kajtekmakesthings

[kajtekmakesthings]

I keep planning new clothing projects, and decided it was time to make a tailor's ham.

Lookit this roumd boy!

Pattern from here.

I used leftover quilting cotton and brushed canvas for the outside and an honestly startling quantity of other fabric scraps for the stuffing.

[kajtekmakesthings]

so my apartment building got a notice board to post fire alarm tests and maintenance announcements and such. the building is pretty well-maintained, so we rarely get notices. the board is big and grey and to think it would be empty like that 99% of the time was a bland boring sin i just couldn't bear, so i vandalized the corner of its empty canvas with a teeny tiny Guy

and within a few days, there was a sudden addition from my one of my neighbors along with a Bunch of thumbtacks. this was an unexpected, but welcome surprise!

well there was still so much space, i figured i'd add another crumb to the art hoard. i'd been playing genshin that day so i drew my favorite grandpa

and like clockwork, new art manifested!! this person is gonna grow to be a great artist i know it. the detail in those stones? hell yeah that's cool.

we're two weeks into it. more neighbors have joined in with their artwork. who knew there were so many artists in my building?? we're onto somethin great here i just know it.

[kajtekmakesthings]

Quick update on this project, it’s not done but I wanna show it off anyways:

(Yes there’s ladybugs on the pocket, there’s also ladybugs on the pant leg with the red sashiko pattern. I couldn’t bring myself to remove them)

I also reinforced the side seam because it was literally coming apart, so that’s the red you see on the side there. I’m yet to do diagonal lines to finish the pattern that I want. Eventually it’s supposed to look like this:

[kajtekmakesthings]

Really pleased with this quick wee mend on one of my favorite shirts, which managed to shred itself the same way on both forearms.

Fabric is some amazing scrap corduroy I picked up ages ago.

I used lightweight fusible webbing to stick it in place because it's in such a fussy spot; unpicked the original binding and then re-sewed it over the patch; added a few lines of machine stitching in line with the tension that pulled it apart the first time (which will hopefully prevent new tears); and then whip-stitched around the remaining edge by hand.

[kajtekmakesthings]

i was so sad, i drew a little bat so i wouldn’t be sad. and now i am no longer sad.

[kajtekmakesthings]

jokes to make after failure that aren’t self-deprecating:

I’m the best to ever do it

Nobody saw that (best if said loudly)

No one’s ever done it like me

I could be President/they should make me President

Behold, a mere fraction of my power!

The public wants to be me soooooo bad

I’m an expert in (thing you just failed at)

How could this have happened to god’s favorite princess?

Nothing ibuprofen and a glass of water cant fix

I’m being sabotaged

[kajtekmakesthings]

A sketch of a dog poking his way through a page from the Book of hours, Flanders, c. 1485 CE (Kraków, MNK, 3025 I, p. 469-470)

[kajtekmakesthings]

Akira bike sliding on a horse

[kajtekmakesthings]

its extremely important to read widely and deeply in a variety of genres. read obscure self published shit that only 4 people have read. read culturally relevant works of literature that have helped shape the canon. read horror. read women's lit. read historical fiction and comedies and nonfiction and hentai and poetry and science fiction and fantasy and mysteries and romance and good things and bad things and things u hate and things you love and things you COULD like if only the author changed x y and z and things which are beautiful but not meant for you.

doing all of this reading will lay a groundwork of rich complexity in your heart. so that you can write really good porn

[kajtekmakesthings]

eventually one has to come to terms with the fact that "conceive of myself as a person capable of tackling difficult things" is an achievable goal toward which one can take concrete steps whereas "have things be easy" is Not

[kajtekmakesthings]

Hey, look at me. Look at me. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: you need to condition yourself to being okay with being inconvenienced by things. The first time I spoke about this I meant it in a mental health way- it is good to go out to the store and see people versus just ordering alone at home- but there is another more pressing societal issue you should be more concerned about as well.

Any service you rely on for convenience can be weaponized against you the moment you begin to rely on it. Streaming used to be a cheap and convenient way to see movies at home. It is now exorbitantly expensive, you need multiple accounts just to get what you want, and any of those movies can be taken from you at any time. And unless you have gotten used to going through the “inconvenience” of owning physical media, you can do nothing about it. Same goes for buying things on Amazon. Same goes for any service like DoorDash etc. These companies WANT you to be reliant on them for convenience so they can do whatever they want to you because, well, what else are you gonna do?

Same thing goes for the uptick in AI. If you train yourself to become reliant on AI for doing basic things, you will be taken advantage of. It is only a matter of a couple years before there are no free AI services. Not only that, but in the usage of AI’s case, it is robbing you of valuable skills that you need to curate that you will be helpless without the moment the AI companies drive in the knife the way they have done with streaming. Delivery. Cable. Internet. Etc. It will happen to AI too. And if you are not practicing skills such as. Writing. You are not only going to be at the mercy of AI companies in the digital world, but you are going to be extremely easy to take advantage of in real life too.

I am begging you to let go of learned helplessness. I am begging you to stop letting these companies TEACH you helplessness. Do something like learn to pirate. It is way more inconvenient at the beginning, but once you know how, it is one less way companies can take advantage of you. Garden. Go to the thrift store (older clothes hold up better anyway). These things take more time and effort, yes, but using time and effort are muscles you need to stretch to keep yourself from being flattened under the weight of our capitalist hellscape.

Inconvenience yourself. Please. Start with only the ways you are able. Do a little bit at a time. But do something.

[kajtekmakesthings]

Throughout all of history, mankind has never created a more precise measuring tool than the infallible "eyeballin' it."

[kajtekmakesthings]

You've gotta love Jews more than you hate Nazis.

You've gotta love trans folks more than you hate TERFs.

You've gotta love your unhoused neighbors more than you hate the billionaires.

You've gotta love immigrants more than you hate ICE.

You've gotta love queer kids more than you hate christian fundamentalists.

You've gotta love fat people more than you hate the diet industry.

You've gotta love disabled people more than you hate the insurance companies.

You've gotta love your fellow humans more than you hate the worst that humanity has to offer. You don't have to like every person you're fighting for, and you sure as hell don't have to give up your righteous anger, but hate is ultimately corrosive.

You've gotta love.

[kajtekmakesthings]

making stuff is one of the best parts of being alive

[kajtekmakesthings]

I needed this reminder today. When I started transitioning, I turned inwards out of fear. I was burnt out after years of activism that had leveraged my identity and honesty, and I needed to stop feeling so exposed as I went through a terrifying change.

It took me a couple years to realize that there was an important difference between being authentic and open, and being a public figure -- and that I might need to walk away from the latter, but the former was essential to my well-being.

I'd closed myself off from others by polishing my appearance and behaviour to remove anything that might be objectionable, packing away my weirder interests and history and ideas into a lil box, and refusing to make myself vulnerable. The result was an isolation so profound it almost killed me.

And whenever I "messed up" by just being me? By saying or doing something unguarded? People came closer. They laughed with me and smiled more and became my friends. I've been slowly building friendships that I used to make in a flash, because if you're fully yourself a significant number of people will just fall in love with you -- as friends, or partners, or partners-in-crime. And I realize that I miss that sense of lightning-fast, authentic, connection so much it hurts.

And yeah, just as some people like you immediately, others will dislike you. Sometimes strongly. But people will hate or disdain or dismiss anyway, and it's a lot easier to bear with the fierce love of your people around you. I've been slowly shedding the shell of curated unobjectionableness and letting myself be vulnerable and real, and this post was a perfect, timely, reminder that it is fucking worth it.

i never ever send stuff like this lol but i guess im wondering how to exist as a loud queer person in high academia spaces. im entering a really prestigious uni program soon and im scared of having to put aside my identity or presentation for the sake of professionalism and being taken seriously. your life seems so so interesting and filled with likeminded peers. im somewhat jealous of how you’re able to integrate that world without having to sacrifice yourself in the process. if not too much to ask, how do you do it? is it really that easy?

this message breaks my heart because i would give anything to tell you, yes, it is that easy, but it really is not. existing as an openly queer person in a high academic, prestigious traditional place is so fucking exhausting. i am very aware of being the first and only (openly) trans man at my academy and the pressure of being easily digestible and non-confrontational to not face any backlash. i have to smile and wave away a lot of trans- and homophobia lest i am perceived as "too sensitive" and many of my peers are ultraconservative, rich brats who have never struggled for anything in their life who look down on me out of principle anyway.

and yet. i am accepted, and respected, by many of my peers. i have made great friends that support me completely and without any prejudice. i love and i am loved. those people are in any place, and you just have to find them. i have had days were i have regretted even coming here, i will not lie to you, but as my best friend said recently, even 80% assholes are worth feeling right with 20%. i think my main advice is: don't try to change anyone's mind, but meet people's honest curiosity with openness. so many rich people grow up so sheltered. said best friend is an Egyptian man who had never met a trans person before and who had a few questions in the beginning but now yells at people for purposefully misgendering me. don't get discouraged, don't hide yourself, you can be happy there despite it all. i certainly am here.