Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Watching and Listening

I wanted to tell you about a series I just finished watching on Amazon Prime over the past few days called A Stitch in Time.  My daughter tipped me off to it recently.  She thought it'd be something I liked, and boy, she was right!

A short description from IMDB reads: "Fashion historian Amber Butchart fuses biography, art and the history of fashion as she explores the lives of historical figures by examining the clothes that they wore."

For me, it ticked all the boxes.  Historical methods of clothing construction?  Check!  Art history?  Check!  Social and cultural conditions from the period?  Check!

In each episode, a small team of historical costumiers recreate a garment depicted in a period painting, which the show's host then models at the end of the episode.  They use materials and sewing methods that would have been used during that period.  The presenter may visit museums where similar pieces of clothing are held and preserved.  The garment is discussed in terms of how the fabric was produced at that time, what societal issues were in play, etc.

My only wish is that each episode were longer...and that there were more than one season.  Okay, that's two wishes.

It was originally produced in 2016 and, I assume, aired on British TV at the time.  I'm not sure how long it's been available on Prime.  I think it's also available on AcornTV.

Anyway, I loved it!  Maybe you will, too.

I listen to a lot of podcasts while I'm sewing.  Some of my favorites are Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell, Hidden Brain, This American Life, Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, WTF with Marc Maron, and many more.

Usually that's more than enough to keep me occupied in any given week, but the other day I explored a couple of recommendations that popped up for sewing-related podcasts.

One that I liked is called Stitch Please.  I've listened to about three episodes so far but plan to go back and listen to more.  I especially enjoyed the episode called "Sewing Supplies Beyond the Fabric Store."  Check it out in the link or wherever you get your podcasts (I use the Stitcher app).

And I am late to the party for The Great British Baking Show, but I've also been working my way back through all the seasons of that on Netflix during the past couple months.  Love it!  That was another one my daughter suggested a year or more ago already.  Took me a while to get around to it, but I'm glad I did.

One of the reasons I hesitated was because I thought watching it would make me want to bake (hence eat) more sweets, and I already struggle with keeping my sweet tooth in check.  But it really hasn't had that effect, thankfully. 

I thought I knew how to bake pretty well, but it turns out there's a LOT I don't know (like, most things!).  Getting to know the contestants and seeing their creativity shine through in their bakes is a treat.  And who can resist the way Paul Hollywood says "spoonge" or those ice-blue eyes?

How about you?  Any recommendations for must-see series, movies, or podcasts?






5 comments:

Lesley Gilbert said...

I'm from England and thought you might like The Great British Sewing Bee. It's 10 episodes and series 6 finished in June. It's a BBC programme like the Baking Show, were somebody is eliminated each week. I don't have Netflix so not sure where you would watch it from.

Anonymous said...

We haven’t been listening to any podcast lately, but do enjoy WTF with Marc Maron. Love his stand up too! We have been watching Norsemen on Netflix. It is Monty Python-like in its humor. Also think the show Connections on Netflix shows promise. We’ve watched only one episode so far, but really liked it. It’s sciency.

Linda Evans said...

Love that show, but it's not available in the US except sometimes gets fan-posted for a brief time on some sketchy website. So if you happen to catch it before it gets taken down you're in luck. I wish they'd air it here!

Linda Evans said...

Thanks for the recommendations, sounds interesting. Besides what could be more fun to do when you're not sewing than to watch other people sewing or talking about it?

Paulette said...

Yes, unfortunately that's what I found out, too, when I went looking for where to watch it. Bummer! Maybe it'll get picked up by one of the streaming services at some point.