Oct 25, 2023
Today on the podcast we are joined by Eli Dembele of Studio Sessions in Berkeley.
Eli is a an incredible powerhouse and a dynamic friend from Lyon, France who captured my curiosity with her immersion in the sewing world in the Bay Area, now offering workshops, classes, and one on one lessons. I was astonished at Eli's skillset overall it made me love and appreciate her more as she learned the craft during the pandemic.
Eli and I traversed on deep topics such as racism, being Black women in the world, and the way the world tries to decide for us. We touched on the importance of carving time for hobbies, self care through meals (and lack thereof), and internet friendships.
We had a transition moment where we decided to pause to pay the parking gremlins. Instead of adding a blurb in with my voice, I just left it in as the conversation had such a lovely natural flow and we trailed off in the end to enjoy a shared meal together. Eli is such a gem of a human who is cultivating sewing community in Berkeley, CA, where she and her partner settled right before the pandemic began.
The workshop mentioned with Justice has since passed, but you can be sure to get on the mailing list for Studio Sessions for future classes. Here are her upcoming workshops for November and beyond: https://www.studio-sessions.com/workshops
You can find more about Eli here: https://www.studio-sessions.com/about
Her website:
On Instagram:
Studio Sessions Berkeley
A lovely write up by Berkeleyside on Eli: https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/06/02/studio-sessions-shop-talk-multifaceted-journeys
French Morning article: https://frenchmorning.com/eli-dembele-ouvre-studio-sessions-un-espace-pour-passionnes-de-couture/
Podcast mentions
100 Acts of Sewing: Shirt No 1 by Sonya Phillip
Being Well with Forrest Hanson
Justice of Thread and Sprout
Tessuti Fabrics Printed Silks
My episode with Alexis Haselberger
Suzanne of In Situ Jewelry
For creatives who want to collaborate in the bookkeeping realm, some of you have been asking about how to find my accounting firm as of late. If you search Books in Harmony I will come up.
Gentle reminder: We are in a casual conversation here and I am speaking from a very relaxed place and not thinking about how others will interpret my personal opinions or what I say. Sometimes when I listen back I realize "wow, I could have articulated that differently" however, I do not feel the need to speak in trepidation of how the world will digest my own words, opinions, or things I have said. With this, if the podcast resonates, please share, subscribe, and consider subscribing to my public journal on Substack or supporting via Buy me a Coffee.
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Feel free to get in touch with me at oncreativitypodcast@gmail.com
I respond to emails weekly, typically on Fridays. Unsolicited advice is a no, no.