International Women’s Day Event 2021

Who are you? What do you do?

My name is Fahima and I am currently studying a foundation art course at Central Saint Martins. I am passionate about all things creative and I like to share my hobbies with others. I took part in the event with TATI and am interested in chasing more opportunities like this through community work and volunteering.

How does it link to OITIJ-JO / TATI?  How did you get involved?

On the 6th March 2021, TATI celebrated International Women’s day through a day of arts and crafts and I took part in the event. I learnt about TATI through my mum who has been involved with TATI Café. I enjoyed meeting other Tati members and hearing about how they got involved and the various activities they participated in. It was great to meet Rukia Ullah who dilevered a workshop on painting with spices and Anjum Ishtiaq who taught a sewing workshop. In the afternoon there was also cooking demonstration.

Tell us about your involvement: what happened, the activities, who was involved, where did it happen, when did it happen?

I taught a crochet workshop, focusing on basic skills and techniques for beginners. Due to government restrictions, the event took place over Zoom, so packs of yarn and crochet hooks were sent to participents and they followed along with me on a Facebook livestream. Crochet is a hobby that I have developed over the past year; I really got into it during the first lockdown when schools closed and I was quite bored at home.

 What was it like doing it? How did you feel before, during and after?

For the workshop I focused on teaching the basics of crochet like how to hold a crochet needle, different types of stiches and how to join crocheted squares. I still remember how difficult I found it at first as crochet can be quite tricky to get the hang of, but lots of practice has helped me get better and I felt a real sense of achievement as I progressed and was able to follow different patterns. I love the idea of passing this skill onto others. Initially, when I first spoke to Maher about doing a workshop I was a little unsure, as I had ever done something like this; I was a little nervous before the day as I had never taught crochet before and I wanted to make sure that people could actually follow along and understand what I was demonstrating. Overall, the event was a great success and the videos are still up on Tati’s Facebook for anyone who was not able to join on the day.

What’s next?       

I had great time on the day and I feel it’s really important to pick up hobbies like crochet as the can be a form of mindfulness and help us spend less time on our phones and digital devices. I hope I have encouraged others to take it up as a hobby. One participant told me that she really enjoyed the day of workshops, and they have inspired her to learn new crafts and think about upcycling and making art from things she already has at home. I really enjoyed the experience and I hope I can do more workshops, perhaps meeting people face-to-face to teach them how to crochet. This was a fantastic opportunity and I am looking forward to seeing what other programmes Tati organises in the future.