Episode 32: A Select History of Early Knitting Machines

Bonus Episode 3: A Chat with Jane Healey, author of The Saturday Evening Girls Club, a novel

Join us for a very special bonus episode! Alicia sat down to chat with Jane Healey, the author of The Saturday Evening Girls Club, a novel set in the early 1900s. The SEGC was a real club that launched a pottery venture, Paul Revere Pottery. Bowls, plates, tiles, and vases from this small shop are held in museums today, and sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most of the girls in the SEG were first-generation Americans in Jewish and Italian families in Boston's North End. The Saturday Evening Girls Club follows an imaginary SEG, Caprice who wishes to open her own hat shop, and three of her friends, who face struggles in their families, work, and social lives. The intertwined stories of these four girls are inspiring and relatable. Alicia and Jane talk about: * Why Jane decided to combine Edith Gurrier, the founder of the SEGC, and her partner, Edith Brown, the co-founder of Paul Revere Pottery, and what she would do differently today * The annual SEG tradition that she wishes she could have put into the story * Why we still to relate to the struggles of turn-of-the-century girls and women today * The special emails she's gotten from descendants This episode also caps off our readalong of Jane's book. You can find all of the posts for this readalong (and join in anytime!) at patreon.com/handmadehistorypodcast [https://www.patreon.com/c/HandmadeHistoryPodcast]. Grab your favorite handcraft and listen in for fun facts to text to your crafting bestie! Have a question, comment, or idea for a future episode? Email us at handmadehistoryhosts@gmail.com [handmadehistoryhosts@gmail.com]. Find links, images, and more on the free blog post for this episode; visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/handmadehistorypodcast. [https://patreon.com/handmadehistorypodcast.] Or visit our website at handmadehistorypodcast.com [https://handmadehistorypodcast.com/] for more information.

Episode 36: Laura Ashley, Iconic Designer & Company

If you were a 90s kid (like Alicia was) or the little sister of a 90s kid (like Sonia was), chances are Laura Ashley influenced your bedroom design. Laura Ashley, born Laura Mountney in Wales in 1925, started her iconic, eponymous company by screenprinting in her Pimlico apartment with her husband, Bernard. Inspired by a Women's Institute exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, Laura wanted to make a patchwork quilt--but she couldn't find any fabric that she liked. So, she designed her own. This episode is sponsored by Quiltfolk. Travel stitch by stitch with Quiltfolk — wherever you like to read… or sew. Use coupon code HandmadeHistory for 20% off your order on Quiltfolk.com [https://www.quiltfolk.com/]. Soon, the Ashleys were selling scarves (a la Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday) and tea towels in shops in London--and just a few years later, they opened their own London showroom. Listen in to learn: * How the Ashleys went from two shops and a showroom in the UK to 450 shops around the world * The interesting lifestyle choice that Laura made in order to escape a cramped cottage in Kent * The Laura Ashley brand today (it's still classy!) * What exactly the Women's Institute is * A pretty sidetrack about smocking Grab your work-in-progress and your crafting bestie and listen in for more fun facts and trips down rabbit holes. (And deep apologies for Alicia's butchering of Welsh place names!) This is our last regular episode of Season 2 - stay tuned for one more bonus episode, and then we will take a break and be back in September! Show notes and sources here [https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR05XEEL0_ZWyJ5lJaeCVdPRwcDhDoydnOvv4fo8S03032ZczEggL_N33aEDMWUONMkZTJc3UaQ2Lhe/pub]. Have a question, comment, or idea for a future episode? Email us at handmadehistoryhosts@gmail.com [handmadehistoryhosts@gmail.com]. Find links, images, and more on the free blog post for this episode; visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/handmadehistorypodcast. [https://patreon.com/handmadehistorypodcast.] Or visit our website at handmadehistorypodcast.com [https://handmadehistorypodcast.com/] for more information. Also, in May 2026 we are doing a readalong of Jane Healey's The Saturday Evening Girls Club [https://bookshop.org/a/20565/9781503943278] (this is an affiliate link--your purchase will support Handmade History at no cost to you). Grab a copy of this fantastic historical fiction novel and join us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/handmadehistorypodcast], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/handmadehistorypodcast], or Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/c/HandmadeHistoryPodcast].

Episode 35: A Sampler of Samplers from Around the World

Close your eyes and picture a sampler. We bet you are picturing a cross-stitched design with an alphabet on it. This type of sampler is quite common in England and North America, but there are many other types of samplers. In fact, samplers have been made in almost every culture around the world for several thousand years. This episode is sponsored by Embroydica [https://www.embroydica.com/]. Visit Embroydica.com [https://www.embroydica.com/] and become part of a growing global archive of embroidery and creative expression. Also check out Alicia's blog post about samplers on Embroydica [https://www.embroydica.com/post/5-samplers-that-will-make-you-rethink-the-category]! Listen in to learn about: * The oldest preserved sampler, from the same Peruvian culture that created the mysterious Nazca lines. * The oldest synthetic dye, Egyptian Blue, plus how to make it yourself (with a thousand-degree kiln) * The oldest British sampler, which is also the oldest signed sampler, the Jane Bostocke sampler * 3-D globe samplers (!!!) * And so much more! Grab your favorite handcraft and listen in for fun facts to text to your crafting bestie! Show notes and sources: https://tinyurl.com/HHepisode35 [https://tinyurl.com/HHepisode35] Have a question, comment, or idea for a future episode? Email us at handmadehistoryhosts@gmail.com [handmadehistoryhosts@gmail.com]. Find links, images, and more on the free blog post for this episode; visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/handmadehistorypodcast. [https://patreon.com/handmadehistorypodcast.] Or visit our website at handmadehistorypodcast.com [https://handmadehistorypodcast.com/] for more information. Also, in May 2026 we are doing a readalong of Jane Healey's The Saturday Evening Girls Club [https://bookshop.org/a/20565/9781503943278] (this is an affiliate link--your purchase will support Handmade History at no cost to you). Grab a copy of this fantastic historical fiction novel and join us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/handmadehistorypodcast], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/handmadehistorypodcast], or Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/c/HandmadeHistoryPodcast].

Episode 34: The Saturday Evening Girls and Paul Revere Pottery, Icons of the Arts & Crafts Movement

The Saturday Evening Girls began as a story hour in Boston's North End at a trade school for young people--and quickly grew into something more. This episode is sponsored by our Patreon Patrons. Thank you! We invite you to sign up to our Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/HandmadeHistoryPodcast] at any level. Free members get a blog post with links and photos from each episode. Paid members get special discounts to crafty businesses as well as access to our Discord. The Saturday Evening Girls Club included 250 girls at its peak--and launched pottery business that made these girls and women into "icons of the Arts & Crafts movement," according to the Met. Join us for a deep dive into Paul Revere Pottery and the SEG, where we talk about: * Edith Gurrier, the unique woman who started the SEG and PRP, including her connections to Louisa May Alcott and Harriet Tubman. * Helen Osbourne Storrow, the benefactor of the club, who knew the value of a good vacation. * Sara Galner, the most collected pottery artist today--whose tile recently sold for almost $300,000 * Fanny Goldstein, who created Jewish Book Month and became curator of Judaica at the Boston Public Library--the SEG was her higher education * Numerous other girls and women who made beautiful pottery that remains collectible today--and graduated college at a rate three times that of their peers Plus, with this episode we kick off a read-a-long of Jane Healey's The Saturday Evening Girls Club [https://bookshop.org/a/20565/9781503943278] (this is an affiliate link--your purchase will support Handmade History at no cost to you). Grab a copy of this fantastic historical fiction novel and join us on May 6 on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/handmadehistorypodcast], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/handmadehistorypodcast], or Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/c/HandmadeHistoryPodcast]. Grab your favorite handcraft and listen in for fun facts to text to your crafting bestie! Show notes and sources: https://tinyurl.com/HHepisode34 [https://tinyurl.com/HHepisode34] Have a question, comment, or idea for a future episode? Email us at handmadehistoryhosts@gmail.com [handmadehistoryhosts@gmail.com]. Find links, images, and more on the free blog post for this episode; visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/handmadehistorypodcast. [https://patreon.com/handmadehistorypodcast.] Or visit our website at handmadehistorypodcast.com [https://handmadehistorypodcast.com/] for more information.

Episode 33: Sports Gear, from Baseball Caps to the Sports Bra Seen Round the World

When you think of sports gear, what do you imagine? Stretchy synthetic fabric, baseball caps with stiff brims, huarache sandals... ...yes! Join us as we talk sports gear from head to toe, and share deep dives into questions you didn't know you had, like * Who invented the sports bra, and when? (Spoiler alert: two women, less than fifty years ago!) * Why is the baseball cap round, instead of shaped like a "tiny layer cake"? * What does synthetic fabric have to do with explosives? * Who won the Guachochi Ultramarathon when she was 22 while wearing sandals, beating out 500 competitors? * What is the Ravens' secret weapon against other football teams? Grab your favorite handcraft and listen in for fun facts to text to your crafty pals. Show notes and sources: https://tinyurl.com/HHepisode33 [https://tinyurl.com/HHepisode33] Have a question, comment, or idea for a future episode? Email us at handmadehistoryhosts@gmail.com [handmadehistoryhosts@gmail.com]. Find links, images, and more on the free blog post for this episode; visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/handmadehistorypodcast. [https://patreon.com/handmadehistorypodcast.] Or visit our website at handmadehistorypodcast.com [https://handmadehistorypodcast.com] for more information. Check out the Sports Bra Project: https://www.thesportsbraproject.world/ [https://www.thesportsbraproject.world/]