Are you up for the CHALLENGE? This week on the podcast, I speak with @sewlegalchick and @pinkmimosabyjacinta about their respective sewing challenges. Nesha Wright with the support of Sheree @shereesalchemy led the IG sewing community in the 60 Day No-Spend Challenge. Jacinta Green is guiding folx through the Whole 30 Fabric Challenge. Both projects encourage sewists to think about conscious and conscientious consumption. Note: This episode contains a brief mention of diet culture.
The Stitch Please podcast will celebrate its 100th episode on 9/15/2021. As part of that effort, we are looking to add 100 additional Black Women Stitch Patreon supporters by the 100th Stitch Please podcast episode publication date. These funds will be used to build financial stability for the podcast while alleviating the pressure of a solo operation. Will you join us? For as little as $2 a month, you can help Lisa hire consistent editorial and production support. We are 86 Patrons away from the 100 mark! Thank you to our 14 newest Patreon supporters: Theresa, Ayesha, Lisa, Suzanne, Stacie, Aniko, Angel, Carolyn, Kate, Nikki, Preston, CiCi, Julia, and Lee. Thank you SEW much!
Learn more about Jacinta Green, Pink Mimosa by Jacinta and the Whole 30 Fabric Challenge
Learn more about Nesha Wright on IG , Sheree's Alchemy and the 60 Day No Buy Challenge
Sewing Challenges 30 and 60
Lisa: Hello stitchers. Welcome to Stitch Please, the official podcast of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. I'm your host, Lisa Woolfork. I'm a fourth generation sewing enthusiast with more than 20 years of sewing experience. I am looking forward to today's conversation. So sit back. And get ready to get your stitch together.
[00:00:43] Hello, everybody. Welcome again, to a super special episode of Stitch Please podcast. And as you know, I say every episode is special and. Because they all are, but today is especially special because here we are early July, people are sewing and thinking about sewing. And one of the things I love about the Instagram community is the sewing challenges you might recall back in may.
[00:01:10] We'd had a mother's day challenge. And we talked with the two folks who were hosting that. And today we have two selling challenge leaders with us today, and that is Nesha Wright.? And Jacinta Green who both created solving challenges that have numbers in them. And I'm so corny.
[00:01:29] There's a 30 and a 60. So we have two selling challenges, whole 30, which is created by Jacinta Green and the 60 day No Spend challenge by Nesha Wright. Welcome to the program. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for having me. All right. All right. So listen, as I am going to be honest with you.
[00:01:53] Listeners. I already told our two wonderful guests who I admire, who do great sewing, who have great sense of style and great energy that while I loved and appreciated their challenge. I did not know if I could personally do either one of them. However, I am so excited to talk about it because what I love about sewing challenges is that it gets us to think in deliberate ways about our sewing practice.
[00:02:24] So I want to start with Nesha because your challenge started a little while ago. So can you talk about the 60 day challenge that you put together and then we'll turn Jacinta to see more about hers.Yeah.
[00:02:35]Nesha: Last year earlier on in COVID when we were all in quarantine in our homes and couldn't go anywhere, I found myself buying lots and lots of fabric online because there was really nothing else to do.
[00:02:46] I wasn't having to go to court. I had some family law cases, but we were doing those virtually and I realized I'm buying all of this. Fabric with all of these great plans. Cause every time I see a new pattern, I get some more Fabrical oh, this is perfect for this particular pattern. And then it goes into the closet, the pattern goes into the box and then I move on to the next pattern, the next fabric.
[00:03:06] And I realized I wasn't sewing as much as I was buying. And so I said I'll try 60 days. And I kind of put it out there. I didn't think anybody would do it with me. And I was very surprised and humble by everyone on Instagram, kind of joining me. And I decided this year, we're still in the middle of the pandemic, but I wanted to try again because last year I still have about eight or nine different garments in 60 days.
[00:03:29] And that was the most I had sewn any period of time without buying new fabric or new patterns. And so I said let's just try to keep this going and did it again this year. And I hear you when you say you. You're not, you don't think you're capable of doing the 60 days. I always tell people if you can't do 60 days try a week, because I don't know if you're like me when you're sitting on the couch and you're watching TV, you're like surfing the web for more fabrics, more patterns, looking at more designs to see what people are doing.
[00:03:58] I was like, oh, that would look good on me to get this. I should get that. And I feel like if you could try it for a week or two weeks, that will get you closer to doing the 60 days down the line. What I love
[00:04:08] Lisa: about your story is that you got to see, this is where I am. This is how I'm spending my kind of idle time, like when I'm like relaxing or even mindlessly, like just shopping and buying and consuming.
[00:04:19] And that you were able to identify something that you were doing in your own life that made you reflect about your sewing practice as a whole. And that is something that I really admire about what you put together. Now Jacinta, I'm going to turn to you, do you have a similar story, because the way that Nesha described her story of just buying and buying, I saw you nodding as she was saying, yes.
[00:04:40] I've been in this buying situation, background buying. Do you have a similar story that got you along the path of trying to be more mindful about what you purchased? Yeah,
[00:04:51] Jacinta: actually mine goes like super deep. And Lisa, you and I have talked about my background before, but I didn't grow up with anything.
[00:05:00] And when you start making like real money and you grew up with nothing, some of us still have a poverty mentality. And for me, that manifested in. Consuming and buying things because that was like a form of safety. And I still couldn't believe that I had money. I still can't believe it. Hasn't actually been very long.
[00:05:24]And so over the last year, I have, I started to become more intentional about a lot of things in my life, the kind of work that I want to do. So I quit my job bef, but I did find a job before that. Making sure I went to therapy, making sure I got started with a financial planner, making sure I was seeing a nutritionist.
[00:05:45] So all of these things were intentional and sewing is such a massive. Massive part of my life. It was only natural that that was part of that too. And every year I put together, sewing goals.I never accomplished a single one of
[00:05:59] Lisa: them. Give me an example of some of your sewing goals that you would put together. I
[00:06:03] Jacinta: was like, I want to finish all my UFO's hence, the UFO challenge I want to, so like a lot of my fabric without buying any, hence this challenge I want to make a suit jacket because that is like, I'm going to be doing.
[00:06:17]Uh, sewing challenge in October basically face your fears, Halloween special. Oh, sew one thing that scares you, that's fun.
[00:06:28] Lisa: So Nesha makes a lot of suits. She makes a lot of suits,
[00:06:32] Jacinta: but Gurl,. I need to be all up in your DMS. I need to be all in your business. Like it pays me. But yeah. Also like I was in the process, I knew I was going to be moving and I was originally supposed to move to Chicago and I had so much anxiety about packing up my sewing room because I have so much stuff.
[00:06:53] And I was like, you know what? I'm sick of this. I'm sick. Like not using my good fabric. I'm sick of continuing to like buy, buy, buy, and then getting sick of that fabric and never using it. And I'm tired of giving all this fabric away. So I was like, you know what? I, you know, cause I'm very much into nutrition and there is some controversy about the name of my challenge.
[00:07:17]They said it feeds its diet. Yeah. I guess I could see those arguments, but it's literally called the whole 30 fabric challenge. So it has nothing to do with that, but I was like, okay, well let's, let's do this. Let's do that. Most, I said, no sower has done before. Cause that's like catchy, but you know, a lot of people have a hard time using stuff in their stash.
[00:07:40] There'll be like, you know what? I really need some white for this. Let me just pop down to Pacific fabrics or Joanne. Last year I made this coat and he's brilliant and beautiful, but I didn't have any lining fabric and that right. Well, let me just use this black and red polka dot weird fabric that I know I'm not going to use.
[00:07:58] And it ended up being spectacular. It's like my favorite thing in my closet. So that's what led to this. So it was, it's a lot deeper than people realize, but it's extremely important to me. Yeah.
[00:08:10] Lisa: What I think that connects just center in it's just challenges is mindful consumerism. It really is about being mindful about the things that we buy and acknowledging that sometimes we buy things to feel better.
[00:08:25] I certainly do. Oh, I'm feeling a little low or I'm sad because I can't go out or whatever. Let me go and buy some lipsticks, or let me go in and especially with sewing, because you look at a pattern like Nesha was saying, and it just seems to offer you so much hope.
[00:08:43] You know what I mean? It's so much possibility. Like, oh, I'm going to bad this pattern, and then I'm going to make this outfit and then I'm going to love it and wear it. It's going to be great. All of these things happen to be true, but I have far more patterns. In my stash. I know I have close to a thousand and there is no way I'm ever going to sew every single one of those patterns and so Misha, can you, can we talk a bit about how you said, if you can't do 60 days, just start with the first week. What do you want people to be thinking about as they are deciding, should I buy or should I not buy.
[00:09:23] Nesha: It's like Jacinta said with intentionality and I love that part. And I know you asked me this question but I love that some of the things that she's posted on Instagram, it talks about using that fancy fabric because what are you really saving it for? And we buy this beautiful, beautiful fabrics. And certainly when I get my Nina Ramel boxes when I can actually get them.
[00:09:44] Yeah. And it's like, I hoard it and I hold onto it. And I'm like, this is going to make the greatest jumpsuit. And that jumpsuit never materialized because I'm too afraid to cut into it because I don't want to mess up the fabric it goes back to trying to figure out what did I really want to sew with this fabric when I first bought it? And am I actually going to put that plan into practice? I think it's that follow through? Cause I know when we're sewing is certainly with me and I have ADHD, I get pulled in so many different directions and I'll change my mind midstream. And I want people to know that. You can start with the fabric from your stash, even if it's something that you just got, that you didn't spend a whole lot of money for, or it's something that you spent 20, $30 per yard for, and just use a pattern that you've done before.
[00:10:26] Like Jacinta said with her whole 30, I've made one jumpsuit five or six times, and I love it. And I choose my expensive fabric for it because it feels soft and silky against my skin. And I just love it. And so I guess what I really want for people to do is to. Conquer that fear of cutting into that pricey fabric and that fear of sewing a new pattern and having to do pattern fitting.
[00:10:49] One of the things that kind of stopped me earlier on from sewing more patterns was trying to figure out how to fit them to my body. And that was before I really discovered indie patterns, patterns that are made for curves and women with hips and busts and bellies and really researching and finding other sewists who share what they were doing.
[00:11:09] And once I dedicated the first 60 days last year to this is I've got to figure out how to do a proper full bust adjustment. I've got to figure out how to do a full seat adjustment. I've got to figure out how to do a full tummy adjustment, not buying any new fabric really kind of pushes you forward because you can't say that excuse of, oh, I'm just going to go to Joann's real quick and look for this.
[00:11:29] Or I've had a bad day. I would do this all the time after court." I'm going to Jo-Ann's to clear my mind. I'll see what they have. I might come out with some fabric. I might come out with some new notions. And so when you're not doing that, it really focuses you on let's get these UFO's. Now let's start this new project.
[00:11:45] Let's commit to this new skill or let's figure out. And this year I didn't get as much time to. sew so this year I spent more time during the 60 days"Let's spruce up my sewing studio," I bought new storage. I bought new notions about things that I have been putting off because it's like when you're constantly sewing sewing sewing you don't realize that you've got this rattytatty old iron. I need a new iron..
[00:12:09] So instead of spending $150 on new fabric, let me go buy this. Iron and really nice iron and board that is more to help me get to the next level. So you really start to think about where your dollars are going. Am I going to spend? Cause I was all over those fourth ofJuly sales.
[00:12:25] I'm not going to lie. It was like,
[00:12:27] Lisa: and
[00:12:28] Nesha: I said to myself, I can either do that or I can take all of this money and buy a new sewing machine. And then it's exactly what I did.
[00:12:34] Lisa: Oh my goodness.
[00:12:35]Nesha: Where do you want your dollars to go when you're sewing? Because there's always something else that we see beyond fabric.
[00:12:42] That could help us evolve and help us grow as sewists.
[00:12:45]Lisa: I love that
[00:12:50] because as you were talking Nesha I was thinking reallocating resources. Reallocating resources that each of us has resources. We all have resources to a variety of degree, right? We've got the machine, we've got the fabrics, we've got notions and patterns. And if we don't, we can acquire these things, but we also have to manage these resources.
[00:13:12] And the thing that seems to be most precious of all that is too often overlooked. Is the resource of our time. And that is something that is irreplaceable, that our time is so valuable. And if we don't prioritize it, nobody else will. It is our job to protect our time. And it is our job to protect our resources.
[00:13:35] And so I'm going to turn to Jacinta to think about what kind of lessons does the whole 30 fabric challenge in terms of resource management, do you think is apparent for those who are participating in your challenge?
[00:13:47] Jacinta: So you said something a long time ago, and I don't quite remember what it was, but it caused me to go to my stories and write, "I am my favorite sewer."
[00:13:58] Yes, I have my obsessions, Lisa, Erica, um, Sherry.
[00:14:04] Lisa: Well,
[00:14:05] Jacinta: I'm obsessed with other sewers, but at the end of the day, I'm my favorite sewer and it's because, I make do when I run out of fabric, I don't actually run to the store. I'll figure out what I had in there. Um, and I want people to be super creative, cause people are always like, where do you come up with your ideas?
[00:14:25] You put all these different fabrics together. And I was like, well, that's all I have. That's all I had. It's like, People too. Gosh, this is going to sound horrible. Be less
[00:14:35] boring
[00:14:36] use a funky print for your inside
[00:14:40] pockets. Just use what you have be creative, like think outside the box. It'll like we all sew , because we don't find what we want in our size at the price we want to pay. Right. And some of us, because we love it.And so I want to force creativity and y'all, I have gotten so many DMS about
[00:15:01] loopholes.
[00:15:02] I'm like, there are no loop blue holes by fabric. You have to start
[00:15:07] over and you have to admit it to me because I'm your accountability partner,
[00:15:12] Lisa: essentially. You get it. And
[00:15:15] Jacinta: so I want people. Oh, Nesha. What you said about reallocating? My financial planner and I put me on a $150 a month selling budget. That includes classes, that's notions, that's organizational stuff,
[00:15:30] Lisa: all of that.
[00:15:31] Okay. Can you bank it? So if you don't use it, you can bet. Okay. I was like, this
[00:15:37] Jacinta: is the one I want to roll over if I don't use it. And so I am because I'm not buying anything other than my fabulous LA trip,
[00:15:45] Lisa: where I actually was under budget.
[00:15:48] Jacinta: I bought a new sewing table to hold all of my machines. Like Nesha said, I reallocating my time.
[00:15:56] I am reallocating my resources and I am using fabric in a different way than even I had originally intended. Cause I don't even remember why I bought some different fabrics, but yeah. I wanted people to be
[00:16:11] Lisa: creative.
[00:16:12] Nesha: When you say you're forcing creativity, that's exactly what it forces you to do because you can't go out and find that perfect matching something. You have to look in your stash, you have to find something that's going to coordinate. And we all have additional fabric that will coordinate with every other piece that we have, because we tend to buy the same colors and patterns anyway. And when you're going through, you find fabrics like, oh God, I didn't even know I had that.
[00:16:35] I thought I used that and you realize, oh wait, I have three extra yards because I bought seven yards last time and only sewed up four. Well, I can make something new with this. And it'll. compliment something already in my closet. And that it really does force you to be more creative and to assess and appreciate what you have.
[00:16:53] Lisa: And what I was thinking about is the difference between limits and boundaries. Hmm, limits and boundaries. Both of these things sound like they're the same, right? But for some reason, the word boundaries feels more expansive than limits, but both of these, at least what I'm receiving from your challenges is that it's helping me ask questions.
[00:17:18] Right? Like I have patterns and again, I've been sewing. Since I was in graduate school in the late nineties. Right. So that's like 25 years of accumulation of some patterns. I know for sure, because I looked at the copyright dates. I have patterns, but I still sew for my husband up until recently from 1997,
[00:17:39] this is because men's fashion. Doesn't change that much in the pattern printing industry. So they give you like one to three good men's patterns. They're like, y'all good forever with these. We're not gonna never change nothing for y'all. It's going to be a button up Oxford nest, all you ever get. So it's quite boring, but.
[00:17:55] In terms of like fabric and stuff, you are absolutely right. That when I buy it, it's precious. I love it. And it's just like, I, that's why I keep, that's why I had those swatch cards that I made. I think I said, I put them in the Patreon recording. Every piece that I get when. Yes exactly.
[00:18:16] Jacinta: Sorry. I keep that on my desk, by the way.
[00:18:18] And for listeners, if they black women's stitch sticker, that's going on? My Microsoft issued computer.
[00:18:25] Lisa: Sorry. Let me ask you what is the bravest thing either of you have ever done in the context of your challenges? Did you cut a super expensive piece of fabric?
[00:18:38] Didn't you find a piece of fabric that you had for a really long time? Did you complete a project ? I'll let you think about that a second.
[00:18:51] Hey friends. Hey, the Stitch Please podcast is about to publish its 100th episode. That's right. 100 episodes. As part of the celebration, we are launching 100 by 100. To help us get 100 more patriotic supporters by the 100th episode publication date on September 15th, 2021, 100 additional Patreon supporters would give us the financial stability.
[00:19:17] To hire editorial and production help. You can find the links to our Patreon in the show notes. Thank you so much for considering this and thank you, current and future Patreon supporters.
[00:19:31] Did you complete a project that you had been putting off? Because it's such a mindful challenge. I'm wondering what benefit you have gotten from it so far, Jacinta, I think you got it first.
[00:19:43]Jacinta: We just finished the UFO challenge, the unfinished project challenge, which was something I wanted to do for years.
[00:19:49] And. Do and the thing is, and people were really scared to do it. And I said, you guys, you are literally at your best right now. Think of all the time that you have spent sewing, like when you stopped that project, your knowledge has expanded. And so I actually did a pattern that I started my first year and I never finished because it was too hard and it took me hours to get to nothing.
[00:20:19] I did it in may I finished it in less than an hour, and then I made three. You are literally your best sewer right now. You are at the top of your skillset right now. And so I revisited patterns that I stopped because I got too frustrated. I couldn't finish. I didn't know what to do. There are all these issues and I did them.
[00:20:43] Remember, I did 21 projects in a week. I finished 21 in a week. Cause it was the week I had off in between jobs. And so I was just like banging it out. And I was like, dang girl, you got so good. But remember why you stopped these projects, it's because it got too hard. And so for the UFO challenge, it did challenge a lot of people to revisit.
[00:21:07] And also to like look at it and be like, you know what, this doesn't bring me any joy. I'm not going to finish this. I'm going to give it away. Or I'm going to put it in the garbage, which is not sustainable, but it is what it is. I definitely threw away like five projects that no longer served me. And so it actually taught me a lot.
[00:21:25] About my own boundaries and what I'm willing to put up with. And then
[00:21:31] also the mental space that unfinished projects occupy, which was wild to me. I never thought of it like that, but I was like, when I finished, it was this huge weight off of my shoulders because I was like, I no longer worry about these projects just sitting in a bin.
[00:21:47] So that was, for me, it was huge.
[00:21:50] Lisa: It's a gift you're giving yourself. Yes. How about Nesha ?Did you have any any similar stories where you felt like this was something that was hard? I had put off and this is what I kind of got returned to the sewing machine buying yourself, the new sewing machine and the new iron.
[00:22:04] That's pretty great.
[00:22:05] Nesha: Yeah. I was very stoked about those purchases. The thing that first came to mind was learning really how to do a full bust adjustment. I've always had a large chest. It's always been a pain ever since I blossomed and really forcing myself to learn how to do it and to do it well, so I can replicate it on any pattern that I wanted to.
[00:22:24] sew that was the biggest aha moment for me. Because it goes back to what, Jacinta was just saying about finishing those UFO's. I had unfinished projects just because I did not know how to do the full bust adjustment. I could make the skirt, I could put the pants together, but I could not get it right. And then once I sat down and watched the tutorials, I called people. I spoke to a lot of my really good friends on Instagram about how do I do this? And they walked me through it and I've been just like banging it out every time. Without fear. And it's that conquering that thing that scares you, whether it's a project or a skill set that you don't think you know, or that you haven't gotten yet, and really figuring out how to get to the other side of it, that pushes you forward.
[00:23:07] And that's one of the things I really love about the 60 day challenge. Even about the whole 30 times I have, I'm not doing the whole 30 challenge. I'll be honest with you cause I was. I don't, I would love to do it, but I didn't know if I will have actual time to sew the 30 fabrics because court is
[00:23:21] cause everything is, everything is like right now.
[00:23:24] Lisa: So your, your work life has shifted. So your sewing life has had to shift in response. It
[00:23:29] Nesha: has, it has. But I think that learning that full bust adjustment in reallocating, those funds to things that I really wanted, like a new ironing board, it's an ironing board.
[00:23:38] I was spending $150. on fabricwithout blinking. When I'm debating about buying a new ironing board, those two things, don't really jibe. When I, I need a new iron, a new iron board, or I want to upgrade my machine to something that's more digital, which I did. Those are other things that we can do when we're looking at these challenges, because once you stop spending your focus more on completing the projects or learning new skills and techniques, and that's another thing that I always try to encourage people to do during the 60 days.
[00:24:06] learn a skill or master skill that you felt uncomfortable with before. I started out, my 60 days has finished. I'm still working on trying to improve at doing an invisible zipper because they're the bane of my existence right now. And I see people who, yeah, I see so
[00:24:21] Lisa: many people just
[00:24:21] Nesha: do invisible zippers, like is nothing in mine.
[00:24:24] Do not, they are not pretty invisible. So I'm trying to get to that level and keep going. And so you have to figure out what it is you want to do. And just set out that goal to do, even if it's a small thing, And that's
[00:24:38] Lisa: one of the things I love about both of your challenges. I love that both of them offer opportunities for fresh starts at any time.
[00:24:46] Right. And so it might feel like a punishment. I can imagine if somebody, if they're doing the whole 30 and it's like, okay, you just bought some new fabric. You got to go back to zero and start over with the next 30 days. Is that, is that part of the, one of the loopholes that you said, folks we're looking forward to center trying to figure out how they could reset?
[00:25:08] Jacinta: Yeah. And I was
[00:25:09] like, look, if you
[00:25:10] buy fabric and the fabric muslin fabric lining, I don't care if you buy fabric, you have to start over. That is the only rule. I'm sorry. There are.
[00:25:23] What if I'm like, no, you guys
[00:25:25] know
[00:25:26] Lisa: don't I just love how, like, not when it comes to the challenge, nobody knows what the hell fabric is anymore.
[00:25:32] Jacinta: Yes. I mean, again,
[00:25:34] Lisa: what is fabric again? I just want to make sure it's do you mean, you mean linen? Do you mean Raytheon denims? Not fabric for real. I mean like, yeah.
[00:25:43] And I'm like, you guys, you know what I'm saying? But you know what I also, I learned, and I know this because I'm a program manager. People love to be told what to do.
[00:25:52] They love to be told what to do. Even, yeah. It's people really like those guidelines and then they push the boundaries.
[00:26:02] Yes, yes. Yes. I think especially when it's clear, and this is why I, but again, even though I'm not gonna, I'm not formula formally doing either of the challenges, what I like is the suggestion.
[00:26:15] Of a practice of self-assessment that as you're going along, like I was just today, I was out today and I was like, can you, what? I really want to make the Aaronica, that's what I was. And I have the pattern. I bought' the pattern. I haven't traced it yet, but I got, I bought the pattern. I got it printed out in the big AOL sheets.
[00:26:34]It's a great pattern. I love Aaronica' and it gets amazing that they named a pattern for her. So I want to sew it. And I was like, Where IS that it's somewhere in this sewing room. And then it's like, okay, Lisa, if you can't find your shit as much as I love to organize I mean, I am a nerd for organization and it's like, Ooh, if you don't know where it is. It is time to do something. It is time to probably get rid of some stuff , that's a sign , for me. Yeah.
[00:27:06] Jacinta: Can I also say that we're so used to instant gratification right now that these challenges are about delayed
[00:27:15] gratification and it's like denial
[00:27:19] of the self is a pleasure and.
[00:27:24] I know that's kind of a weird thing to talk about, but it feels really good to deny myself because I know that there's something at the end and I'm getting something and I have to work towards something because we get everything within two days, we get to the movies we want right away.
[00:27:40] Like none of that. Is delayed and man does delayed gratification
[00:27:45] feel real good.
[00:27:46] Lisa: It's so because sewing is a process. Sewing is not a microwave. Sewing is not like I bought a pattern. I bought a fabric, I throw it on the table and blink my eyes. And then I have an outfit, you know, it's work.
[00:28:00] It's a lot of work to go from pattern to fashion. To garment. And at the same time, I think you're right. That because of our current moment where it does feel as though so many things are just right there, like if I'm in a meeting and I'm bored, I will play words with friends or I'll see what patterns are on sale, or I'll see if some company is having a sale on so-and-so.
[00:28:23] I absolutely do that just for the sake of spending time, but that's not necessary. The shop your stash idea is important because at the end of the day, why did I buy it? Did I buy the fabric just because I didn't want the store to have it anymore? Or did I buy the fabric because I wanted to do something with it rather than just leaving it at the store?
[00:28:46] And so that's what I love about both of the challenges that they get you to think about what you bought. And why, and reminding yourself to give yourself the gift that you already bought.
[00:28:58] Nesha: Cause we're not there rescue and fabrics like a rescue animals from shelters providing this, and once you, you remember what the purpose was, you can change it.
[00:29:09] You can start off on a different project or you can give the fabric to someone else if it no longer fits your style. Because I think another thing that we do at least I was still, yeah. I would buy things that fit what I thought my style was at the time. But as I've gone through my stash more and I'm sewing up more, I realized that certain things that I bought just really don't jive with me.
[00:29:29] It doesn't jibe with what I want for my outward appearance to the world to look like. And, but now I have it. I'm not going to get rid of it. How can I use it differently? Do I need to dye it? Do I need to change it up some other kind of way, because that goes back to what Jacinta said about pushing the boundaries of creativity.
[00:29:46] Because if you have fabrics. It doesn't really flow with where you are. You can dye it. You can do tie dye, you can embellish it. There are so many different things that you can do to bring it back to a piece that you love and that you'll be able to use without breaking either the 60 day challenge or the whole
[00:30:01] Lisa: 30.
[00:30:02] Yes. And that I find just so useful the reminder.that we have what we need. That seems to be what both of your challenges are getting us to think about that we have what we need. Maybe that's not true for everyone, but the lesson that I've taken from myself from the challenges is that I have.
[00:30:24] What I need, I have it it's, it's pretty much in there. I may or may not have all the interfacing that I need so that I might need to get more I've been making these shirts for my son and they are such interfacing hogs. They take like pieces for the plackets and in the collar and it's just like my goodness.
[00:30:39] So I'm using a lot of interfacing. I like the work that you're doing. I like that both of you are on this kind of conservation path. But rather than kind of conservation for the environment, which is obviously important, it's also conservation of our personal resource.
[00:30:56] And I think that reminder that we are creatives, that we are creating something. And when we sit down to sew or to design, to sketch, to cut a pattern, to tape a pattern together, to do that process, we are creating something and that we have such power in that. And whether we are. Accumulating things or producing things that that is in our control.
[00:31:22] And that's something that it's such a powerful reminder, it really just reminded me to go on there and just look through my stuff and say, Lisa really like sewing up 30 yards of fabric from my stash. I could and should. That's all I could and I should, and I would still have, I could not even tell you how many yards of fabric leftover.
[00:31:47] And I know that because I do inventory so I know how much I have, and it is officially a shit ton officially. That'd be official number. Oh, my gosh. It's so much. So what do you all have coming up? Now that the challenge has wrapped up, Nesha and yours is yours just started last week, right.
[00:32:06] Jacinta what do you want people to walk away with? , one of the things I love about your challenges. Anyone could do these at any time. You can start your 30 or 60 days right now, if you chose to what bit of advice would you give someone who's on the fence? Like, I don't know if I can do 60 days. I don't know if I could do 30 days. I don't know if I can use my stash really, or I don't know. Do you have any advice for folks who might be reticent to try. Just do it. Yeah. Just
[00:32:35] Nesha: start what you can do once you just start putting two feet in front of you.
[00:32:40] I think that we stop ourselves all the time, because it seems too big or too hard or too stressful. Once you start you'll be amazed that you can just keep on ticking along.
[00:32:51]Jacinta: I would tell people to just try. And, you know, I mean, do it, or don't. Do it, or don't like, I have already changed just from facilitating this and hyping it up when I was in LA.
[00:33:12] And I was like, literally in heaven out surrounded by gorgeous fabrics. I found I was super discerning. Cause I was like, are you really going to,sew that, are you really going to use that? Do you actually really love this? And I was way more discerning than I have ever been in my entire life when I was buying fabric.
[00:33:32] So I'm already thinking. And that's amazing because even when I did the UFO challenge, I told people I wouldn't buy fabric. And then I cheated and I did whole stories. People loved that. I cheated, especially because I'm so honest about it. But I found like from that point until LA that's about two months, I didn't buy any fabric I didn't want to.
[00:33:54] And so I am fundamentally changed. By these particular challenges this year. And I'm probably going to do Nesha's 60 days as well.
[00:34:03]Lisa: I am so grateful to you both for talking with me on such short notice.
[00:34:07] I saw both the challenges and I was like, I want to talk them both!. Great. This is perfect. And so thank you all so much for being here today.
[00:34:16] Nesha: I wanted to say thank you to Sheree from Sheree's alchemy on Instagram for helping me this year. And I didn't want to us to end without me at least mentioning that.
[00:34:26] And the knee-deep in a murder trial, she stepped in and took over as co-host and was making sure people had to talk to when they were going through their 60 days. So I'll thank you, Sherry.
[00:34:37] Lisa: Thank you, Sheree. Thank you. Thank you. Y'all we've been speaking with Jacinta Green and Nesha Wright of the whole 30 fabric challenge and 60 day no spend.
[00:34:47] Check them out in their stories on their IgE pages. I will include. To their social media places in the show notes. So you can find them there.
[00:34:58] You've been listening to the Stitch Please podcast, the official podcast of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group, where black lives matter. We appreciate you supporting us by listening to the podcast. If you'd like to reach out to us with questions, you can contact us @blackwomenstitch@gmail.com. If you'd like to support us financially, you can do that by supporting us on Patreon.
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[00:36:02] That is incredibly helpful. Thank you so much. Come back next week and we'll help you get your stitch together. .