🤝 Community Knitwits in the Fiber Arts Hobby - Drama in the fiber arts

[Quack_Quack]

Definitely try Irish Cottage Style. It was built by women who needed to knit fast and also not have it wreck their hands. These were women who also worked during the day and then knit at night or while they were walking to town so they needed something ergonomic.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=wdIbvBz01yI
I personally use circulars for everything so here's how it's done on circulars as well

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ccN7nDK49FM
The camera is shit but the position of the right needle in your hand is all you need to know.

Yeah, I do this both flat and on circulars. Much easier on the hands

 

[Kung Pow Cream]

This is 100% true in embroidery. All the woke shit is invariably done in cheap dmc floss on like aida or muslin using simple stitches. I've said this in the etsy thread but good God there are about 1 million fat chick outlines done in black backstitch for sale on etsy.

Embroidery is an extremely diverse art form, and the farther you get from the basic bitch style the less woke you get. You'll never see any of these people learning any of the numerous historical and ethnic styles that are out there; experimenting with different materials, textures and stitches; or using embroidery for anything but a cutesy hoop to hang on the wall. At most they might stitch some little flowers or a stupid slogan on a t-shirt pocket.

lol look what I just found

 

[Maggots on a Train v2]

For those who don't follow CraftSnark, let me introduce you to the drama over how Black Nambian women now own all patchwork clothes in the entire world and anyone with a company that has a "white-sounding name" is stealing patchwork. To be fair, even CS thinks it's bullshit.

ChristyDawn is a handmade, sustainable clothing company. They pay their workers a living wage. They released a patchwork red wrap dress, which is hand-cut by a Latina lady. So we're not even dealing with "white people" here.

A.La.Reunion is inspired by Nambian culture and makes spaghetti-strap patchwork dresses with many different colors.

Can you spot the similarities betweent the two? No? Me either.

But as you can see from the chronically online Instagram cry-babies, people got butthurt that ChristyDawn had the audacity to make a patchwork dress because it's clearly stolen from A.La.Reunion despite not even being remotely similar at all. I didn't bother linking all the comments, because they all sound the same.
View attachment 3204030
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The best part is the top comment whining about non-existent theft is from Haptic Labs, which makes map quilts.

View attachment 3204032 (your shitty quilts aren't making it to the met either)

Map quilts have existed since the 50s, maybe even before. You can find a lot of vintage patterns for them. I'm sure some ingenious lady made a map of her town on fabric with embroidery and quilting centuries ago, but it's been lost to time. There's also plenty of Etsy map patterns presumably released before Haptic Labs ever existed. So they stole the idea of map quilts themselves to make a profit.

As for A.La.Reunion, she believes she owns the rights to patchwork dresses and blah blah representation blah.

If I didn't think patchwork looked like ass on me, I'd be buying ChristyDawn's dress and supporting a less idiotic company.

And fun fact, the Nambian patchwork dresses only came about in the early 20th century. They're not some centuries old fashion, unlike most quilting. If we're talking about patchwork garments in history, the Japanese were creating boro (patchwork) fabric for garments since the 17th century. The style has been carried on throughout the years and used by fashion designers around the world. Yet...there's not really seeing a flood of Japanese people getting pissed about patchwork.

I like this thread, because it shows the disingenuous nature of sjw attacks, and the true jealous nature of them. The first dress looks like something from an expensive department store, the second one looks like some old thrift store curtains sewn together by a teenager. Somebody associated with the second brand definitely put this in motion.

 

[Strong Tomato]

I’m posting this here because it seems like the most fitting thread.

Anyone remember when the owner of Stardust Fiber Studio, a small hand dyed yarn company, faked having Tourette’s on TikTok and went kinda viral? Apparently I had bought some yarn from them back before any of the controversy. I got this email that they’re changing their business name because they’re still getting harassed. They picked the name Dragonflight Yarns which lol that’s the new WoW expansion.

Anyway just thought it was interesting. Here’s the email. Sorry it’s weird I don’t have access to my PC right now!



Edit: I also wanted to add this video about her in case y’all were curious.

 

[Fialovy]

I’m posting this here because it seems like the most fitting thread.

Anyone remember when the owner of Stardust Fiber Studio, a small hand dyed yarn company, faked having Tourette’s on TikTok and went kinda viral? Apparently I had bought some yarn from them back before any of the controversy. I got this email that they’re changing their business name because they’re still getting harassed. They picked the name Dragonflight Yarns which lol that’s the new WoW expansion.

Anyway just thought it was interesting. Here’s the email. Sorry it’s weird I don’t have access to my PC right now!

View attachment 3236228

Oh yeah, it reminds me of another indie yarn maker that tried faking her death, but obviously failed, I believe it was the person (I think her name was Danielle) in charge of Mystical Creations Yarn she did it because she was called out on her shitty business practices.

Of course, it is a lot harder to fake your death on the internet than you might think and she was found out eventually. It reminds of me of that byuu dude

edit: Apparently faking death is common in the fiber arts community, apparently there is stuff about someone named Mommamonkey and I also think some Stephanie chick who also faked their deaths. (source) (archive)

 

[Cheesegirl78]

Oh yeah, it reminds me of another indie yarn maker that tried faking her death, but obviously failed, I believe it was the person (I think her name was Danielle) in charge of Mystical Creations Yarn she did it because she was called out on her shitty business practices.

Of course, it is a lot harder to fake your death on the internet than you might think and she was found out eventually. It reminds of me of that byuu dude

edit: Apparently faking death is common in the fiber arts community, apparently there is stuff about someone named Mommamonkey and I also think some Stephanie chick who also faked their deaths. (source) (archive)

There was another woman who would get involved in various yarn swaps, then claim her mother died, IIRC, and she also faked her own death, just so she wouldn't have to buy anything for HER swap partners.
After she got caught, she decided to review makeup, and got chased off the internet by Doe Deere after she gave a bad review to some Lime Crime lipsticks.

Bizarre story all around.

 

[Mr. Confederate Man]

I’m posting this here because it seems like the most fitting thread.

Anyone remember when the owner of Stardust Fiber Studio, a small hand dyed yarn company, faked having Tourette’s on TikTok and went kinda viral? Apparently I had bought some yarn from them back before any of the controversy. I got this email that they’re changing their business name because they’re still getting harassed. They picked the name Dragonflight Yarns which lol that’s the new WoW expansion.

Anyway just thought it was interesting. Here’s the email. Sorry it’s weird I don’t have access to my PC right now!

View attachment 3236228

Edit: I also wanted to add this video about her in case y’all were curious.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=r4KtPb90ELQ

“In order to get away from the detractors, we’re going to discreetly rebrand and tell everyone about it.”
I’m sure that’s going to work out well for them

 

[Spangled Drongo]

people are so insecure that they are doing a feminine craft that they have to let everyone know that they aren't submissive tradwives and totally badass feminist bitches or totally not straight. This is true for a lot of crafts I notice.

It does seem strange because everything I've seen about the current narrative is that women can be as girly as they like as long as it's for their sake and not to please some man. So you'd think that'd extend to their hobbies too and they'd be okay with just stitching a cute kitten or some butterflies, but nope, everything is political, so they say. I recall seeing a lot of patterns like "crochet uterus!" and "vagina flower cross stitch!" but wonder if those are "too TERFy" now. Already found plenty of TWAW and "respect your sisters not just your cis-ters" type slogans.

This is 100% true in embroidery. All the woke shit is invariably done in cheap dmc floss on like aida or muslin using simple stitches. I've said this in the etsy thread but good God there are about 1 million fat chick outlines done in black backstitch for sale on etsy.

Embroidery is an extremely diverse art form, and the farther you get from the basic bitch style the less woke you get. You'll never see any of these people learning any of the numerous historical and ethnic styles that are out there; experimenting with different materials, textures and stitches; or using embroidery for anything but a cutesy hoop to hang on the wall. At most they might stitch some little flowers or a stupid slogan on a t-shirt pocket.

See, I'm not sure if the woke crusade against cultural appropriation has quite hit the crafting communities, but knowing how woke it's gotten I wouldn't be surprised at all if people wanting to try something different would be discouraged from using any techniques that aren't western/European in origin. So with everything in current year being about intersectionality and how many ways you can claim to be oppressed, fat white ladies are going to "stay in their lane" and remind you to do the same, all while embroidering the likeness of their FUPA onto a wall hanging.

 

[𝕺𝖑' 𝕯𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖘𝖔]

It does seem strange because everything I've seen about the current narrative is that women can be as girly as they like as long as it's for their sake and not to please some man. So you'd think that'd extend to their hobbies too and they'd be okay with just stitching a cute kitten or some butterflies, but nope, everything is political, so they say. I recall seeing a lot of patterns like "crochet uterus!" and "vagina flower cross stitch!" but wonder if those are "too TERFy" now. Already found plenty of TWAW and "respect your sisters not just your cis-ters" type slogans.

See, I'm not sure if the woke crusade against cultural appropriation has quite hit the crafting communities, but knowing how woke it's gotten I wouldn't be surprised at all if people wanting to try something different would be discouraged from using any techniques that aren't western/European in origin. So with everything in current year being about intersectionality and how many ways you can claim to be oppressed, fat white ladies are going to "stay in their lane" and remind you to do the same, all while embroidering the likeness of their FUPA onto a wall hanging.

This whole post is fucking beautiful. sums up why I think wokesters are all utter morons on both the gender and race/ethnicity/culture fronts.

Something about practicing textile arts makes you feel a deep sense of solidarity with the billions of women everywhere throughout history who have wielded a needle and thread for all sorts of purposes: whether it's for making art, clothing their family, repairing those clothes when they rip, working in some sweatshop, or killing time making something for fun. It's just this beautiful microcosm of the human experience.

There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Textiles are an integral aspect of human civilization. Pretty much everyone on the planet wears clothing. Even nudists probably use bedsheets and hang curtains.

But because textiles are "feminine", twitter people with no connection to their physical surroundings, to history, or to deeper thought and curiosity feel the need to compensate for their interest in something considered feminine.

Deep down, they feel like women are inferior, and that their labor and centuries of skills built up and passed down are just frivolous bullshit. If any of them were real feminists who were actually interested in women's experiences and contributions to the world instead of just retweeting woke slogans, they wouldn't be making these crappy ironic vagina hoops because lol women's work amirite?

And embroidery is a fascinating craft with a rich history and nearly every culture in the world has its own traditional styles. Digging deep into it requires real cultural appreciation, and yet many techniques are quite similar across cultures. It's a lot like food and cooking, in a way.

The whole "stay in your lane" argument is just dumbing people down and making them more vicious. When cultural exchange is fraught because people are scared of being canceled over accusations of appropriation, nobody wins.

 

[HERHERHERHER]

Totally agree. I Love learning about the way other cultures do textile work and have friends from many other cultures who are so happy to show anyone their techniques and even provide materials And vice versa. They love learning about western techniques as well. We call it the cultural exchange lol. These Twitter warriors whinging about cultural appropriation have never probably talked to anyone outside their little hug boxes.

 

[Fialovy]

Yeah, that is the thing about these people, if you ask someone who is native to the country where the technique originated, chances are they would be more than happy people are interested in that technique.

It reminds me of some people who said it was cultural appropriation to learn a foreign language, especially if it was an indigenous one, luckily they were completely dogpiled for saying that. I mean, learning a craft or a language from another culture especially if it is dying is helping save that language or techniques from disappearing.

 

[Kung Pow Cream]

Totally agree. I Love learning about the way other cultures do textile work and have friends from many other cultures who are so happy to show anyone their techniques and even provide materials And vice versa. They love learning about western techniques as well. We call it the cultural exchange lol. These Twitter warriors whinging about cultural appropriation have never probably talked to anyone outside their little hug boxes.

I agree as well. I've actually been researching spindles and realized a Navajo spindle would be perfect for me. They even have a Navajo chain ply which means you don't need a lazy kate or multiple balls.

Anyone saying that I can't learn that technique or use those tools is quite idiotic, especially since I'm hoping to buy one from a native to support what they do. Should I not give them money? Should I not give them support? This world is based on selling products to people and constantly increasing that population of people. Being woke in these ways causes things to die.

 

[Lady Bizness]

I love this discussion so much. A lifetime ago I used to coordinate classes for a community rec program. We had all variety of community members and former community members who wanted to share their special talents, and some of these talents were culture-specific. I've ended up taking shibori dying and Hmong embroidery to name a few of the courses that were available.

In what fucking insane world should we NOT exchange these ideas and skills? I get the argument that it's because big bad whitey might use capitalism to make more money off of these skills than the people who originated the skill, but there is absolutely nothing practical to be done about this. The market is going to market. I was heavily into the country craft "industry" in the 90s and by the end of the aughts, the Chinese manufacturers, after many terrible missteps, managed to reproduce the popular things that many an American housewife was making and selling for mad money. And that was the end of the era of craft malls across the US. This kind of thing happens!

What cracks me up is the accusation of idea-stealing is still alive and strong. I remember mediating many arguments at craft shows between ladies who used the same pattern and want to ban the other person from using it. I even remember some lady claiming nobody got to sell ANY bunnies of any sort at an Easter craft show LOL.

 

[Freshly Baked Socks]

I'm not sure if the woke crusade against cultural appropriation has quite hit the crafting communities...

It happens...

A Japanese geisha-inspired costume was pulled from the second day of the annual Wearable Art show because of complaints from the public.

Even with the controversy surrounding Beth Bolander’s “Doragon,” the costume won third place in the event that took place Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at Centennial Hall.

Emcee Ericka Lee read from a Juneau Arts and Humanities Council statement at Sunday’s show.

“The JAHC deeply regrets the pain that running this piece has caused and disavows all forms of cultural appropriation,” she said. “In deference to experts more educated on these difficult topics, the artist, production team and JAHC have made the decision to not run the piece in today’s show.”

The audience responded with a mixture of boos and clapping.

source: https://www.ktoo.org/2018/02/20/annual-art-show-sparks-community-conversation-representation/

 

[HERHERHERHER]

It’s also funny the person who objected to the piece was not Japanese, or Asian. Wonder if she was Just jealous cos the piece was awesome. Or maybe just a pathetic Karen looking to cause drama and get attention

 

[Kung Pow Cream]

It’s also funny the person who objected to the piece was not Japanese, or Asian. Wonder if she was Just jealous cos the piece was awesome. Or maybe just a pathetic Karen looking to cause drama and get attention

The thing is that woke white people say to uplift colored folk's voices but they tend to do the opposite and speak from because they want to still be the savior.

A lot of woke people like this tend to get into a tizzy over things like this and pronouns and such because it's the only chance they have power. And immediately when they get that power, they abuse it.

For example, look at Kyttie. Her life sucks. She shits in a bucket, she has no job, and she's a bad mother. This is the only time in her life where she can feel powerful for once and all she does is yell at people and feel right for once.

 

[ConSluttant]

Gee, you are right. I notice this a lot on craftsnark when they talk about sewing drama. So many fatties complaining about lack of size inclusivity and crap like that. The cross stitch community is also pretty bad there are so many cross stitch patterns with swear words and feminist stuff on them and other things that try to be subversive because people are so insecure that they are doing a feminine craft that they have to let everyone know that they aren't submissive tradwives and totally badass feminist bitches or totally not straight. This is true for a lot of crafts I notice.

I know I'm Hella late on this but...

I've been sewing since I was a child. Because I have never fit the standard block that all commercial patterns are based upon I have had to alter any pattern I have purchased. Every. Single. One.

Here's a secret. It's not that hard. Alter your own goddamn patterns you lazy sluts. You would have had the vapors over the way patterns used to be distributed where you got a tiny picture with measurement marks on it and then you had to go to your specialized set of rulers that corresponded to your own size and then DRAFT THE FUCKING PATTERN YOURSELF.

Stupid twats

 

[Fialovy]

I know I'm Hella late on this but...

I've been sewing since I was a child. Because I have never fit the standard block that all commercial patterns are based upon I have had to alter any pattern I have purchased. Every. Single. One.

Here's a secret. It's not that hard. Alter your own goddamn patterns you lazy sluts. You would have had the vapors over the way patterns used to be distributed where you got a tiny picture with measurement marks on it and then you had to go to your specialized set of rulers that corresponded to your own size and then DRAFT THE FUCKING PATTERN YOURSELF.

Stupid twats

Yeah, someone who is into sewing or garment making really should eventually learn the skills needed to adjust patterns, they have been making clothes for years but still haven't learned pattern making. I mean, considering so much variation with fat distribution, they can't seriously expect all plus size patterns to have a perfect fit for them and you need to alter by necessity.

They are just lazy.

 

[Cheesegirl78]

I know I'm Hella late on this but...

I've been sewing since I was a child. Because I have never fit the standard block that all commercial patterns are based upon I have had to alter any pattern I have purchased. Every. Single. One.

Here's a secret. It's not that hard. Alter your own goddamn patterns you lazy sluts. You would have had the vapors over the way patterns used to be distributed where you got a tiny picture with measurement marks on it and then you had to go to your specialized set of rulers that corresponded to your own size and then DRAFT THE FUCKING PATTERN YOURSELF.

Stupid twats

Agree. There are so many magazines, books, and websites these days that show you how to alter your patterns, and there are independent pattern companies that focus on heavier women. And the instructions for those patterns usually come with alteration tips.
Buy a bolt of cheap muslin so you have some fabric to practice with before you cut into your fashion fabric.

Ok, off my sewing soapbox now.

 

[HERHERHERHER]

Agree. There are so many magazines, books, and websites these days that show you how to alter your patterns, and there are independent pattern companies that focus on heavier women. And the instructions for those patterns usually come with alteration tips.
Buy a bolt of cheap muslin so you have some fabric to practice with before you cut into your fashion fabric.

Ok, off my sewing soapbox now.

It’s true. I know someone who self taught herself to create her own patterns as she couldn’t find ones she wanted. And she does this. A mock up in muslin. She can now just look at something, and bang out a pattern by eye.