September Textile Love aka #SeptTextileLove is back! For those who are new to the idea or need a little reminder, here is a quick overview of what the challenge is all about and why I love taking part.

The #SeptTextileLove Instagram challenge was created by seam collective to provide a daily prompt inviting all textiles lovers to be involved.

Each year has slightly different prompts that act as a starting point for a participant to use to create an Instagram post. I personally love when an artist really expands on the meaning or reinterprets a prompt differently from what you might expect, bringing a new point of view or meaning to a prompt. All contributions are valid and seeing how people individually react to a prompt has been personally fun and a rewarding element for me.

Before I joined seam or knew anything about seam, I took part in #SeptTextileLove. I was just finding my feet in textiles and looking to where my community was, and I noticed a post about the challenge by @sarahgwyer. @sarahgwyer creates these incredibly detailed and fun pieces. They are a mixture of hand embroidery with contemporary icons and excessive amounts of bright beading which leaves you gaping in awe.  Her work is incredibly cool and contemporary whilst been rooted in traditional practices. It is well worth a visit to her Instagram if you have not yet come across her account.

Looking at other individuals’ contributions can dramatically impact you in unexpected ways.

It can inspire a change in direction for your practice or introduce you to a completely new approach to textiles. It has been richly invigorating to my own practice each year. If you do find that you are excited or inspired by something someone has posted then let them know! 

If you do find that you are excited or inspired by something someone has posted then let them know! 

A short comment and quick hello on each other’s work is a great method of acknowledging and respecting each other’s achievements. It’s a simple way to say ‘wow you have done something really cool there and I appreciate your work’.

Receiving these little acknowledgements is hugely encouraging to the makers. It can be helpful in keeping their soul-fire stoked to create more. Working alone on creative projects can, in truth, be a solitary activity. So, shouting out from the void and letting a person know ‘I see you and love your work!’ can be greatly appreciated. You may even be lucky enough to find someone whose work really strikes a chord with you.

This happened to me when I came across @radicalembroiderer; what a legend. Her work is incredibly witty, with a strong and strikingly defiant political point of view. From hand embroidery on dust cloths to voting records on toilet paper she will leave you questioning our political structures and enraged with where huge amounts of public resources are being allocated.

Also, if you’re not a creator why not be a curator? With apps like repost you can share your favourite images of people’s work from Instagram and pass on why you love them. Make sure you keep the attribution mark and tag the account holder into the post as it will tell viewer who the original post came from. On Instagram you can make a stack or carousel of up to 10 images per post. So, if you don’t have an example of your own to share for one of the prompts, you can still be a champion of your community and shout out about your personal favourites!

That has been the biggest reward for me personally, connecting to so many people over our shared interests for textiles. Keeping connected has a long-term impact for you as well. You will find later, during the year, someone you followed will post about an event they’ve been to or share an exciting opportunity which is relevant to the textile community. Taking part in this challenge is definitely a win-win for all.

If you’d like to receive the #SeptTextileLove challenge prompts a week before they’re released publicly, do subscribe to seam’s newsletter here. You’ll receive four newsletters a year and can unsubscribe at any time.

See you in September!

Oliver Bliss