sewing 4 the collective, 1 trans thread at a time....

✯ the grand dramatic sitting that is finally me getting to write about the music that flows from the sewing machines into the patterns of my brain noodle. as a new sewer (or whatever you call someone who makes things with a sewing machine) there’s a lot to acknowledge about the sewing scene and how deep its roots are in systems of oppression. Like the way that sewn garments are always so perfect in the way that each piece of fabric is perfectly lined and stitched to another, like how there is an illusion that a perfectly stitched top is achievable, that sizing will guide you, when in fact you need resources. You need perfectly sharp scissors, you need high quality, suitable grade, sustainably made blah blah blah..

when in reality, sizing isn’t real, fabrics are transphobic, and the scizzors aren't MF $HARP. How am I supposed to feel like I’m contributing anything to the sewing world if I can’t decide who's more sensitive (me or my sewing machine?!) The sensitivity stems from my own flavor of ADHD where I spend hours hyperfixating on niche sewing tools that I’ve lost all around the house and how my out-of-sight, out-of-mind complex has led me to often forget about taking care of the sewing machines in the way that they deserve. I had to slow down and be more mindful of the aggression I was putting upon them.  I was subconsciously oppressing myself and the sewing machines by trying to model the visions of “high fashion”. How I was putting all the weight of the world’s problems into the sewing machine, how each needle that broke drove me crazy because it was then adding more steps and standing in the way from creating the perfectly straight running stitch like how the “real guys’' do it. As if I wasn’t a real guy, as if there was anything “straight” about sewing. The real deal about sewing lies in the trans and non binary-ness of imagining and combining things together in a revolutionary way. 

 As I came into my own Trans awareness (which started waaaay before I even realized it consciously) , I started to think differently about shapes and how my body was just a vehicle in the material world, and how I was meant to challenge generations of bodies by being big and loud and colorful and queer and happy. The magic of clothes lies in the intention of what you put into them. Imagine what you would wear if the perception of others didn't stop you, if you had the resources to express yourself every way under the sun. And like the $un, Black Trans people have been blazing the paths of innovation and inventing exciting fresh concepts since the fucking dawn of thread. And they fucking did that shit with whatever they had, they did that shit with not even half of the resources that fashion bitches got. But we’re done waiting for this era where sizing no longer plagues towns and cities that would crumble under the collapse of fatphobia. We’re taking the power back day by day when we cut new shapes, when we invent our own sizing, when we are comfortable in the way that our clothes hug our skin. 

I hope with each stitch, with each thread, we are building a community of radical sewers. A garden of revolutional fruit healing our body with each wonky stitch, with each raw edge , with fucking safety pins because we’re fucking broke (but at least we’re fucking hot). Our bodies know no mold, no casing, like plants, we reach for the sun, we want that warmth like proper resources to feed our minds and sustain ourselves for the revolution ahead. It’s been a privilege to have the time to learn how to sew, it's a privilege to have a sewing machine. I honor the power in these resources and material guidance that we are able to provide and learn from.

I honor the sacred use of clothing 

I honor the daylight, under the sun, next to the window, where the machines rest

I honor the community affirmations that have gotten me here 

I honor the community through unlearning 

I honor myself and my body through intention

I honor the abundance of community resources we are now able to provide 

I honor a new way of connectivity and fabric 

I honor the Trans ancestors 

I honor my Trans existence ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

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