sewingThe beauty of trusting in yourselfHer journey of altering patterns and piecesHow she can turn complex ideas into simple tasksInsights into summer sewingCreating for all body types Quotes from the show:On her sewing journey: “I was like I wanna make some clothes, and I ended up getting some more fabric, and I just started sewing, and I was like I’m kinda good at it and started making patterns” —Nikki Brooks in “Stitch Please”“This is such a beautiful testimony to what it means to take a step of faith, to step and just see and trust yourself and the vision that you have to see yourself and your life differently” —Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”“It’s not about the time it takes, it’s about the time you give” —Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”“The reason we are sewing is because we wanna create something that will be unique to us” —Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”“When I think what I can make, I think about not just myself, because you do have to be true to yourself with these patterns, but I also think about how will other bodies look and feel in these patterns” —Nikki Brooks in “Stitch Please”“Take a chance, make the risk and go out there and actually do it. People plan so much that they plan themselves out of actually going in and jumping in and doing it. Stop all the planning and do it!” —Nikki Brooks in “Stitch Please” Stay Connected:Lisa WoolforkInstagram: Lisa WoolforkTwitter: Lisa Woolfork Nikki BrooksWebsite: Beaute' J'adore - The Art Of DIYLinkedIn: Nikki Brooks Instagram: Nikki BrooksFacebook: Nikki Brooks This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.