Sewing Machine Incident .. Happy Halloween!!!

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Check out this Sewing Machine really getting into the spirit, all dressed up for the holiday.

Check Out The Very Spooky Video!!!

What's It All About?

I have been involved in a discussion about sewing tonight, and this idea of what it is all really been about. What makes sewing so unique as a form of media? What I believe, is that sewing, (unlike many forms of media) is something that people with very few money making skills are able to perform. It is a skill/trade that is creative, expressive, and marketable, and it gives people a way to amplify their passions for the world to see. Another beautiful thing about sewing is that it is widely available. You only need maybe $5 for needles and thread and a trip to a garage sale or a second hand store and you can get started. It is available to almost everyone. People in Iraq, China, Bangladesh and most far flung corners of the world are sewing. It is empowering. It gives the person that sews a voice. And isn't that what all of us want a chance to be seen, a chance to be heard? At first blush, this idea of passionate sewing may seem a bit far fetched, but I think we have seen some great examples of it so far and I hope to find a few more before our time together is over.

Sew Much Comfort

This is a story about a woman that began tailoring clothes for the troops. Her son had cancer and she had altered his clothes to fit over his hurt leg. Her son had suggested that she help the troops in the same way she had helped him after seeing the needs of the soldiers were similar to his own. Sew Much Comfort was born. There are now approximately 1,000 people (including prison inmates) throughout the country altering & designing clothes to meet the needs of injured soldiers. They are helping design clothes for people with amputations, burn victims etc. 9,000 items had been made at the time of the video. This is a thought provoking story, it is beautiful that this woman Ginger Dosedel is helping soldiers she does not know. It is wonderful that her son inspired her, but at the same time I think we have such a huge military budget, I don't think it should be necessary for people to donate their time to help burn victims get clothes over their heads. Why is the American Government not providing these items to the hospitals? I see media in a few ways through this story. The video shows that soldiers needs are not being met through the US Military, it also shows that there are a lot of people that are willing to remedy this. It speaks of patriotism and doing the right thing. The fact that there have been 9,000 items of clothing that were altered shows that there have been 9,000 altered lives as the result of the war. This is a sad sort of media.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12303651/ns/nightly_news_with_brian_williams-making_a_difference/


http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/PersonOfWeek/story?id=2977470&page=1&page=1

Sewing Quilts of Compassion

Attached is a link to an article about a lady named Betty Nielson. While watching the news footage on Septmeber 11th, she was moved to do something for the surviving families. There was a quote from the article that I would like to highlight. “I kept thinking, ‘These poor families, what can I do?” Nielsen recalls. “Well, I know how to do one thing—I can sew a quilt.”

“When we make these quilts, we put everything into it,” she adds. “I put all my love into it. And when I give it to someone, that’s what I’m giving them—I’m giving them my love in that quilt. When they wrap it around themselves, there’s just so much warmth and comfort.”

The project evolved into the Freedom Quilts Project with 1,500 quilts being delivered to New York City.

This is complete media. These quilts tell you everything about the feelings surrounding September 11th, the desire to help and protect and the patriotism surrounding these events.

What I like about this is the idea of something beautiful coming out of something needless and terrible. Also, it really shows the connectedness of all of us. How many times through history has something happened, and someone is there thinking what can I do to help. Then they realize they can help because they can sew. People have been sewing for a cause for hundreds of years and it is still happening today.


http://www.americanprofile.com/heroes/article/2130.html

Lnk to the official web site
http://www.freedomquilts.net/

Stanford University Hosts Sew-in

Stanford University students organized a sew-in to protest sweat-shop garments being sold at their school. The protest was especially relevant as the students made quilts out of Stanford t-shirts.

Three cheers*** That is a fantastic example of sewing as media and good for them for taking such a creative stand.


http://www.stanforddaily.com/cgi-bin/?p=1024323

Are We Nothing but Living Machines?

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6539/

I really like this article it is an excerpt from the New york Sun from 1863. The author is asking are we nothing but living machines? She is writing about the long hours she works, the low pay she receives and women left behind while the men have to go to war. She answered an ad in the paper and was hired to make a dozen hats a day at a low wage. She took the job because she didn't want to starve. We could be reading about today. I really like the following quote from the article: "Are we nothing but living machines, to be driven at will for the accommodation of a set of heartless, yes, I may say soulless people...? They ought to read the commandment, “Thou shall not kill.” But they are murderers that die on feather beds...."

This article is timeless.

HandUp Congo - 2 Sewing Machines

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I adore this video- it is the story of what happens when two sewing machines are brought to a village in the Congo. It reminds me of a children's story because it is so happy. It also makes me think about all of the tools that I have where I could do something amazing for others. I have a sewing machine but what does it give back? I guess though, anything we make instead of buy is sending the message that we are not supporting souless corporate entities that pollute the earth and give little back. It takes something ridiculous like one cup of pesticides to make one cotton shirt. Anything we can do that does not give money to organizations with these practices is good. I think in relation to media, these people becoming self sufficient through sewing is media, the clothes they wear that they made themselves and this video depicting it is media. I don't really know, but it is a lovely story, and it shows the difference all of our small actions can make for others.

I wanna live here

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This video is a fantastic example of sewing as media. The sewing itself and the fact that she won a film competetion with this entry. It is a commentary on homelessness and the housing shortage and while the act itself is not revoloutionary, the sewing certainly does send a message, in a very unique and creative way.