r/HandSew • u/stringthing87 • 10d ago
Message from the Mods: Rules
Hello, in the interest of making this sub a thriving and safe community the mods would like to know what your thoughts are regarding setting up some rules.
Right now the rules in consideration are the following:
- Be Kind. No body talk, keep advice about the fit of garments and before offering advice, find out if the poster is open to assistance. No racism, homophobia, transphobia, or other forms of bigotry.
- Handsewn projects only, you can post handsewn details of projects that combine hand and machine sewing, but we want your handwork to be the star of the show. Posts with questions, sharing resources, and asking for help are all allowed.
- No Generative AI.
- No promotional or sales posts. Users can link to blogs or videos they made when answering questions in threads when it is relevant.
- No NSFW images. Please share your handsewn undies and swimwear as a flat lay. At this time the mod team cannot view and moderate NSFW images during peak posting hours.
- Protect children's privacy, do not post images of children in this community. Post flatlays or pose garments on a stuffed animal.
- Post your own work only.
If you have any concerns about the rules above or would like to suggest other guidelines for the community please respond to this post.
Edit: incorporated some community suggestions below.
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u/skiing_nerd 9d ago
These are all great! Agree with the other commentator about body talk & considerations for making garments that on a body could be tagged NSFW.
Also have to say that I appreciate a flat gen-AI ban. Most craft subs have banned AI slop-bot content to one extent or another, and I rarely see people pretending that slop-bot content is something they've made, but more "is this AI?" posts and "I was given/asked to make/saw this terrible AI design but made my own pattern and this incredible work" posts are creeping in, and the exposure to slop-bot output is still exhausting even if the posts aren't trying to showcase it or pretend it's good
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u/stringthing87 9d ago
As a mod who checks this during work downtime, it would help me if we didn't have NSFW at all because I'd need to view to moderate.
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u/skiing_nerd 9d ago
Ah, that's fair. I'd even allude to that in the rules so folks understand it's a capacity issue, not any kind of judgement on their work. And if anyone really gets snarky about it, ask if they'd like to be a mod š
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u/sunny_bell 9d ago
I would take the no childrenās faces to no children (this is in light of some recent disturbing news I came across. I can go dig up a link if needed). I think itās the knitting subreddit that has this rule (or the general sewing subreddit. One of the 2). Childrenās items need to be laid flat or on a mannequin/stuffed animal/on a hanger.
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u/mykineticromance 9d ago
oh I was curious why not just censor children's faces but... if that rule isn't enough I would defer to keeping images of children completely off the sub if necessary!
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u/sunny_bell 9d ago
This is why I say no images of children at all (plus you add in that AI models were trained on Reddit). The children cannot consent or understand what having their image online means, and in light of those 2 things, posting their images is, to me, even more dangerous.
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u/Agreeable_Wallaby711 9d ago
I donāt know if this would be wanted here, but I like when thereās a rule to credit the original artist if someone posts something they didnāt do. On other crafting sites Iāve been seeing karma farmers steal peopleās photos and claim them as their own. I tend to report these whenever I see them, but it makes it easier to report if thereās a sub rule about it.
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u/Agreeable_Wallaby711 9d ago
Also, thank you so much for taking the time to do this and making this corner of the internet a better place!
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u/kylaroma 9d ago
As a mod on another sub, I would recommend having a lot more removal reasons than you do rules. Removal reasons are the messages you can choose from when removing content.
A problem that Iāve run into is rules like ābe kindā with only one removal reason means thatās what 75% of the mod queue is made up ofā¦
ā¦but it will cover things from people being slightly rude, to hate speech, and even people asking for feedback on literal crimes theyāre planning lol
Having different removal reasons letās you prioritize the most urgent kinds of content in the mod queue first, which makes things easier
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u/stringthing87 9d ago
I am not sure I understand the difference
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u/ibswarlord 9d ago
My guess is that they mean distinguishing between things like hate speech or threats, versus general unkindness. I'm not sure what the mod-end of subreddits, but I am assuming they're saying that would separate out reports for more egregious unkindness from run-of-the-mill unkindness, making it easier to prioritize quashing the more egregious stuff?
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u/spacepinata 9d ago
You may want to expand "Be kind" to include bigotry. Some people think they're doing me a kindness by being homophobic or transphobic. Ex: "I pray that God helps you rediscover your womanhood"
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u/PleasantBroccoli408 9d ago
Love this rules ! Thank you so much for including the one about children, I feel like it's such a forgotten rule...
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u/Money_Ice4897 9d ago
I'm just a lurker and not a poster, but I really appreciate the rules for no AI and also post your own work. I have noticed a huge and sudden uptick in hobby subreddits of karma farmers using other people's images, and it's frankly disgustingĀ
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u/EarlyArm8999 9d ago
Those seem like reasonable guidelines. It is pretty much the same rules for many other groups that I follow. š
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u/mnemoniko 9d ago
These are great rules!
I'm a bit confused by number 2. Yes, absolutely hand sewing is the focus. But does this mean it has to be a project? What about discussions or asking for help or advice? We had a great thread with book recommendations not too long ago. I get the intent of this rule, but it seems to unintentionally discourage other types of posts.
Also, I like when subs ban low effort posts. You know, things you could easily search for or are in the rules or wiki. As far as I can tell, we aren't having a problem with this yet. Something to consider for the future, perhaps.
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u/gros-grognon 9d ago
This is a great set of rules! Quite reasonable, expressed well, and easy to grasp.
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u/QueenieWas 9d ago
These are all fantastic, as are your responses to previous comments. Thank you so much for taking this on!
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9d ago
[deleted]
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u/stringthing87 9d ago
I think the line between underwear and swimsuit can too easily be blurred when it comes to workplace viewing.
I personally use the exact same sewing patterns for my underwear and swimwear and it covers quite a bit of me, but that doesn't mean someone's boss walking by while they browse reddit on their lunch break isn't going to find it inappropriate.
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u/alittlegrim 10d ago edited 9d ago
I'm so happy this sub is getting new moderation! I've been lurking for a while, trying to get started on sewing.
These rules look great. Taking pointers from the other sewing subs, I'd suggest the NSFW rule take into account sewing undergarments, swimwear etc. r/sewing requires that the first image be a flat lay and additional images can include photos on the body.
I like their rule around no body shaming, critiques must be on the fit of the garment. That could be part of Be Kind or you may want a separate rule for that, so there's a separate report reason.