i'm just, fucking, tossing bikes in the river, bruh

Cutting - in my opinion, the most labor intensive part of the process. The amount of time/effort needed varies depending on the pattern and if seam allowance is included or marked separately, but no matter what this process can not be done by machine. Each and every panel and piece of fabric that goes into a garment must be cut by hand by a person.

Pinning/clipping - pinning (or clipping) is the stage at which you align the pieces you are going to be stitching together and hold them together with — you guessed it! — either pins or clips. This can not be done by machine.

Stitching - the actual sewing. This can be done by a sewing machine, but that machine still needs to be operated by a human being.

Ironing/pressing - two words that mean the same thing. The iron itself is a machine, but once again, it needs to be operated by a human being.

Finishing - depending on the technique you use, there are certain finishing techniques that can only be done by hand. But, let’s assume we’re talking about fast fashion, which is usually just finished with a simple overlock/serger. Once again: these machines need to be operated by people.

These are just the basic steps to making a garment, and don’t include textile arts that I am not as knowledgeable about, such as weaving, knitting, and crochet. Also, it is important to note that there are a lot of things that can only be done by hand, such as certain stitches and decorative techniques.

Also, the machinery being operated in textile factories is not equivalent to a domestic sewing machine. We’re talking about one of these guys:

See that gray cylinder under the table, behind the knee pedal? That’s the motor. These machines can sew through your fingers bones and all and not even stop. The people in these factories and sweatshops are operating heavy machinery, and are subject to all the risk that comes with that in addition to all of the work I mentioned above.

" I'm taking a sewing class and I asked my teacher about how much machines can actually do. She said that while a lot of actual fabric we use in our projects is machine-woven, and sometimes there are machines for particular knitting patterns or for the same small thing over and over and over (i.e. socks), the overwhelming majority of pieces of clothing are in fact just sewn together by humans. Usually women. Underpaid and overlooked. Thousands and thousands of them, working 12 hours a day or more in huge warehouse-factories. You're probably wearing something one of those women created right now.

Most of the students (including me) were horrified. We had *no* idea. We figured that, given that we have supercomputers and massive industrial systems for almost every type of product you can buy, surely we would have figured out a better way? Surely there are machines that can put a t-shirt together by now?

She said, no, that's why fast fashion is really so bad. It's not simply about the quality of the product, it's about the human cost.

When you buy a cheap tee that says "Made in Bangladesh", this is where your clothing came from (and these are from one of the nicer factories):

(By Fahad Faisal. CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89582692)

like, there’s already that underlying sort of feeling that they’re not living up to the expectations of men their ages. they should be dating and have jobs and maybe even think about having families. they exist in that arrested development state of being overgrown boys who refuse to grow up. and I think that while that’s already a bit of a defiance of social norms for men, it’s REALLY interesting as women

especially in a world that is pushing for more “traditional” expectations of women. be homemakers, get married, raise the children. there’s more of an almost “responsibility” placed on the idea that women SHOULD be having children. and so I think they’d be judged a bit more, but it also makes what Matt and Jay already have even MORE compelling! loser fail women whose own mothers would have lived through a time when women weren’t even allowed their own bank accounts. who have narrowly missed the ways sexism would have made this lifestyle completely impossible just decades earlier! women with no desire to work but don’t fall into that “so I’ll marry a rich man” mentality. Matt IS the rich man, bless her soul! women who don’t want to work but don’t fall into “so women’s rights are the problem” because, like… they very much wouldn’t have the lifestyle they have without women’s independence!

*smiles serenely* their wombs are so barren it’s kind of beautiful. I think—Jay is presented as the one to have the more traditional desires Sometimes. like wait shouldn’t we talk to other people and have jobs and date? and so I think there’s a potential for a rich exploration of… does she sometimes desire to be a mother? but I think with who Jay is as a person, that gets stamped out QUICK. Jay maybe had a pregnancy scare back when she was someone who had sex and that tripped her up forever. she can’t have a baby! she can barely take care of herself! that’s Matt’s job!! and Matt can’t take care of the baby because who would pay attention to Jay???

anyway, they no longer really… Have Sex. so that’s no longer an issue and in some ways it is a relief

it’s really interesting to me too how like, perennial bachelor is kind of an accepted thing but if you stay a single woman too long you’re a cat lady and it’s a bad thing. I like the idea that Matt & Jay are kind of seen as fucking Weird for this. they already are as boys but it just amps it up a bit more. the two strange girls causing havoc around the city who never settled down. oh well!

#I am Keeley, Keeley is me