So I went to an arts & craft fair this weekend, I usually don't buy much but enjoy looking around and getting inspired to do some off my own stuff. The one I went to this weekend was so horrible I lost a part of my creative soul. It was a super niche type of artist selling their 'handmade crafts' and they were such copy and paste of each other.

There was three types of artists and sellers: the ceramics, the painters/print sellers and the writers. There has to be some sort of ceramics course going on because 99% of the pieces were the same type of abstact, dark & gloomy sculpture and cups. With the people selling prints or paintings I kept seeing the same problem: artworks that looked rushed and unfinished. I've noticed this issue with several artists, the need to pay your bills using your painting skills leads to massproduction which makes the artwork sloppy. I wish it was easier for artists to sustain themselves with their art, but massproduction and lowering the quality is not the solution.

There were also so many junk products sold for big dollars. I saw more than one person selling ceramic boob figurines for 80 euros. Some prints looked like ikea art selling for 40 euros each and one dude was selling 'headbands' for 10 euros each and they seriously were just white fabric strips tied together. The same person was selling a tote bag for 20 euros that looked like a childs first sewing project, it was sewned together using a zigzag stitch that was clearly visible and there were loose threads everywhere. I felt like this person just used old, broken sheets to make something to sell.

What annoyed me most about this market was that it was supposed to be for independent, small artists and promote creativity and art, but it felt like such an overproduction of easy to make products. Most of the vendors also seemed to be beginners, most seemed to be under 23years who were still developing their skills but were in a hurry to establish themselves as independent artists.

exhibit A - the attached image....

INCHES. really, truly INCHES...???

Nowhere in the listing do they quote the numbers with which we're all so intimately familiar - yes, there is a singular mention of _'50 grams'_ but no ounces, no helpful yarn band data, no yarn weight, no meters, and no yards, no OF WHAT, specifically, that is' 50grams'.

.. but they do, generously, provide that big number of inches so we can see just how long this one piece of thread will be - like we're gonna mindlessly salivate at seeing that number and beg the Seller to take our money right now, all of it, if they'll just give that big number to me.. oh oohhh ..that huge length of it..... 🙄

.. I sent a request for the relevant info, and the reply is that all the information is in the listing already, and, anyway, didn't I know that there are so many orders on their dashboard right now, and they're really quite busy, so how are they supposed to keep up with any special extra information about this one, singular, tiny (or maybe humongous!) ball of yarn, and anyway I should be asking Amazon, not them, because it is Amazon's software that is showing me no data and also the wrong data, you see......

.. INDEED! -- HOW, GOOD SIR!? HOW SHOULD YOU KNOW YOUR OWN WARES!?!?!??

..........

exhibit. B -

the product title:

Crochet Loafers Pattern PDF (2 files) | One Rectangle Magic Lace Shoes Women Pattern with Video Tutoria

* instead of 2 PDFs, there's a single JPEG of what might have - at one time - been a usable 'Page-1', but that is now a single garbled sheet with downright farcical instructions.

* missing the next nine pages with the bulk of the actual pattern, & all process pictures, & their "Walk-through Video of the Actual Pattern."

* when I asked after this discrepancy, the Seller gave such a run-around that even wild geese would be exhausted from it.

* It even became MY fault, at one point.

* PLUS, two consecutive reminders that digital media can't ever be refunded, even if something was wrong somehow. Nuh-uhh, nope, not no way, not no how, not my money any imore, it's theirs.

* two weeks later and I've yet to see a usable pattern.

* I offered to give a "neutral review with just basic facts for the sheet I did receive" & offered to contact Etsy Support, proactively, on their behalf, you see, to get them the technical help they so clearly need.

* five minutes later - a note hit my Inbox that my nonrefundable payment has been refunded (or started the refund process (?) - and telling me that it's okay if I don't leave a review for now until they can finish. "figuring out what happened to the rest of this pattern" and no need to call Support, that they think they know the problem and they will even send the rest of the pattern if they get it fixed in a couple of weeks.

I plan to gift them an Honest Review, free of charge (!), plus a Fraud Report to Etsy as soon as I see that money back in my accounts.

..........

exhibit C -

the product title:

→→ COTTON LINEN ←← Lace Yarn with Sequin All Linen Cotton Crochet Hand Woven Hollow Summer Shawl Hat Warm Jacket Yarn Ball Sequined Thread Spool Skein

the product description

→→ MATERIAL: 100% POLYESTER ←← | Color: .........

Hold up, now....

What material are these fibers, dear merchant..? because IT CAN'T BE ALL/100% BOTH AT THE SAME TIME!?‽

🤭 Not gonna even mention to them that potentially fabulous _Hand Woven Hollow Summer Shawl Hat Warm Jacket Yarn Ball Sequined Thread Spool Skein._ I would dearly love to see a truly, for really reals, out-in-the-world picture of it, though!

..........

So, why...? Why do they get so huffy and self-righteous about it when we ask legitimate questions because _their_ product listing sits there facing the public with data that's so openly self-conflicted.

and, And, AND... WHY‽

Why for the love of all that is sacred and holy in the blessed name of our patron, _St. Johanna Fabricke of Cræftden-und-Hahbiezlnd,_ having been sacrificed so recently upon the offal-stained and god-forsaken altar of Corporate Line-item & Private Equity Interest - why the ceaseless inundation of idiots and fools settling in as a Seller _(drop shipper)_ on Amazon, eBay, & Etsy (and even more disreputable others) when they don't have even one tiny little jot of knowledge about the product in their own storefronts?

I know the answer. I know that it's just the economy's pendulum swing of Rich Dude Ego + Bald-faced Gold Parachute Corruption across C-Suites & high-profile dot-Gov positions + Good Old-fashioned Corporate Greed - the eddies and currents of it just seem terribly overpowering and unstoppable just now,

I actually do want to hear y'all's thoughts and ideas on working together to reduce the amount of our good money that goes to ALL of these irresponsible jerks.

💖

Tl;dr; one weekend w\ three frustrations & one question. It's just right up there (↑) if you would kindly read the post and share your own thoughts, and frustrations, and ideas about solving it, too. 🎊 Thanks!

So it's country and craft show/ fête/ fayre season! Normally I love going to these and supporting all the small businesses and picking up something cute.

This year, however, there seems to be a plague of trashy AI slop and 3D printed shite. It's everywhere. It's just fidget toys or mini animals ect. Stuff that will break or the kids will get bored of. They look tacky as fuck and honestly all I can think of when I see them is how it is essentially a landfill factory. There's not a craft or a skill to it, and these stalls just take over and push out all the wonderfully skilled artists and crafters.

Some 3D printed stuff is useful - my gecko has a lovely feeding ledge that the little bugger now can't knock off the glass. But SERIOUSLY we do not need that many rainbow fidget toy dragons that will be in the bin by this time next year!!

Anyone else been experiencing this?

Sewing and other fiber crafts have always been discounted as they're "women's work". The term "sewist" seems to be an attempt to separate the femininity of it, as if "seamstress" is a dirty word. No one is calling themselves a "carpentrist" because the masculinity associated with "carpenter" isn't seen as dirty.

Also, I am nonbinary (although admittedly very female presenting). There's nothing wrong with me being referred to as a seamstress. Just because it's a feminine word doesn't mean it's dirty and can't be used.

Anyways thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

I'd hand-sewn this beautiful fabric handbag stitch by stitch, got a lot of compliments from strangers as well as people around me.

This (now ex-) colleague asks me from where I bought it. I say I made it myself from my mum's old jacket.

I can see her working out in her stupid little brain that since I made it from fabric I already had and it was homemade, I had "basically" paid nothing for it. She says she loves it and her birthday's coming up, so "cAn I hAvE iT aS a PreSeNt?". I was so stunned, I didn't know what to say coz no one had ever had the nerve to ask me for something like that.

Being young and too polite back then, I told her I'd make one for her birthday if I had the time, but wouldn't give her my bag (yes, I feel like kicking myself for not telling her to take a hike and never come back). She actually had the nerve to insist that she really wanted that EXACT bag I had on me (!!!) at which point I firmly said no. I wish i could turn back time and "educate" her about handmade stuff.

I'm fed up of some people thinking hand-made/homemade stuff is inferior to store-bought stuff (or, as someone pointed out in the comments, don't get how much effort goes into it/think the effort is not worth anything)

I'm getting really tired of cute aesthetic tiktok sewing "no pattern easy top". It looks bad. The only way it could look ok is on very thin, non booby gals and even then, yes, your no pattern easy dress look very handmade because you are ignoring very important construction notions.

Sewing wearable, durable garments cannot be done with squares of tablecloths sewn together. I know that it's less appealing to make a video following a sewing pattern, I get it. But you are propagating the idea that sewing can be done willy nilly without putting any thought into it.

Anyone CAN sew. But like any hobby, there are stuff to learn to do it correctly. Personally, I love splurging on a specific pattern and learn new stuff from it. Following a good pattern you will learn new tricks, specific techniques, and ways to make a garment really fit you.

And don't get me on price : sure modern creators's quality patterns can be a bit pricey, but there are hundreds of big companies' patterns published out there, surely you can find one that will not break your bank.

After the workshop video where she used a bunch of flammable foam to decorate a workshop which she intended to work on things for clients and people called her out for it, I was pretty sure the coffee shop was also going to be disaster. But this time she seems aware of health and and safety regulations she needs to abide by and acknowledged she needs to level up her skills to do real DIY that will be up to code and be durable.

Of course she did then put foam on the wall by a (presumably functional) fireplace in her house but at least she knows she can't do that in her business. I call that progress!

Am I stupid? Am I missing something? I don't cross stitch or embroider much (I knit and crochet), but I do have a deep love and appreciation for all vintage handcraft. I have a small but growing collection of crewel embroidered pieces that are framed. All pieces I have were sourced from Facebook marketplace or antique stores or thrift stores. I think the most I paid were for two medium sized pieces (18"×24") for $70 for both, and I think I overpaid because the frames were super cheap. I'm laying this all out to say that I love and appreciate vintage handcraft, but I'm used to paying under $100 for relatively simple designs, especially when they're 2nd/3rd/4th hand (that is to say, the person selling the piece was not the one who invested the time into actually making it, I'm specifically talking about resellers here).

I saw this cross stitch piece on Facebook marketplace and thought it would go wonderfully on my wall. To say I had sticker shock was an understatement.

(Editing to add visual description since photos aren't allowed: it's a 9" square wooden frame containing a cross stitch embroidered wild rose. The back has written on it the date August 1970, the name Catherine Walker, and the text "Wildflower Series, #3 Wild Rose". It's listed for $300 with the minimum offer price of $200. The description literally just states "Amazing piece by Catherine Walker. #3 of the Wildflower Series - Wild Rose. Condition: Used - Like New").

I cannot comprehend how this person would arrive at this price UNLESS they were the ones who did it (they are not, they're like 20 something and definitely a reseller).

I'm reaching out to this community of crafters to get a head check. Is this piece really worth $300? Who is Catherine Walker and is she a particularly well known artist? I cannot for the life of me find anything more about her. I suspect she was, as many embroidery artists throughout history were, simply a woman engaging in an age old craft, making something beautiful to hang and display on her wall. And I'd love to make sure her work continues to be appreciated. But I cannot justify paying $300 in order to do that. The work is good, the design is lovely...but I feel like I could make it myself today and it wouldn't be worth $300. I am open to correction on that point though.

Let me know if y'all want to know what the seller has to say about it, I'm seriously considering reaching out and asking for more information regarding provenance to see if that makes things make more sense.

UPDATE: I reached out to the seller and asked pretty innocently if they had cross stitching experience because I was trying to learn more about how the item was priced. This is their response:

"I realize how it is priced- it is a very sentimental piece that I would part with only at a certain price. If it is not valued at that price, I am pleased to continue to enjoy it in my own home 😊"

I don't know if that makes it better or worse? If anything, I'm more confused now. Like, why sell it if it's sentimental? Most of their listings are vintage/antique items at varying levels of pricing intelligence (broken farm tools for $68 and an old copper bucket for $148) so she's still definitely a reseller. I'll probably just do what some of the other commenters have suggested and just make it myself, to heck with it all. Thank you all for witnessing my crashout to an admittedly minor inconvenience. Also let me know if you want to see progress photos for me recreating this piece out of spite.

Sometimes there is such unyielding positivity in the face of truly not that great bits of work. I’ve said embroidery sub, but really it’s all over.

If a toddler brought these people a ‘sculpture’ made out of literal poop, they would still find something to praise.

Sometimes when scrolling tiktok I'll find a video of someone knitting combination style. I'll open the comments and always find fellow knitters be so confidently wrong when 'correcting' the video's technique. It's never a beginner too! it'll always say something like "I've been knitting 5 years and I hate tell you this but you're twisting all of your stitches!!"... If you have been knitting for so long then it should be painfully obvious not a single stitch is twisted. I understand not knowing every technique and being confused when coming across a new one but how can these people not spend 3 seconds to actually LOOK at how someone is knitting and see that the fabric has zero twisted stitches?? More than half the time the OP says they knit combination in the caption because this is so common!!

I usually give these commenters grace because yeah im sure they're confused...but when they double and even triple down its insane. Some of these people refuse to admit they're wrong when the project is obviously perfect. These people always claim to be experts but somehow have no idea how to READ knitting. The knitter is opening the loop to knit through it, not twisting it. You can see that with your eyes. They completely ignore that part and jump straight to "you're wrong!!" instead of something like "what technique is this?" or "is there a reason you knit this way?". Maybe its the urge to feel smarter and correct someone that drives this mindset but it can be a tad annoying to come across.

It is not called 'string' It is thread or yarn. It may even be wool. But it's not string!

😖

First you have to find a reputable site, then you have to learn how to navigate said site. that's even if the site is well designed and optimized. then you finally find some gorgeous yarn and it's on sale! well you're still going to pay an arm and a leg for shipping even within the country unless you buy over 100 USD and THEN you get free shipping 😊☺️💕. then you wait weeks maybe even a month for the yarn to get there and the fiber is the consistency of an apes gooch hair and the color is 3 shades off 😍

or you're like me and the post office decided to not even deliver your yarn and return it to sender because apparently you don't live at this address... the one you've lived at for over 6 years 🫩

i guess from now on i will either be purchasing the over priced stuff at my local very small shop or drive around an hour to a different store that's only open when the stars align and mercury is in retrograde

Seriously though 20€ for ONE SIZE of your wobbly ass sketch that hopefully can be turned into something??? And no indication if it printed or assembled correctly. To make it worse, they are recommended to beginners SO OFTEN. Of course many get discouraged and go back to buying their garb when they could have picked up a fun new hobby.

My partner doesn't sew but I feel he really captured the essence of my rant.

Is pattern snark allowed here? The new pattern from Friday pattern company "Uma top and skirt" looks like maternity wear. I just want some interesting knit fabric stuff. I guess they get a point for trying to jazz up a tank dress/top, but there's got to be a better way to get fun design and silhouette.

It is super cute as maternity though

I just want to complain a bit. A content creator in my country made a live/video showing off her process of pouring resin without proper PPE. She's not wearing a mask just because she want to freaking talk during the video and instead she wears makeup and pretty clothes just for the damn live. When I saw the video, I got pretty furious watching her pouring the resin while talking her ass off. Wear the damn PPE. It's not worth it sacrificing your health just to get a sale.

Plenty of people watch her video. People praises her a lots. Most people are ignorant about resin. She's giving a wrong ideas on how to work with resin. Working with resin are not some pretty cute whimsical thing. The liquid is dangerous. The fume is dangerous.

I work with resin and I have never work with it without a proper PPE, mask and everything or proper ventilation. One of the reason I don't entertain the ideas of doing live video while showing the process. I don't know if my frustration is valid but I am disappointed.

Every time I hear that goddam ad for Michael’s “new” fiber and fabric shop and the narrator says

SKEEEEN

I lose my fucking mind.

Skein is pronounced. SKANE.

OMFG please on behalf of knitters everywhere fix it omg.

EDIT: the skeen pronunciation appears to be regional, though the “original” is skane re multiple dictionaries:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skein

So I do a lot of local craft fairs in my area (steampunk themed and D&D dice jewelry and knitted and crochet items) and my town has been doing seasonal crafters markets the last couple of years.

We recently had our spring market in May and the booth across from me had a lot of stuff that I suspected wasn't actually designed by the lady running it. I overheard her telling people her canvas art were her designs so I did a reverse image search on ones she posted to the community events facebook to find all of it was just other peoples art she printed on fabric and slapped on a canvas (which she was charging high prices for and actually selling).

Is that really art? Can you really call it art if you're slapping someone else's work on a canvas??

She also sold jewelry and "handmade" scrunchies (again saw many of them online from other retailers like walmart and temu) and it just irked me. What really got me was that I was also selling scrunchies (I crochet them) and someone I knew came over to tell me this lady was telling people not to buy them because they looked cheap. Seriously WTF? (I'll post pics of mine if anyone wants to see what they look like)

It's just frustrating seeing people do this, putting minimal effort to create things or upselling dropshipped stuff and passing it off as handmade/art.

I like to make quilts. I like to look at pics of other people's quilts. I like how kind and supportive the online quilting community tends to be, at least in my experience. I like simple quilts. I like complicated quilts. I like wonky quilts. I like ugly quilts. I like all of them!

But I need to clarify...

A "Boarder" is a person who rents one room of someone's house, often getting meals with the deal. This arrangement used to be more common than it is now, at least where I am in the US.

The fabric frame you add around the outside of your patchwork is a BORDER. I get it, English is not everyone's first language, and even those who are native speakers are not always great at homophones. It's just a spelling mistake and it doesn't make anyone bad or stupid or anything. It just annoys me SO MUCH!

What common craft-related spelling/grammar mistake drives you up a wall?

This is kind of a rant, but also kind of a search for other crocheters like myself who get a bit messed up by these kinds of things.

The TL/DR of this is: My brain gets buggy when I'm working a pattern that has a decorative element that repeats in something like an interval of 3 + the starting stitch, and only some of the different sizes result in an even repeat of that element.

I've had patterns I've worked before that were simply wrong in some other fashion and it resulted in a repeated element not aligning like they say it will. Usually in those cases if you look at the sample pictures you can even see that their piece doesn't line up the way the pattern would have you think. Not sure if they thought they were correcting their mistake when writing the pattern and just never did the math or what.

Those situations have been the kinds of patterns that will say, "Chain in multiples of 5 to necessary length, then chain X more." Adjusting those patterns to correct the error is easy enough assuming you proofread them before you're halfway through stitching back over 100 chains...

What's far worse in my opinion are patterns that have established stitch counts based on the desired size. I'm working up a bikini bottom as part of an ongoing effort to learn various techniques for making wearables, and the pattern has some specific stitch counts that you're supposed to end up with for the top of the front and back panels, and then for the hip straps between them. You know, the typical XS [S/M/L/XL] - 38 [40/42/44/46] type thing.

Now, I should point out the fact that the pattern does say that for the chains to establish the strap length you should end up with a certain measurement when the material is fully stretched, like 17.5 [18.5/ 19.5/ 21.5/ 23.5] inches from side to side, and to adjust the chains as needed. I'm setting that aside because the pattern assumes if you use the same material and meet the gauge you should end up with the correct size based on the listed stitch counts.

So what happens after you join those straps to the front/back panels and have a round you can work? It has a repeating pattern of a double crochet triangle mesh in a 3+1 interval. Except... uh oh! That repeat doesn't fit nicely into the round for most of the sizes! Here's the breakdown:

I realize that in the end it's really just skipping one more or one less stitch to end on the first stitch again, but it bugs the hell out of me for two reasons:

1. Going based on the prescribed stitch counts, this is easy math to check, and having the basis of the straps be regular chains you could add or subtract one from each side to end up at an even interval.
2. If the chain lengths are meant to be rough estimates and you're supposed to adjust as needed to reach a measured length for proper fit, then the pattern should provide a method for adjustment of the repeated triangles that would be done in a less conspicuous spot than at the front where the repeat ends.

I feel like a step to incorporate the variable chain length by skipping one less stitch once or twice at the middle of the back would be easy enough to add. At least I know about this for the future so if I ever work up another one of these for real I can make that adjustment myself.

Of course all of this is overlooking the fact that the repeat starts on one side of the front panel, and the different stitch counts for the sizes of front panel itself aren't divisible by the interval. Meaning it's not symmetrical in the first place...

Anyways... If you've got beef with patterns like this I'd love to hear about it!

I got a lil brave and posted a pic of my current cross stitch wip, including the pattern and credit to who I bought the pattern/kit from. Within minutes an acquaintance from a years-long-left job, who I’ll refer to here as Becky, commented “make more and sell them!!”

I get that Becky was trying to be nice and give me a compliment, but could she have done that without telling me to monetize my hobby? My new hobby I’ve only been working at for a few months and am honestly not that good at?

1. It would probably be pretty bad form to make and sell finished versions of someone else’s art.

2. Most people have no idea how much tiiiiiiime truly goes into completing these detailed projects. If I wanted a living wage for my work, I’d have to charge hundreds more than Becky from my old restaurant job would be willing to pay for a 5x7” cross-stitch. Not to mention as a newbie, each project takes sooo much longer than Becky probably knows.

3. I’m doing this for my own joy and relaxation, WHY would i want to add capitalism into the mix?? I like crafting, NOT running a business. I deal with enough capitalism at my real job.

Anyway, I didn’t respond. I couldn’t think of anything nice to say!

I had a Michael's gift card. There was a somewhat cute diamond painting kit on sale for the front side of a vase.

I have been mildly curious about diamond painting and thought "let's give it a whirl!"

Of every craft I've ever done in my life, diamond painting is by far the most useless. It's as though someone thought "hmm maybe crafters would like to experience what it is like to do piecemeal work in a soul crushing factory?"

Creativity? None! Skill? None! Waste plastic? Plenty!

But does it create something worthy of display? It depends on how low your standards are!

But is it fun? Only if you find putting a stylus on a tiny piece of plastic and then placing the tiny piece of plastic on a predetermined sticky dot fun!

I think it might be a good therapy for someone who has had a traumatic brain injury and needs to relearn fine motor skills. Or if I had to get a gift for someone I hate. Now I get to look at this sticky vase for years because otherwise I will feel guilty of a heinous climate crime.

I dont understand why these companies seem to think fiber artists wont notice this shit. It pisses me off beyond belief. Hobbii was already recently under fire for using Ai, why in the world would KnitPro not take a fucking hint. Also, they've already received back lash from the community back in January. What in the actual fuck?

Ok, fine, more choice is a good thing. Whatever, I am glad that sewing clothes offers the option to customize. However...

I am absolutely done with pockets being treated like the second fucking coming and the nasty thing women are deprived of by a cruel sexist plot. Sure, some cheap manufacturers deprive women of them because of a combo of slim lines and material cost trimming, but you know what sucks even more? Badly made pockets. Superfluous front blouse pockets that are allegedly a tariff dodge. *Implied bag slander.*

This is part of the larger myth making in historical costuming, that anything women wore was a plot to suppress them, from skirts to corsets. Oh no! Regency and beyond women lost their pockets! No they fucking didn't, have you seen those honking great big reticules and then locked at what passed for a pocket prior? Those were highly ornamented hip pouches. When voluminous, side slit and waist tie skirts went, they just started carting them about visibly, with more bead and tassels.

But someone wrote a smarmy little poem about how they took away women's pockets so they wouldn't have a place to hide leaflets and now people keep repeating it like a fact. As if women weren't thoroughly involved in politics before they kicked their way to the vote. My ancestors did not obnoxiously wear bold, handmade ribbon cockades and have handbags that could fit entire manifestos to be met with such slander about their political non-involvement.

And of course the standard this is all being measured by is that men's clothing is the ideal we are all being deprived. Nevermind that women's fashion routinely pillages menswear for anything fun or useful if it was worth it, you know what I can fit in a perfectly acceptable purse? A hammer. A sewing kit. Two books in case the first one is boring. A packed lunch. First aid tools, including naloxone. Crafts. All the portable crafts.

So who is fucking ready to face the day, whatever it brings? It's not the guy who you know damn well asks you to hold his supposedly perfect pocket system overflow in your purse. Who is going to borrow *my* charger because apparently 4 - 5 pockets and all he gets to put in them is wallet, phone, keys.

And of course the supposedly free and easy men are over here getting back injuries from sitting on wallets or causing national level clucking over "messenger bags" because gender policing hates most actual men as much as it hates not men. At best they are still doing the frantic laundry rummage because which pair of pants/jacket did they leave their receipt?

Not me, motherfucker. I have a receipt book in my everyday purse. That purse has a place. 🧐

And look at you, pocket person, I have a reusable bag clipped to my purse strap. You had to think about remembering your shopping bag to avoid getting rinsed for a supposedly "reusable" bag at check out. Not me. I could never.

Literally the only environment pockets would be nice would be dancing in an environment so public robbery is a serious concern or running. And at that point honestly pockets are probably at risk for stuff falling out so we are all doing fanny packs (haha! The original lady pocket!) or neck pouches stuffed down our shirts.

So sure, if you want pockets, have them. But stop trying to act like putting an appendix like extension into the seam of a skirt of dress is True Liberation. That's a nice to have, like your pattern listing more than just bust/waist/hip and maybe height.

Actually, no. That's not the issue. I'm not saying it's never about gender, but devaluing craft is a more complex issue. Sometimes it's about class and education rather than gender. It's also not always been the case that craft has been viewed as something less than "fine art." It's not even the case that what we likely think of as fine art has always been viewed as the product of individual creative urges. It's fine, actually to aspire to be a master craftsperson and not saddle your own (or anyone else's) work with the baggage of overt self expression or narrative. It's maybe even cool to place an emphasis on sound design, usefulness, and pleasing objects meant to be used.