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I'm fucking dying at this page someone shared on Bluesky.

Behold, the Embroidery Trouble Shooting Guide that forgot to close its <h3> tags.

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This weekend I was told a story which, although I’m kind of ashamed to admit it, because holy shit is it ever obvious, is kind of blowing my mind.

A friend of a friend won a free consultation with Clinton Kelly of What Not To Wear, and she was very excited, because she has a plus-size body, and wanted some tips on how to make the most of her wardrobe in a fashion culture which deliberately puts her body at a disadvantage.

Her first question for him was this: how do celebrities make a plain white t-shirt and a pair of weekend jeans look chic?  She always assumed it was because so many celebrities have, by nature or by design, very slender frames, and because they can afford very expensive clothing.  But when she watched What Not To Wear, she noticed that women of all sizes ended up in cute clothes that really fit their bodies and looked great.  She had tried to apply some guidelines from the show into her own wardrobe, but with only mixed success.  So - what gives?

His answer was that everything you will ever see on a celebrity’s body, including their outfits when they’re out and about and they just get caught by a paparazzo, has been tailored, and the same goes for everything on What Not To Wear.  Jeans, blazers, dresses - everything right down to plain t-shirts and camisoles.  He pointed out that historically, up until the last few generations, the vast majority of people either made their own clothing or had their clothing made by tailors and seamstresses.  You had your clothing made to accommodate the measurements of your individual body, and then you moved the fuck on.  Nothing on the show or in People magazine is off the rack and unaltered.  He said that what they do is ignore the actual size numbers on the tags, find something that fits an individual’s widest place, and then have it completely altered to fit.  That’s how celebrities have jeans that magically fit them all over, and the rest of us chumps can’t ever find a pair that doesn’t gape here or ride up or slouch down or have about four yards of extra fabric here and there.

I knew that having dresses and blazers altered was probably something they were doing, but to me, having alterations done generally means having my jeans hemmed and then simply living with the fact that I will always be adjusting my clothing while I’m wearing it because I have curves from here to ya-ya, some things don’t fit right, and the world is just unfair that way.  I didn’t think that having everything tailored was something that people did. 

It’s so obvious, I can’t believe I didn’t know this.  But no one ever told me.  I was told about bikini season and dieting and targeting your “problem areas” and avoiding horizontal stripes.  No one told me that Jennifer Aniston is out there wearing a bigger size of Ralph Lauren t-shirt and having it altered to fit her.

I sat there after I was told this story, and I really thought about how hard I have worked not to care about the number or the letter on the tag of my clothes, how hard I have tried to just love my body the way it is, and where I’ve succeeded and failed.  I thought about all the times I’ve stood in a fitting room and stared up at the lights and bit my lip so hard it bled, just to keep myself from crying about how nothing fits the way it’s supposed to.  No one told me that it wasn’t supposed to.  I guess I just didn’t know.  I was too busy thinking that I was the one that didn’t fit.

I thought about that, and about all the other girls and women out there whose proportions are “wrong,” who can’t find a good pair of work trousers, who can’t fill a sweater, who feel excluded and freakish and sad and frustrated because they have to go up a size, when really the size doesn’t mean anything and it never, ever did, and this is just another bullshit thing thrown in your path to make you feel shitty about yourself.

I thought about all of that, and then I thought that in elementary school, there should be a class for girls where they sit you down and tell you this stuff before you waste years of your life feeling like someone put you together wrong.

So, I have to take that and sit with it for a while.  But in the meantime, I thought perhaps I should post this, because maybe my friend, her friend, and I are the only clueless people who did not realise this, but maybe we’re not.  Maybe some of you have tried to embrace the arbitrary size you are, but still couldn’t find a cute pair of jeans, and didn’t know why.

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Ive been working on photography today. Trying to get a work flow going to get those crisp needle craft photos.

I was stitching on this little zipper pouch panel with my coffee this morning. I am really enjoying the meditative work in the morning for a few minutes.

Also i got a stitch dictionary and I'm learning some really cool new techniques.

I have a pixel 7a with the app Open Camera and i will NOT be getting out my dslr.

Comment advice/ suggestions please. I want them to feel cozy, clean (but not sterile), and highlight the natural textures and colors.

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I made this rat. His name is Ratthew.

Hes made out of scraps and linen thread and beeswax and cotton sashiko thread.

I saw a really excellent Nosferatu Count Orlocka cosplay from watersofglass on ig. And they had a small rat. I immediately was struck by the need to create a wonderful patchwork rat to carry in my bag and take places with me. I was hoping he would be a bit more spooky and creepy. But he turned out dang cute.

Also i am a huge fan of Ghost and Copia Rat Dad is such a funny head canon that i love.

This feels very Rat Dad to me. 😆🧡

Theres a pattern available here

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Hey fibre arts friends and bog friends, there's an interesting talk about BOG FASHION on April 5, live at the Ashmolean museum in Oxford and also on Zoom:

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there are few situations in life that cannot be at least marginally improved by introducing a stew

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Mending socks this week.

I read Creative Mending by Hikaru Noguchi yesterday and learned some really cool new stitches. I need to get some more sashiko thread in better colors tho.

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My brother's beloved pullover got eaten by moths, so I was allowed to use it to practice my darning. A lot of learning as I went, and you can sort of see which holes I started with and my skill slowly improving. Tried out different colour combinations and anchorings and all in all, very pleased with the results.

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I made this cross arm spindle rainbow for my friend, they just shipped out. I'm really excited to see the yarns shes makes with them. The colors are so bright and happy.

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There is a lot of information out there about weaving, crocheting and knitting, but relatively little about spinning.

Which is a shame, since spinning is really where the "resource provided by the earth" tangibly becomes "object with a use."

Aspects of spinning, such as the amount of twist and the length of the fibers, are impactful upon the thread or yarn created, but lots of fiber crafters don't get to directly play with those variables...

It is so strange how textile production is so utterly dominated by very few fibers, when so many are possible. Industry keeps coming up with new ways to transform bamboo or something into fibers, which is all well and good, but we have yet to run out of easily usable natural fibers that have worked for thousands of years.

Dogbane—Apocyonum cannabinum—was called "Indian hemp" because it was used by Native Americans for ropes, cords and textiles. It's incredibly strong, soft, and easy to collect large amounts of it. But hardly anybody uses it.

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some fungi I drew the other day :)

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About halfway thru my Melly Knits Breeze batt. 80% CVM x Corriedale 20% Cotton.

I have no earthly idea what this yarn will look or feel like at the end. But the process is fascinating. This is my "non-wool" and "new to me" fiber for Spindle Bingo.

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just pulled this shawl off the blocking mat!

super in love with it, the only thing i would change is that it’s a little smaller than i hoped. i think i should have used one needle size larger. for some reason i have trouble trusting that looser gauges will look right even though i love them when blocked and finished lmao

also this thing had like. a billion ends to weave in because each of those little points created 2 ends so it was a bit of a slog however i think the end result is worth it!

pattern link here!

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Back in October, I crashed a rented electric scooter and tore a hole in one of my favorite shirts. I finally got around to patching it today, and I'm really happy with the result.

The fabric was pretty torn up (it was shredded by friction, not cut) and I often wear my sleeves rolled up, so I put patches on both sides of the hole.

I used some scrap quilting cotton I've had around forever, attached with lightweight fusible webbing (which I'm trying out for the first time). I whip stitched around the edge of each patch to prevent fraying and then reinforced the whole area with big sashiko-inspired stitches using 4 strands of embroidery floss.

It was a pretty quick mend once I figured out what I wanted to do, and I really like how it looks.

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An embroidered needle book made from wool and linen scraps. I like making needle books a lot for that reason, you can create something beautiful and handy from some pretty small pieces of fabric scrap that may otherwise get discarded.

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I finished my Polworth spin!!!

I had a tiny bit leftover and the chain ply was even better than the fractal! Ah! I should've sampled ahead of time. 😮‍💨

Still, a beautiful squishy worsted weight. This is the most yarn i have ever spindle spun and plied and i ADORE it.

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Finished spinning all my singles for my "Viking Treasure" braid!!!

This braid was dyed by Friends in Fiber.

I got it on Etsy a couple years ago and finally spun it up for Spindle Bingo.

I can't wait to ply this. I have no idea how it will turn out. I'm excited for the surprise.

These spindles are still available on my website if you would like one. 💖