Ok, So My Last Post About The Issues Of Plus Sized Patterns Popped Off In A Way I Did Not Expect??

Ok, so my last post about the issues of plus sized patterns popped off in a way I did not expect??

I just want to come back and say: making patterns is hard work and especially those who make their patterns free online, it is a LOT of hard work that the designer gets nothing back for. I didn't mean for it to sound like I thought that was an easy thing to do.

But, like a lot of people pointed out in the tags and comments, fashion world has already done the leg work for us. There are size charts and mathematical equations you can do to scale your pieces in such a way that at least matches what you would see in stores. I think, honestly, that this is where the break down is. I think pattern makers take bust/chest measurements, and scale all of their numbers from there, without thinking about their piece as clothing (instead of just a knitting project, if that makes sense).

And I think that's where fat people get left behind. Because our bodies don't scale the way you would scale up a hat or mittens or something. It takes added work and added care to think about fat people and how our bodies look and work (hence why my previous post said "please talk to a fat person"--it's not that we know how to make patterns, but that we can advise what works for our bodies!)

I want to end on a helpful note, if I can:

My favorite pattern maker for plus sized projects is Jacqueline Cieslak!

I have bought a couple of patterns from them, and I have never had the not-for-fat-bodies problems I have had before. They have a handful of different styles, many of which are very customizable. Not to mention that the patterns themselves are VERY thorough. They link to tutorial videos they have made for anything more complicated than a stockinette stitch, and have lots of detailed diagrams showing different measurements for different parts of the project.

Anytime I am making a piece for myself or my other plus sized love ones, I go to Jacqueline first! Hopefully their patterns will help anyone who identified with my previous post find some patterns that work for them!

Me: oh yeah, if you think school photography is hard now, try imagining doing this with film.

The new girl: what’s film?

Me: … film. Like… film that goes in a film camera.

New girl: what’s that mean?

Me: … before cameras were digital.

New girl: how did you do it before digital?

Me:… with film? I haven’t had enough coffee for this conversation

Why do autistic people feel so bad using harmless lies?

I think part of it is a misunderstanding about the goals of an interpersonal communication. Autistic people think the goal of a conversation is to transmit information, and so they want the information to be correct -- whereas allistic people use language symbolically, to break the ice, establish affiliation, pass the time, bond, entertain themselves and others, or to represent their position within a system (such as a workplace hierarchy).

Autistic people, missing this, often are baffled and infuriated when others say things they don't mean, ask questions they don't want answers for, and make noncommittal comments that have no relationship to anything they've ever said they believe in the past or ever will say again. And Autistic people, believing that the primary way to interact with others is to transmit information, give up a lot of vulnerable or potentially risky information to other people quite freely, out of respect for the conversation's superficial text or in hopes of attaining the connection that allistics use more superficial/symbolic methods in order to achieve.

More on this here (specifically the second half):

drdevonprice.substack.com

How Do I Cope with Anti-Autistic Bias?

Autistic Advice #11: Research shows most people dislike Autistics within moments of meeting them. Is there any hope of us finding connection

Ok but like. What the fuck is there to do on the internet anymore?

Idk when I was younger, you could just go and go and find exciting new websites full of whatever cool things you wanted to explore. An overabundance of ways to occupy your time online.

Now, it's just... Social media. That's it. Social media and news sites. And I'm tired of social media and I'm tired of the news.

Am I just like completely inept at finding new things or has the internet just fallen apart that much with the problems of SEO and web 3.0 turning everything into a same-site prison?

i have a few resources i look to consistently but i'm gonna plug anatomy for sculptors as One Of The Most Useful. great if you're a 3D artist, INVALUABLE if you're a 2D artist. gives you turnarounds of specific limbs/fiddly body parts like ears. great especially if you're referencing a photo and start looking at an individual part like 'wait, what the hell is going on in there'

i know we're all sick of self-care being a marketing tactic now, but i don't think a lot of us have any other concept of self-care beyond what companies have tried to sell us, so i thought i'd share my favorite self-care hand out

brought to you by how mad i just got at a Target ad