Shivani Patel

I run my studio business as a designer, making modern fine jewellery by day as well as raising my 2 daughters. My mother in law taught me to sew around 7 years ago and I have not stopped since. I’ve always been intrigued by personal style and how clothing has the ability to change how you feel. My sewing always starts with an idea that I sketch out, usually inspired by pieces/elements from designers that I love. I then go about hacking the closest pattern match I can find. This way of making suits my problem solving/technical and creative brain, the sewing suits my need for solitude in the evening. I like to sew a mixture of very oversized and fitted pieces, blending solid neutrals with neons.

What influence does music have in your life as a creative?:

A combination of music, podcasts and silence help me to get into the right headspace for whatever part of a creative project I’m working on. When I’m designing or coming up with ideas, I need quiet to collect my thoughts and get them on paper. Whilst making I always have music or a podcast in the background, it helps me to zone out of whatever else is going on around me and immerse myself in the process. The music I’m listening to can have a huge effect on my creativity, certain songs make me feel like I’m home, in a place I feel completely connected to the making process; soulful vocals, poetry and old skool hip hop. Almost anything by Nitin Sawhney brings me back to my heritage, to myself. When I have a project I want to focus on and get through quicker I’ll put on some more up tempo music or something I can dance and sing along to while I’m stitching.
I spend at least half of my making time listening to podcasts, I love listening to conversations that shift my perspective, help me grow and be more creative. Some are more related to my work as a designer/ business and some more personal.

Tell us about your playlist:

The tracks on my playlist are a mixture of slow thoughtful melodies to songs that you can’t sit down to. I always choose music that makes me want to feel or unfeel a certain way. Albums like Jill Scott’s or Lauryn Hill’s you can lose yourself in their voices and words and in turn the making. The power these words have can change my experience, sometimes I remember exactly what I was making or doing when I was listening to a particular track or album and how it made me feel at the time. These tracks are the one’s I come back to again and again.

Bonus Podcast Recommendations:

Bad brown Aunties
Dear Seekers
Wardrobe Crisis with Clare Press
Have you heard George’s podcast
In Good Company
My Indian Life
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
Say your Mind
The Conversation
Unstyled
What’s Underneath with StyleLikeU
Where should we begin? with Esther Perel
The Guilty Feminist