Depending on other people

[cjsmith]

My shell account at my ISP is currently pretty much unusable because my homedir's disk is full. This happens every few months. They eventually get around to doing housecleaning, but until they do, I'm stuck. In particular: no personal mail. Grr! I hate depending on other people for stuff like this. It means that if someone else is slow or sloppy, I pay a price.

The only alternative to depending on others, though, eventually means mining some ore myself, purifying the copper and the silicon, creating a computer... you get the idea. Plus growing and weaving my own fibers for clothing... Somewhere, I have to find the right place to draw the line.

Speaking of where to draw that line, why is it far more common to create one's own food than to create one's own clothing? There's a huge support infrastructure for that: competing megagrocery chains, Williams-Sonoma, whole industries devoted to making special sauces for the "cook" to heat up and pour... the list goes on. The support infrastructure for sewing, while still biggish, is far smaller. The prevalence of that choice is pretty ingrained in some ways. But cooking for oneself every day takes more time than maintaining a home-sewn wardrobe would take. Food that isn't right is usually merely annoying, just like clothing that isn't right -- except clothing that isn't right annoys for a longer time. Why pick cooking over sewing? Did all that structure grow out of those infrequent cases where food that isn't right can cause serious illness? (All that and we haven't eliminated those cases, either!)

Speaking of sewing, I really need to get my sewing machine overhauled. Depending on other people again... and yes, the fact I have procrastinated this errand has a lot to do with the fact that I don't know whom to trust with the work! :-)

Hey. How come LJ has a mood selection for "exanimate" (WTF?) but not one for something so prosaic as "whiny"? (Or is what I need now the also-nonexistent "rambling"?)

Comments

[gs.livejournal.com]

mass-produced clothes SUCK! Even I, a hobbyist at the "dabbler" level, know how to make 'em better than THAT!

I feel the same way. About clothes and furniture. I've got most of the tools, a bit of the skill, but none of the time to make my own furniture.

A couple of years ago, I became really interested in making my own shirts. I like the way double stitching looks, but it took me awhile to research the right tool for it. I thought a special machine was required, but I found a really good book on shirtmaking, and it recommended a felling foot or a rolled hem foot, so I got a few of each (in various sizes). Kathy and I played with them a bit to try and get the hang of them, but we haven't had the time to dedicate towards improving our skill to the point where we could successfully make a shirt (that I would want to wear in public). When I was growing up, my Mom liked to sew. He taught me a bit, but mostly I would design things, then she would make them for me. I specifically remember a "cowboy shirt" that I wore in junior high, that I was especially proud of. She also helped me make a winter coat (from a kit) that I wore in high school. I wore it up until a couple years ago. In fact, it's probably still in my closet...

Kathy had a dress that was just perfect for her, but we have never found one in stores again. I'd love to have reasonably close copies in a variety of patterns for her.

Most fabric stores in the valley seem kind of lame. The most interesting stores are the quilting stores. The array of patterns and colors is dazzling. In the city, Britex is mind boggling. If you haven't been there, it's definitely worth a trip. (Let's see, I probably have a jpeg on my laptop around here somewhere...)

Time. I need more time.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

When you retire you'll have fun using those skills.

I think it would be most excellent to know how to make furniture. My woodworking knowledge is minuscule, and my woodworking skill is nil.

Agreed about most fabric stores, and about Britex. The quilting stores, unfortunately, mostly sell only cotton flat weave. I wouldn't make a T-shirt out of that, or a ballgown, or lingerie. But the colors and patterns are wonderful!

[gs.livejournal.com]

I can see your problem with flat weave cotton for making t-shirts, ballgowns, or lingerrrrrr...ooooooooooooooo...mmmmmmmm

I'm sorry, what were we talking about?

Uh, right. Flat weave cotton. It would work fine for the shirts I want to make (or have made for me).

I guess we need better fabric suppliers.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Have you ever seen duct tape formalwear?

I am NOT thinking about duct tape lingerie... NOT NOT NOT... oh, the possibilities!

Anyhow, yeah, definitely need better fabric suppliers.