Riddz POV On Sewing, Confidence And Finding Your Voice In The Community

In this episode, Riddz POV shares his journey from self-taught fashion enthusiast to emerging designer, exploring how customisation and upcycling became the foundation for creating his own clothes. 

He talks about the realities of teaching yourself to sew, developing your style, and turning creativity into something more purposeful.

We dive into the importance of sustainable fashion, from sourcing the right fabrics to reworking existing pieces, as well as the challenges that come with creative burnout and how to move through it. 

Riddz also shares practical sewing tips, insights into learning by doing, and the story behind his popular London fabric shop series.

Whether you’re into upcycling, streetwear, or starting your own sewing journey, this episode is packed with inspiration, honest reflections, and useful advice for building confidence and growing your skills.

Key Takeaways:

• Riddz started his creative journey in 2019 
• His Mum taught him how to use a sewing machine, but he is largely self taught via YouTube
• Riddz started his business by customising jeans for friends and things have naturally grown from there
• His series about "The Best Fabric Shops in London" went viral on Instagram
• Riddz gives tips on dealing with creative burnout and imposter syndrome

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Guest Details:

Instagram: @riddzpov

                  : @byriddz

Tiktok: riddzpov

Website: www.byriddz.com

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Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Riddz and His Creative Journey
00:28 The Birth of a Fashion Designer
03:57 Learning to Sew: The Role of YouTube
06:08 Transitioning from Customisation to Garment Making
09:15 Challenges in Making Jeans
12:22 Reactions to Male Sewists
15:24 Exploring Fabric Shops in London
18:14 Unique Finds in Fabric Shops
21:06 Exploring Fabrics and Upcycling
24:48 Navigating Creative Burnout
27:02 Dealing with Imposter Syndrome
30:12 Collaborations and Creative Growth
34:15 Dreams and Aspirations in Crafting
38:31 Outro - tip on Ko-fi

Transcript

Gemma Daly (00:12)
Riddz, welcome to the Sewing Social podcast. I'm so happy to have you on today.

Riddz (00:16)
Hello, hello. Thank you very much. Genuinely honoured to be here. It's first time doing a podcast, so I'm actually excited.

Gemma Daly (00:21)
Yay!

was wondering if you could introduce yourself to the listeners.

Riddz (00:28)
Okay, so I'm Ridwan, socially known as Riddz, Riddz POV. I'm a self-taught fashion designer, you could say. You like to indulge in various of crafts. One day I might be mainly sewing, I would say, but might be making a rug, might be making a bag, making jeans. So I try to say I do it all.

Gemma Daly (00:47)
Awesome. So

tell us about how that creative journey started and how that sort of led you on to learning to sew.

Riddz (00:56)
It's been quite a while to be honest. I would say I started my creative journey, you could say in 2019. That's what? Seven years ago. I quite remember the Yeah, so I first started, I've always been like creative, had a creative mind. I like to use my hands a lot. So even outside of sewing, and I like doing DIY, fixing things, just always moving my hands. So it's a funny story actually. I used to have these one pair of jeans where

Gemma Daly (01:06)
Yeah?

Riddz (01:23)
I wore them everywhere, they very basic jeans, simple jeans. But then I got to one day where I think I was going out to dinner and I just, I was like, you know what? Everyone's seen these jeans, I wanna like spice them up a bit. I had never done anything clothing related before that day. So at the time what was trending was paint splatter. Everyone had like bit of paint splatter on their jeans, trying to make it look a bit like rough, et cetera. So I'm like, you know what, let me add a bit of, let me try spice them up a bit.

So I literally just went crazy with the paint splatter. I think I was wearing pink shoes that day, very flamboyant. So I added some pink paint splatter onto it. I'm like, hmm, let me wear them, see what people think. Naturally, when I wore them out, I didn't even like, projects that I was the one that put the paint splatter on, but everyone was like, I love your jeans. How'd you get them? Where'd you get them? I was like, ⁓ I made them. That was the first time I actually used that phrase that I created something. And then it was kind of like a domino effect. So everyone was just like, ⁓ can you like add paint splatter onto my ones, et cetera, because.

In the custom why I feel like it's very unique is because might be hard to find jeans with a specific color or specific pattern that you want. So being able actually get hold of someone that sort that out for you is a unique skill, you could say. But yeah, back to originally, one thing led to another and then before you knew it, I kind of had business you could say, like just adding paints for like, ah.

adding rips on jeans. I wasn't really sewing yet at this time because I hadn't, I learned the basics of sewing from my mother but I wasn't really confident behind the sewing machine. I was literally hand sewing a lot of stuff. So let's say I wanted to add a patch onto like a t-shirt or patch onto the jeans. I was literally hand stitching over a needle but then I came to realise that was it really the most effective method? It was very time consuming. So my mum had this old sewing machine that was probably like 10 plus years old in the family. I think it was a Bernadette?

But yeah, she was showing me kind of like the basics of how to sew, mainly how to operate the sewing machine. Because I feel like that's the part that when it comes to sewing, understanding how the actual machine works. That's the most important part. Because if the machine doesn't work, you're not going to...

get any work done, be honest. Yeah, she will show me the basics. And then I would like to say I'm a quick learner. I'm a visual learner. That's the main important thing. I'm a visual learner. So as long as I can see how something's operated, even if I like get a basic understanding of it, I can kind of like feel the machine, look at it, study how that needle moves onto there. And yeah, I kind of progressively learn like that.

Gemma Daly (03:51)
YouTube a lot? Because I think I saw in some of your videos that you learned from YouTube videos, because that will be your visual side of things, won't it?

Riddz (03:57)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Me and YouTube, we're literally like this. We're all best friends. So I was watching introductory videos on how to sew, how to kind of use the sewing machine. I was watching a lot of videos on how to fix your sewing machine because, like I said, once the sewing machine kind of goes through some problems or whatnot, you have to learn how to fix it and how to recognize a problem and how to kind of avoid that problem in the future. So YouTube was very helpful for that.

Cause it's like trying to read an article on how to fix a bobbin tray. Like when you have a lot of words, it's not really showing you how the problem looks, how to fix it. So YouTube was a very instrumental in my learning. Yeah.

Gemma Daly (04:37)
Yeah. Yeah. So do you think

that you naturally then created a business from people sort of coming to you wanting you to customize their clothes? Is that how things evolved?

Riddz (04:51)
Yeah, very much so. It was almost like a domino effect because like I was saying, when I was adding a paint splatter onto the jeans, that first day I added it on, I wasn't really thinking of the business side of stuff. just wanted, I was just happy that I kind of unlocked a part of my creativity. was like, well, I guess I can kind of make anything you could say. I can customize any sort of colors on anything can, quite literally. I was mainly just doing it for myself.

at first and a couple of my close friends around just come and bring me their jeans and I could spice them up a bit because I wasn't really as yet in the very beginning, obviously, as doing it for other people because I wasn't really thinking of the business side of stuff. I was like, what if I mess up the jeans? What if I get too much paint on it? So I was just kind of doing it within my circle, trying to build trust and build up the confidence and the skill sets. And then after a while I was like, you know what?

Let me actually open this up, maybe start a business, post it by it, but not really proper content as per se. Maybe just put it on my Snapchat story, paint splatter jeans, et cetera, and kind of see the feedback from it. So yeah, it kind of felt natural the way I started the business, you could say, yeah, at the beginning.

Gemma Daly (06:02)
Yeah and is that like is that what you're doing at the moment? Is this your business?

Riddz (06:08)
Yeah, literally this is main business. So it has progressed over the years as to, funny enough, I started off doing paint splatter, but I haven't done paint splatter on jeans in a very long time because as the years goes on, fashion trends change and styles change, et cetera. But along the journey as well, I did start learning how to actually make clothes from scratch because

I kind of wanted to understand like the fundamentals of garments. Like how did something get from A to B? I didn't want to just like customize it after it was kind of at 100%. I wanted to like cool, this is like a t-shirt I'm wearing. How was the zipper added on? Not necessarily to then make the same custom garment for someone else, but just for like, just for skills and knowledge set, to be honest, because there's no knowledge that's not power, to be honest.

and then yes I started learning how to make clothes again YouTube was very helpful very very helpful actually I still use YouTube to this day to learn how to make new stuff I remember my first t-shirt that I made I had to find a picture of it, horror looking like when I first made it I was over the moon I was like wow like damn these two pieces came together etc I'm like this is beautiful but if I looked at that today that is that's horrible but yeah that's

Learned the steps to be honest. T-shirts was quite easy to make or easy to learn I would say because it's your front piece, your two sleeves, your back piece, there's not a lot of stitching. You can practice your seam allowances with Yeah and then I moved on to that hoodie. I still haven't fully experimented the wide world of making clothes because there's still a lot of other pieces that I don't actually know how to make but...

I'm learning something new every day. So I started learning how to make hoodies, joggers as well. I love wearing tracksuits. I'm always in the tracksuit so I might as well learn to make something that I like wearing often. And even recently I started learning how to make jeans. I made a little content on it. That's probably been my biggest challenge yet I would say in my sewing world because with jeans, there's a lot of components that go into

Gemma Daly (07:59)
Yeah.

Riddz (08:12)
Yeah, that was a challenge, but it was a good challenge because it was something that I was putting off for a while because I was genuinely a put my hands up. I was actually scared to make them because I was like, yeah, said I'm a visual learner. I can like, I like looking at like a garment that I might not how to make. And I'm like, okay, cool. Maybe that's how like the zip was sewn on and then this collar was attached on to there. But when I held a piece of jeans or a pair of jeans, I was genuinely bamboozled. I said, how this...

Gemma Daly (08:22)
I know the feeling.

Riddz (08:41)
How did this come together? So it just like overwhelmed me. was like, you know, I'll cross that bridge in the future. And I said that for a while. And then I sat down and was like, you know what? I'm actually gonna learn how it was made. Especially because my main business is actually customizing jeans. I feel like it's almost a crime to like customize jeans but not know how they were actually originally made. So I've only made one pair. I still feel like I need to make a couple more to cement everything that I've learned. Because again, there's a lot of steps.

But yeah, that's been my most recent creation slash learning adventure, learning how to make jeans.

Gemma Daly (09:15)
Amazing and they are a complex make like

I I have done some but I tend to put it off because you've got to put that time in to make it a good wearable garment But you you did the course at a new craft house, didn't you?

Riddz (09:26)
Of course.

Yeah, I did, yeah, again, visual learner. have to having, that was the first time I've actually done a class as well, because everything I've done was from like YouTube pretty much trying to learn, holding a physical item. So I thought, you know, let me actually try a class, because it was very like, it was very helpful having someone could kind of like guide you along the way. And the one thing I liked about the class as well, it wasn't like a sit down, here's how you do this, this and that. It was semi-independent, but

there was someone there that you could like, the teacher there obviously that you can like bounce off of anytime you struggle, they'll come and kind of help you. So I liked having the opportunity to kind of learn for myself, but know I'm struggling with a part or part of making, was someone Miss, you show me how to do this? Yeah, so that was good. You said you've made some jeans. How did you get into sewing?

Gemma Daly (10:14)
Yeah.

That's cool.

⁓ you're throwing it back on me, you? I think, well, I've always been like crafty, know, like doing various crafts as a kid and used to sewing machine at school because we did textiles at school. And then as an adult, I did a couple of classes to sort of tell myself, do I want to buy a machine? Cause it is a big investment, you know? So I did a couple of classes.

Riddz (10:26)
Dead.

Mm-hmm.

Gemma Daly (10:50)
thought actually, yes, I do like this. I'm gonna carry on doing this. Did a lot of, you know, the typical tote bags and craft stuff. And it was only when I actually had my son, who's now seven, I gave garment sewing in a go. Because I was scared, which is ridiculous. Because really, all it is is following instructions, isn't it?

Riddz (10:59)
Mm-hmm.

No,

literally, very much so. But it is daunting.

Gemma Daly (11:14)
But the end product,

yeah, it seems kind of unattainable, but it isn't. You just got to do one step at a time. And it just grew from there really. And it's exciting being able to make your own clothes, isn't it?

Riddz (11:29)
No, 100 % especially as you were saying, doing one step at a time. What kind of pushes me as well, especially when I'm making something complex. I feel like the hardest part is the beginning, having like all the fabrics that's not cut out, just having a set of instructions that you don't fully understand. But once you take one step to two, then two to four, then you're on step eight. Hold on, wait, this is kind of coming apart and you almost want to, you want to carry on because you're like, cool, I've gotten this far.

Gemma Daly (11:52)
Yeah.

Riddz (11:54)
Let me actually see how it's gonna look at the very end. And yeah, once you get it, it's almost like dopamine even, where you've got to the end of that. You're like, what can I make next? Literally, so that's one thing. Once you start, that's like, overplay, that's the phrase might be like, literally just Once you it will be organs blazing, cool.

Gemma Daly (11:57)
This is it. It is.

Yeah, you're away. Yeah, this is it. So,

sort of tell me as a young like male sowist then, what reactions do you get when people realise you sow?

Riddz (12:22)
Mm-hmm.

Hmm. To be honest, I've gotten, I don't think I've ever gotten like negative feedback or even, I thought people have actually found it very like cool, you could say, or like interesting, like, oh, you can sew, like you can actually make clothes. and like, because it's been pretty much second nature to me for a while now, I like, I'll make like a quick, simple t-shirt. This is now, not early on in my days when I was struggling.

Gemma Daly (12:37)
Yeah.

Riddz (12:51)
I make like a quick simple t-shirt but because I'm so used to making them, someone new might see it and be like, brother, you made this t-shirt. But in my head, I'm just like, yeah, it's a normal t-shirt. But then again, from their perspective, like how, their perspective is kind of how I was in the beginning. How did you make this? Like, this is crazy. And then, yeah, a lot of people like it. I've received a lot of good feedback. My mum, literally every time she sees something new, it's as if she's seen me sewing for the first time, even though she was the one that taught me so.

Gemma Daly (13:01)
Yeah.

Aww.

Riddz (13:22)
She's quite proud, my dad loves it as well. And yeah, she's always trying to find out what I'm making next or what I'm working on and et cetera. And then even funny enough, see how she started showing me how to sew. Now if she needs some sort of tailoring done, mind you, she can sew. She knows how to tailor. She'll be like, ⁓ Ridwan, could you do this for me? And I'm just looking at her like, but you're the one that taught me. He's like, how about you're faster? I'm like, you know what?

Gemma Daly (13:24)
That's really nice.

Ha ha ha ha!

You

Riddz (13:49)
What can I say? But yeah, literally not. Literally, because without her knowledge, I wouldn't be doing it for myself anyway. But yeah, it's overall good feedback here.

Gemma Daly (13:50)
Fair enough. You gotta pay her back for teaching you.

that's cool. So

that's really good. Cause I think you're probably, you're on the younger end of things, but I don't know if you're involved in like the Instagram sewing community, but it is largely female. So I do like to get male perspective on things. Cause it's, it's often called dressmaking, you know, and I think there is a stereotype. So I do like to hear the

Riddz (14:07)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, of course.

Mmm mmm mmm mmm.

Gemma Daly (14:25)
you know, men are getting into it and they're having a really positive experience. So that's great.

Riddz (14:30)
Even me myself, I love seeing other men that are crafty, that are sewing. Because like you said, it if we're being real, a very much female dominated sector of craft. So even when a lot of people might be engaging in my videos, they're like, I love seeing men get into more crafty hobbies, sewing, et cetera. I'm like, yeah, it's good. It's good. And even when I'm scrolling and I see someone doing something similar,

Gemma Daly (14:52)
It is good.

Riddz (14:56)
to what I'm doing and it's a meal. like, you know what? Good on you. I even interact with a lot of them. Like I dropped them a message saying, your work is hard, your work is good. Keep going, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah.

Gemma Daly (14:59)
Yeah.

That's really

good, that's really positive and that's what we want. We want a variety of people, don't we?

Riddz (15:13)
Of course, the white community.

Gemma Daly (15:15)
That's it. So I think I first noticed your account when you were doing your series about when you were cycling to all the fabric shops in London. What inspired you to start that series?

Riddz (15:24)
Yeah, 1 to 1 to carry it on actually.

It's very random, not random, but I go to fabric shops all the time. I love a good fabric shop. I can be there for literally hours because that's how I get a lot of inspiration as well. Because I'm one person, I love textures on fabric. So I can go to a fabric shop without knowing what to make or without any intention of making anything. And then I can leave there with five new pieces that is or literally just sometimes even get overwhelmed because they're like fabric shops. I tell people if you're going to a fabric shop, just

almost cancel out your day because you're gonna go there with the intention of making a bag, looking for fabric for a bag or a t-shirt. Next thing you know, you're like, oh, this would be quite nice on a hoodie. Oh, okay, cool, maybe I wanted that for a bag and et cetera. But yeah, there was one day was going to a fabric shop and because I was already filming content, I was like, you know, let me actually like film about this fabric shop or like, I'm always going to different ones. So it just came to my head I'm like, let me do like a best fabric shops in London. Genuinely, it was just like a random thought.

I wasn't even planning on making it a series, like the first video was like I'm on the hunt for the best fabric shop in London. So I just went to one that I went to often, which was Dalston Mills, I believe. I was literally there the other day. That fabric shop, floor to ceiling fabrics, like they've got everything. Even when I went there the other day, funny enough, I've been going there for over a year. I found another section at the back I didn't even know existed. I was looking around like, damn.

But yeah, I started that. That received a lot of good feedback because I feel like the one good thing about social media having like...

let's say you want to make something or you don't know where Fabric Shop is, Fabric Shop's London. I thought that series was so important to a lot of people, important to myself as well, because it's kind of like a hub like one place for people to find, literally, Fabric Shops. And I still to this day get a lot of messages of, thank you so much for your recommendations, et cetera. And I didn't realize how important it was to other people until they actually came and gave me feedback on it saying, genuinely, your Fabric Shop series, I love it.

People from outside of London even were like, next time I'm in London I'm gonna go to XYZ And I feel like going forward as well, because a lot of people have actually told me to carry on. I didn't stop for any particular reason. I did have surgery a couple months ago, so I wasn't able to move around as often. So feel like that's why I took a little halt. But I do want to expand that further than London, because as much as London is the hub for crafts and et cetera, there are people that live in Birmingham. There's a really good shop in Birmingham, I think, that I want to go check out. I can't remember the name.

But Birmingham, Yorkshire, et cetera, all of these new places that might not have access to London, I'm like, I'm gonna come to your city. I'm gonna break it down. So let me see what's in your city and show you the hidden gems. But yeah, that's definitely something I wanna extend a bit further.

Gemma Daly (17:57)
Yeah

Yeah.

I love that. I love that. So which was your favourite shop in the end or can't you say?

Riddz (18:14)
Ahhhh

To be honest, genuinely, this is not even like me trying to dodge the question I feel like every shop that I've been to has genuinely had like unique fabrics that I haven't example, I'll find something I think I can't remember the name I've been to so many but there was one in

Gemma Daly (18:18)
Yeah.

Riddz (18:30)
I think it was Hackney. A lot of them are in the Hackney area. I don't know why. That's just like, that's where most of them are. But I think it was on Hackney and I found this really, but me get it for you. on, I'm literally looking at it right now.

Gemma Daly (18:33)
Mmm.

Riddz (18:41)
It's like this distressed almost denim and I haven't seen anything like it before. So, yeah, I really love this one, but I wouldn't find this in like a Dalston Mills, for example. But Dalston Mills the other day, they had some nice like mohair type fabric. I haven't seen that in another shop. So literally every shop that I've been to, I've always managed to find something very unique. none of them are my favorite. Or I'm gonna wait till the series ends, which could be never. But yeah, every shop has something unique and I like.

Gemma Daly (18:44)
⁓ yeah, that's cool.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Riddz (19:08)
I wouldn't want one shop to have it all if that makes sense because that makes it boring. You're not going to find everything in one space.

Gemma Daly (19:12)
Yeah.

It's like finding treasure, isn't it? When you find a really inspiring fabric and it seems like you use the fabric to inspire your, your project. Yeah.

Riddz (19:20)
Mm-hmm.

Now of course, yeah, because the fabrics is

a big part of making, so that kind of makes or breaks the projects you could say. What's your favourite fabric shop? Or a memorable one that you've been to?

Gemma Daly (19:32)
Absolutely. that's a tough one, you know, because

where I live in Nottingham and there aren't really any around here, which is really sad. So I do a lot of shopping online.

Riddz (19:40)
Okay.

Mmm. Ugh.

With just on

that, with the online shopping, I've always wondered, because me personally, I've never fabrics from online because again, because I'm a texture guy, I feel like I have to feel it. And I don't know, I'm not that knowledgeable in fabrics, so even though a lot of the online fabrics might be very descriptive, I don't really know like, okay, cool, that might be 100 % cotton, it might be like dead stock designer, but because I haven't got a feel of it.

Gemma Daly (19:53)
Okay.

Yeah. What does it feel

like? Yeah.

Riddz (20:10)
Yeah, I can never really

put my 100 % trust in it. Not that I don't trust it anything, but yeah, I've always wondered about online shopping.

Gemma Daly (20:16)
think when you are quite confident with your knowledge of fabrics, because there is quite a lot to learn. I've been sewing garments pretty much about the same time that you started doing your crafty stuff. I feel quite confident in my knowledge. list the weights as well. So when you get familiar with the weight of fabric,

Riddz (20:23)
Mm-hmm.

⁓ Mm-hmm.

Gemma Daly (20:38)
you'll

know, oh yeah, this is for trousers or this is lightweight. So it's probably more like a shirt. Do you know what I mean? But it is, it's a huge learning curve, but I would shop at places like, I'll give a few a shout out now. So there's, Hey Sew Sister. She's up in Scotland. There's Guthrie and Ghani in Birmingham area. I'm just looking at my fabrics now thinking where have I got them from? Yeah, there's loads, but.

Riddz (20:45)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Gemma Daly (21:06)
I,

like I say, I have limited access to going in person, which is a real shame, because I like to feel the fabric as well, but I'd be waiting like months if I had to, you know, actually trek to a shop. So yeah, it's just about learning different types of fabric, what the weights are like, and do you like natural fibers or don't you mind a bit of polyester, that kind of thing.

Riddz (21:15)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Fair enough. fair

enough.

Gemma Daly (21:35)
It is a learning curve. You do a lot of, like you say, customizing and refashioning work. What is it that you really like about that? And do you think it's important to sort of upcycle things rather than always making new?

Riddz (21:41)
Mm-hmm.

100 % me, I love a good upcycle. It's even funny now that you say that because I would tell you one time I had a friend where I think he was trying to give he was in our group chat and he was trying to give away he had some like old trousers that I didn't think he wanted or what not and then I actually liked them but I didn't want to wear them but I didn't tell him that and I was like can I get these and then he's like no I can't give this to Ridwan because it will turn him into like a hat or something that I actually found out so so funny because it was true

Gemma Daly (22:09)
Hahaha

Hahaha

Riddz (22:17)
I didn't want to wear it. I wanted to repurpose it into something But why upcycling it's so important, because I feel like everything always has a purpose. ties into creativity as well. can see the trousers, for example, like a rug. And my mind just naturally, instinctively, always goes to that, I wonder what else that can be made into. Literally, naturally, without even intentionally thinking like that.

Every sort of fabric I'll see, I'm like, what can that be made out of? And it's so important because I hate throwing, I don't like throwing away stuff. I only throw away fabrics or pieces of scraps if I really have to or if the studio is absolutely stockpiled of them. But I always, even scrap denim, I might be finished making a project. It can be tiny. I'll be like, that can be added onto something else in the future. I'll always keep it. So upcycling is just about...

It longevity to fabrics etc. Not even just fabrics, it just adds longevity to everything to be honest. And it adds like a core factor to it as well because I feel like it adds to the story of products. So I might wear like a cool Let me find something like this. Again, visual guy. This bucket hat up here, I literally made of all scrap denim. I don't know if the camera can see it clearly or what not.

Gemma Daly (23:21)
Yep.

Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah.

Riddz (23:30)
Yeah,

so all of these were like literally offcuts from like other jeans, et cetera. This was some like floral corduroy. And if I didn't keep these scrap denims or scrap pieces of fabric, I wouldn't be able to upcycle it into this. And it's reversible as well. this has a cool story. Someone could tell you, how did you make this? this was from some H jeans and these are from some jeans I got from the charity shop. I? literally. So upcycling adds a cool story and a bit of wow factor.

Gemma Daly (23:34)
Thank

Exactly.

Riddz (23:57)
It gives close character.

Gemma Daly (23:57)
I love that. It does, it does. And

we talk a lot on the show about sustainability as well, because, you know, with making your own clothes or garments for the people, there is naturally going to be waste, isn't there? And I think denim is one of those amazing fabrics where you can just make something else out of the scraps. But it is, it's important not to just throw stuff away.

Riddz (24:05)
Mm-hmm.

Of course, yeah.

Gemma Daly (24:24)
I think we all need to be quite conscious of that. So it sounds like you're very conscious of that, which is cool.

Riddz (24:27)
No, 100%. ⁓

and it ⁓ hurts my heart. Genuinely, I can't. Like, I only do it if I'm like, there's nothing else I can like, delve from this fabric. But yeah, love a bit of upcycling.

Gemma Daly (24:32)
Yeah.

I know that feeling as well.

You've also spoken on your Instagram a bit about creative burnout. I wondered if you've got any tips for anyone sort of going through the same thing or just feeling a bit uninspired at the moment.

Riddz (24:48)
Mm-hmm.

Of course, what fact, a factor that I feel like contributed to my burnout was there was a period of time didn't feel obligated to put, because I post obviously on social media, but I didn't feel obligated to post, but I kind of felt like, ah, because I posted so much and I'm always making something, I kind of have to continue that even when I don't feel like continuing it. So that kind of added onto the burnout. I'm like, oh, what am I making today? I need to post today.

Gemma Daly (25:07)
you

Riddz (25:21)
I haven't posted making something in long, et cetera. So all of that goes on in my head and then I just kind of had to sit down with myself and realize, know what, posting is not everything. You have to remember, you started this as like a passion and to kind of like ease your mind and it feel like a chore, put it that way. It shouldn't feel like a job. And a good piece of advice someone actually commented for me, which I actually still take up to this day was,

If you split your week or you split your month or however do your scheduling. This is just me personally called I post on social media but you can apply this to everything. Have a project that is strictly okay this is what I'm going to do post on social media. Look it in as that and then have your other projects where it might be client work might not necessarily need to post on social media just look in with that customers etc but the most important one is you need to have a project or set aside a craft that you have that is just for you.

is not to be posted on, is not to be made for another customer. For you to sit down, this is your mind cooler. This is the projects that I'm making. This is my fun projects. Something that you can look forward to, something that keeps the passion for it alive, if that makes sense. And yeah, that advice really went a long way with me because when I was making that project, one, like a barrier all my other obligations. I was like, you know what, cool.

I might have to make this now, but I've got something to look forward to at end of the week that doesn't feel like a chore. Yeah, if that makes sense.

Gemma Daly (26:43)
That is such good advice, actually, because I think social media is amazing, isn't it? But it does add like this next layer of pressure because you want to show what you're doing, but it's like a second job.

Riddz (26:45)
Yeah.

100 %

Yeah,

I feel that it's not talked about enough. Yeah, 100%.

Gemma Daly (27:03)
and you sort of spoke about, because you've got a really good following on Instagram, haven't you? And you spoke about how you feel a bit of imposter syndrome sometimes, and it definitely is something that we all get. But how do you deal with it personally?

Riddz (27:08)
Yeah, I'm pretty grateful.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm, 100%.

Again, it's with a lot of self-reflection and also just going through... What I do a lot sometimes as well. Anytime I feel like that, I'll go through I've made on a project that I've really liked and just received good feedback because I might be feeling like this, but from the outside world, everyone's like, no, this is hard, this is good, this is nice. And that kind of like reignites a bit of flame in me. I'm like, you know what? I might be feeling like this, but like...

Does it, does it, everything I'm making like, there's a reason I would say I kind of have this following. Like it's not, it's not really for no reason. could say like a lot of people actually that like my work as much as I might make something that I don't like. I don't really feel inspired by someone else might see it and they might be like, you know, this is my, this is my sign to actually pick this up or start doing this because they've seen what I've made. So I always tell myself it's a lot bigger than me. It's a lot, like it's a lot bigger than the cause because there's people out there.

that might not be feeling inspired or they might be procrastinating about something, but then they'll see something that I've made and that might be their final urge to kind of actually do something, which I genuinely love. When people were messaging me saying, you inspired me to do this, or I saw your video on that. And to me, was like, I hated making up projects. I didn't even think that it looks nice, but the fact that that was like, kind of like, that made you pick up and do something, it kind of like takes me out of that mind of like, imposter. I'm like, you know what?

It's bigger than the cause. It's bigger than me saying that I'm not good enough or something. It's bigger than that.

Gemma Daly (28:46)
I know how you feel.

Yeah, and it's just, when you think that you have inspired someone else, how meaningful is that? It's so nice, isn't it?

Riddz (28:55)
Oh, it's

like, can't even begin to describe it genuinely. I'm just like, I was sitting there looking at the message like, wow, like, damn. Like, thank you. No, literally, little old me, because as much as I'm out of the following and et cetera, I'm just a guy that's trying to learn how to sew at the end of the day. Yeah. To flip it back on you though, have you ever thought of post-traumatic Have you? Yeah, yeah. Well, have you ever,

Gemma Daly (29:02)
Little old me.

Yeah, exactly. Go on. God, yeah. I feel it every day.

Like, what am I doing? Am I doing the right thing? know, it might be the same, know, external feedback is always helpful, isn't it? But I don't want to always rely on it. think I just have a bit of a word with myself and think.

Riddz (29:24)
How do you combat that?

Of course, yeah.

Gemma Daly (29:38)
Do you want to do this? And if you do, just do it.

Riddz (29:41)
No,

very much so. Self-reflection is a very key factor on it here.

Gemma Daly (29:45)
Yeah, it's hard though, because you always

see somebody that you think is doing better than you. Do you know what mean? It's always comparison. But like they say, that is the thief of joy. Like it doesn't get you anywhere. Always comparing someone else. So you just got to do your own thing. Yeah. This is it. All the sayings are coming out now. Yeah.

Riddz (30:00)
Everyone's story is different. Got to your own race.

Literally. But yeah, it's really, really, important to realise

you're on your own journey.

Gemma Daly (30:12)
That's it. You've done some work recently with Hobbycraft, haven't you? How did that collaboration? come about?

Riddz (30:16)
Mm-hmm, yeah, have, so I'll be cropped.

So they shout at Hobbycraft, they love Hobbycraft, lovely team, genuinely. That first came about when I started learning how to crochet. I haven't even touched on crocheting. But yeah, crocheting, I haven't crocheted in a while. I need to start doing that again. But literally, the start of last year, I would say, again, random side mission. I was like, I want to learn a new skill. This was in January. Maybe the New Year's blues got to me. I'm like, let me, at first I wanted to learn how to knit. I started learning, was like, I'm not going to lie, not that I'm a quitter, but.

Gemma Daly (30:21)
Hehehehe

Mmm!

Yeah.

Riddz (30:45)
This is not really, it's not aligning for me. It's just, it's not fixing the sound. Like, you know, let me do crocheting. It's a bit more simple to get into a lot more enjoyable. Cause I always say the one thing about crocheting, all you need a stick and some yarn and you can make wonders. Literally. So I started documenting my journey, just learning how to crochet, et cetera. And then I think they must've seen it, the power of social media. You don't know how far the reach can get. They've seen it. They actually sent me some yarn.

Gemma Daly (30:48)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Riddz (31:11)
a bunch of yarn literally, which I'm very grateful for for me to start my journey or continue my journey at this time anyway. And they've always been very supportive of my content, always like interacting with it, checking up on it, etc. Just very organically, I feel like how our relationship came about, wasn't, it didn't feel like business or like they've genuinely seemed very invested in me and my videos and along the journey. it's very, very cool. So yeah, they sent me some.

Gemma Daly (31:32)
That's cool.

Riddz (31:36)
to begin with. And then we first worked together last year, yeah, last year, April, where they wanted me to create some videos or create some items leading up to summer. So that's on summer essentials. So I believe I worked on, I made like a sunglasses case, which I gave to my sister. And then I made like a water bottle holder, because obviously it was coming up to festival season, everyone's outside. So just something nice to like hold your bottle in. And then I also made

Gemma Daly (31:54)
Yeah?

That's cool.

Riddz (32:04)
I believe a laptop sleeve? I think I made a laptop sleeve. Yeah, memory's awful. just to kind of hold essentials. So yeah, we worked on that. We worked on, again, later on in the year, last year towards the end on a Black History Month project where I did punch needling for the first time. And I created my home country flag, because I'm from Sierra Leone originally, so I created punch needling portrait of the flag.

Gemma Daly (32:09)
You

Yeah.

Riddz (32:30)
Which was quite cool, again that was something that I that I'd learned, I'd never done punch needling And then, very, yeah, well, when you get it right, to be honest. Yeah, that's also what we did in our recent collaboration, I was do the punch needling And yeah, Hobbycraft have been very, very supportive, we love them.

Gemma Daly (32:34)
It's satisfying, isn't it? Yeah.

you

Awesome.

That's

real. And you know, you've got a lot of skills branching into all of these different areas, aren't you?

Riddz (32:57)
Yeah, like I said, I don't like to pigeon box myself in something. It's a gift of the curse to be honest, I'll be real because my mind wanders like, okay, cool, I wanna start doing this, but then I'll be on Pinterest, for example, I live on that app looking at new inspiration. I'll be like, that's cool, I wonder how you do that. But I haven't finished doing that original idea that I was making. And then literally I started making a rug last year. I haven't finished that. But I must've seen a cool rug on Pinterest. How's that? You know what, that would be really nice in the studio.

Gemma Daly (33:02)
Yeah.

Riddz (33:25)
start making it, start making it. And then I got sidetracked on trying to make a jacket for the first time and yeah, it's a gift on a course wanting to do it all. Yeah.

Gemma Daly (33:33)
It is, it is, and crafting

is addictive. If you're that way sort of inclined, it would be like, yeah, I just want to try this and that and that. But yeah, you end up with loads of unfinished projects.

Riddz (33:38)
Mm

I can't tell you the amount of unfinished products I have. I even made a painting. Was it early on this year? I think it was early on this year. I just woke up one morning, I wanted to paint the sunset. I started it, but yeah, that's behind me. I hadn't made sure this year, I feel like that's one goal that had for this year. If you start a project, just finish it, please. Riddz, just finish it before you go on to the next one because next thing you know, I'll have a whole gallery worth of unfinished projects.

Gemma Daly (34:08)
That's it, that's

it. So tell us what's the dream Rids, what does the dream job look like for you?

Riddz (34:15)
Great question. Great question. I feel like I'm always moving the goalposts but I would my dream is to be able to, I would say create custom work for people or create a space where people can come into my studio or have a boutique. I don't think I'd ever want to have a store per se. I like the idea of having a studio appointment.

where

people can come in, look at work that I've done, create like a custom order and just appreciate my work to be honest, appreciate my craft and trust my skillsets to create a curated piece for them in a nutshell. I would say is the dream. Literally being able to like take my skillsets and create something for someone that they can appreciate and that they can say that, I design, well not I, but they design something that I was able to like execute.

And they can kind of see when someone asks them, yeah, I designed this. I didn't make it. I got it by Riddz but this is something that I designed. We came up with together and yeah, I'm wearing it now. I want to create wearable art. That is the dream you could say. Yeah.

Gemma Daly (35:18)
That's awesome, that's awesome.

Well, you get in there certainly, aren't you? So just to tie up the interview Riddz, I like to do a little game of this or that. Is that okay with you? Yeah? So designing something new or customizing.

Riddz (35:23)
Slowly what surely, slowly what surely.

okay. Of course.

Gemma Daly (35:40)
Cool. Sew in for yourself or others.

Riddz (35:37)
Design is something new. I'm going to go with that today. Design is something new.

Saving for

myself. Yeah, saving for myself. If I mess it up, it's less pressure.

Gemma Daly (35:46)
Yeah.

Knit fabric or woven fabric.

Riddz (35:52)
No.

Gemma Daly (35:53)
easier to deal with.

Riddz (35:54)
Easier to do, has a

nicer feel as well.

Gemma Daly (35:58)
A meal out or a takeaway?

Riddz (36:00)
Ooh, take away. Love a good take away.

Gemma Daly (36:02)
What's your takeaway of choice?

Riddz (36:04)
I always get something called Lebanese Grill. It's like, it's very simple, very basic and I'm surprised me and my friends haven't got tired of it yet. It's literally just like half chicken boneless with chips and some salad. it's very, very, very tasteful.

Gemma Daly (36:11)
you

Nice,

Sewing or crochet?

Riddz (36:20)
Sewing, sewing, that the, yeah, it's how I started. So I'll say sewing. Shout out crocheting though, crocheting. Love you to bits. But yeah, I'll say sewing, sewing.

Gemma Daly (36:28)
You

Early morning creativity or late night sewing.

Riddz (36:34)
Late night sewing. Yeah, sometimes I find myself in the studio. If I turn off my phone and I'm sewing in the evening, I'll turn the back on again and it's like 1am. Yeah, because I don't have a clock in the studio so sometimes my sense of goes out the window. But late night sewing. Late night sewing.

Gemma Daly (36:49)
Yeah,

Planning every project or improvising as you go.

Riddz (36:55)
It's funny because it's hard to pick one because I might plan the projects but as I'm sewing it, the improvisation just takes away and then what I wanted, the end product isn't necessarily what I planned but again there's always creativity has no incorrect answer. I have to say both, I have to say both. It's a bit of both, yeah.

Gemma Daly (37:09)
So you could... it's a bit of both. Yeah.

Neutrals or bold prints?

Riddz (37:16)
Nichols. Nichols.

Gemma Daly (37:18)
And the last one, fashion trends or timeless style?

Riddz (37:22)
Timeless styles. Timeless styles, because I want to be able to create something that I can literally wear in like four years time. Yeah, for example, like the paint splatter, like we were touching up on earlier on. I wouldn't necessarily do paint splatter today because that was like a fashion trend at the time, but yeah. Timeless styles.

Gemma Daly (37:36)
Yeah,

Awesome. So where can people find you Riddz?

Riddz (37:42)
You can find me on Instagram, TikTok, both of my handles are RIDDZPov, RIDDZ. I'm a lot more active on Instagram I would say because it's easier to be interactive with people, especially with stories. I'm on TikTok as well. soon gonna start posting on YouTube as well, gonna be the same handle, RIDZPov, RIDDZ, POV, and then ByRIDDZ is where you can find all of my custom work.

Gemma Daly (38:05)
Awesome. I will link it all in the show notes, but you have been a fantastic guest, so thank you.

Riddz (38:09)
Thank you very much. Genuinely,

I'm even looking at the time, we speak for 45 minutes, it genuinely doesn't feel like that. Yeah, thank you very, very much for having me, honestly.

Gemma Daly (38:14)
⁓ good.

You are welcome. So thank you

for joining me on the Sewing Social podcast today. You take care.

Riddz (38:24)
Thank you very much,
You too, enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you.

Gemma Daly (38:29)
See ya, bye.