Stitching together

Who is Black Girl Knit Club (BGKC)?

Sicgmone Kludje: In January 2019 we founded the Black Girl Knit Club with a mission to create more diversity within knitwear and craft. As a student I studied textile design, specialising in knitwear at a London art school, where I was one of only three Black students out of approximately 100 students on my course. The curriculum included almost no Black or Brown practitioners, which made navigating the course difficult.

In 2010 I took a gap year and interned with the late Ghanaian fashion designer Kofi Ansah in Accra. I worked with the Ghanaian kente cloth, stitching and researching for new collections alongside his design team. Kente is a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips and is native to the Akan tribe in Ghana.

I also visited Bonwire, a town in Ghana and birth place of kente weaving in Kumasi, to further research the origins of the cloth, this influenced my Kente inspired knitwear in my graduate collection and later encouraged me to experiment with knitting with wax print cloth in my graduate collection titled “unravelled identity.” Later in 2021, the upcycled wax print cloth became our first product as part of the knit club and this yarn was also stocked in liberty London in Regent Street. The wax print cloth, a yarn product that connected our members to their cultural heritage through making, associated with our grandmothers and aunties wearing these prints across the African continent.

My months in Ghana were very inspiring. As a British-born Ghanaian, it was powerful to be surrounded by all Black design students who looked like me, an experience I had only partially experienced during my secondary education in London. Learning from a mentor who shared my heritage gave me a sense of safety and confidence, as the saying goes “you can’t be what you can’t see.” I also gained new skills in machine stitching and printing, while deepening my connection to my Ghanaian heritage through the design studio experience.

Academic Rose Sinclair, in her paper Tracing Back to Trace Forwards, highlights the importance of Black designers reconnecting with their roots (identity) through textiles making and craft. My internship in Ghana opened new creative possibilities for me through being in community with people who reflected my identity. This same approach guides our BGKC workshops through curating spaces where Black women feel seen- selecting playlists featuring black female artists such as Jill Scott and Lauryn Hill. Alongside imagery of Black women making, for example in our published book Conscious Crafts: Mindful Makes, all the beginners knit techniques are modelled with black hands - a resource that wasn’t available to me as a young student.

We also use marketing visuals in our workshops and partnerships that centre black hands knitting, all of these curated details remind our members that they belong in the knitting space.

This visibility was also reflected in our BBC Oneness knitting ident in collaboration with British photographer Martin Parr. In 2020, during Covid-19, we recorded online clips with our knitters, broadcast to around 34 million people nationwide. The advert allowed our members to see themselves represented in the crafting space and reminded other makers, for example my undergraduate students, that Black women are contributing to the knit industry on a wider commercial scale. We are reinforcing the message that Black women are part of the knitting community and are activists in creating change by being visible and enjoying making, for the world to witness.

Vea Koranteng: Our motivation for starting Black Girl Knit Club (BGKC) also came from following the social media hashtag #diversknitty. Where different knitwear designers and makers were calling for more diversity within the craft community. The reason was due to visibility. Black women have only accounted for four percent of the craft industry since 2006, with 129,000 crafters working in the UK (Patel, 2021). We, as friends, wanted to create a safe and inclusive space for Black women and female creatives like ourselves to gather, share our stories and inspire each other through craft skills. Whilst also equipping the next generation with a new skill.

I graduated from the University of Brighton in the built environment studying Architectural Technology in 2012. I also worked in the construction industry spanning 9+ years, most recently as a Design Manager. Similar to Sicgmone I also didn't have reference to many black academics or peers on my course and especially whilst navigating a career in construction. I also have a passion for fashion and interior styling, specifically vintage textiles and have my own e-commerce platform Brantuo Studio. I believe that there is a unique power in working with your hands and a satisfaction in creating an object or material that didn’t exist before. We see the joy between the women that create various knits in our sessions and think that the repetition of making together is also a healing practice – similar to the gees bend quilt maker groups in Alabama. They would sew together and share both stories and skills as a form of community and activism.

Initially when we had our first workshop in February 2019 it was a very technical workshop session that had been planned. After the session we realised that what women really wanted to do was talk, discuss their hair, children and other topics.

Most importantly they felt a sense of “home,” with the women in the workshop space.

Blackman (2005: 22) mentions the experience of working, marching, playing, making, or competing together, in sync is a real one in human interconnectedness, without actually being touched. This is similar to the space that BGKC creates, creating connection through making and it is important to us as co-founders that we create a space that allows these moments of connection to happen.

What have you learned from running the BGKC?

Sicgmone Kludje: From running BGKC I have learnt the importance of building relationships to help nurture the business. Especially through building a strong team that understands the vision for the brand. For example, our workshop facilitator Sheree Robinson also studied with me at Central St Martins, she is a dynamic knitwear designer that also conceptualises exciting workshops for the members and equally understands our brand pillars of wellness, design and most importantly the community. Making sure that our members have the best workshop experience.

Vea Koranteng: As a co-founder I have learnt the importance of taking moments of rest whilst building the business. We are often approached by different institutions for partnerships but we always discuss if an institution's core values align with our vision for BGKC - before making those decisions

I have also deeply appreciated the close knit community of knitters that support the work that we do. In January 2023 we turned to our community to help us imagine this installation at Stratford Cross. Our first public yarn bomb installation ‘Braided Traditions, common threads,’inspired by the hair stories of Black women. This was 6 weeks of hard work and dedication and many of the women volunteered extra time to help us complete the commission. Another reminder that the knit club is also like an external family to us as founders - we are very thankful for the women that continue to work with us.

Our future goals for BGKC is to continue creating safe spaces where people can connect and share knowledge through knitting. The vision is to create our very own BGKC agency and provide a learning platform for the next generation of knitwear designers.

@Blackgirlknitclub
www.blackgirlknitclub.com

Patel, K. (2021) Making Changes in craft: Craft Expertise Phase One Report.

Ross, Doran H. (1998). Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History.