Stitching Together special edition Part One out now!

We have some very exciting news to share today….

The first part of the Stitching Together special edition of the Journal of Arts and Communities (Volume 10 Issues 1&2) is now out and available online! We, and the contributors, have been beavering away on this publication for a number of months, so it’s super exciting to see it come to fruition. It contains eight excellent case studies and an article by us (Emma & Amy) introducing the broader Stitching Together research project – all introduced by Stephanie Knight, the principal editor, who has supported us through the special edition project with kindness and wisdom. The cover image is taken from contributor, Rosa Tolnov Clausen’s weaving workshop, discussed in her article.

Here’s the line up to tempt you:

Stitching Together: Participatory textile making as an emerging methodological approach to research

EMMA SHERCLIFF AND AMY TWIGGER HOLROYD

‘Art is different’: Material practice, learning and co-making at The Social Studio

GRACE MCQUILTEN AND AMY SPIERS

Stitching a sensibility for sustainable clothing: Quiet activism, affect and community agency

FIONA HACKNEY, CLARE SAUNDERS, JOANIE WILLETT, KATIE HILL AND IRENE GRIFFIN

To be ‘skilled’ or not to be ‘skilled’? A case study exploring the interaction of two crafts in anthropological fieldwork in Madagascar

SARAH EMILY BROWN

Kōmako Quilters’ informal learning and the collective zone of proximal development: The ‘5×5 quilt’ project

LINDA CLAIRE WARNER, PIRITA SEITAMAA-HAKKARAINEN AND KAI HAKKARAINEN

‘Made with love, filled with hope’. Knitted Knockers and the materiality of care: Their impact on the women who make and receive them

JULIETTE MACDONALD AND ANDREA PEACH

Make/share: Textile making alone together in private and social media spaces

ALISON MAYNE

Having visits: Considerations on the researcher- as-host in participatory projects

ROSA TOLNOV CLAUSEN

Weaving and flying: Fusion, friction and flow in collaborative textile research

STEPHANIE BUNN

We’re immensely grateful to all the contributors, the reviewers, and the production team at Intellect for their enthusiasm, hard work and patience. We now have what Amy and I have been racking our brains for over the years: the start to a really good, critical resource supporting an increased awareness of the value of participatory textile making activities in research! I say a start, because there will be more – Part Two is in the pipeline and we hope it’ll be ready for publication in the Autumn later this year.

Well done and thank you to everyone!