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Instagram poets could never!

Aren't easily available to you, and

Take a notable amount of training to use (especially, to use without damage to your hands) (Not "months of training." Just. Not "here's the instruction pamphlet; have fun.")

However: The sewing machines that are reasonably available to you, will make clothes you can wear and enjoy wearing. (Industrial sewing machines can sew for 8, 10, 18 hours without breaking down; the one you buy at WalMart cannot. Some industrial ones can sew through 4 layers of denim; you can find a machine that does that but you won't get it by accident and it will cost more. And so on.)

Basic sewing machine - enough to get started making clothes - is under $200. (Industrial machines start at ~$2000 and go up from there.) Super Ultra Cheap version is under $100; not recommended unless you know you'll be able to throw $350 at the hobby in a couple of years when the simple one is just really too limited anymore.

...Anything under $50 (new) is A Gimmick. They're not all worthless but they're very limited. They're more "you can learn how a sewing machine works with this" than "you can make clothes with this." (I mean. You can. But you can make clothes with a needle & thread, too. And while it takes longer, you may be less frustrated than using a $45 "beginner sewing machine.") Some of the gimmick machines are very useful for their specific purpose - they're ultra-portable, or good for repairs, and so on.

But if you are on a very limited budget - less than $50 can get you started on making clothes. And bookbags. And pockets to add to clothes you already have. And hats. Bathing suits, if you decide to get ambitious. (Stretchy fabrics are challenging, esp on a simple machine.)

You can make socks with a sewing machine but I really don't recommend it.

Ask yourself, how does this piece make you feel? (No wrong answers)

Look for an artist statement nearby. What does it say about the artist and their relationship to their work? What does the artist say that they are trying to convey with their art? What contextual clues can you pick up from what they say about their background, or what they omit?

Look at the title of the piece. What is the artist saying about their work by naming it that, either explicitly or implicitly?

Look at the medium. Is there anything about the piece that stands out to you, knowing what it's made of?

Look at the year it was made. What cultural events might have been happening around this time? Was this piece part of a particular art movement? What was the purpose of that art movement, and what was it trying to say?

español resources

i’m obsessed with these…

no they didn't (that shit took hold on tiktok last year and oh my god why)

the practice had largely died out by that point

most of it happened during the Medieval period

that's largely confused by them consuming 'mummiya' in their medicine which is bitumen, that was part of mummification but not actually the mummy itself

90% were fake using animals or fresh corpses anyway

you guys are not gonna like the practice of corpse medicine throughout various cultures in history because a lot of cultures used corpses in medicine

Terry Deary is a children’s author not a historian. He was an electrician and a drama school teacher before he quit to become a children’s author.

Horrible Histories isn’t infallible and has been wrong on a fair number of occasions (I read and owned all the books as a child and do you know how disappointing it was to get to study the things I’d read in these books and find it to be wrong? The answer is a lot)

Horrible Histories I’m sad to say isn’t a viable academic source. It’s a popular one but it doesn’t mean it’s 100% correct.

No source is to be quite honest

I’m an Egyptologist, so this is my field of research and study, which is why I have the following:

Here’s an ask where I’ve answered this question before and provided sources

But for sake of ease and quick access:

https://www.mummystories.com/single-post/mummies-in-medicine-museums

Angela Steine is an Egyptologist who specialises in mummies, their history and their display.

The Science History Institute is a Science and Research museum based in Philadelphia.