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Member since 12/15/02
Posts: 8690
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Posted on: 6/14/09 11:00 AM ET
I was thinking about this, this moring. What would the state of sewing, quilting, embroidery and crafting be wihout the internet.

No ebay for collecting machines
no more fabric, yarn, design etc. shopping in your pj's
not the network of friends from around the world to talk about your favorite hobbies
No checking out if some liked a particular product or pattern

I personally believe the internet has had a great impact on sewing etc. I know no one in my area that sews etc. It's like we are a hidden society until we go to Joanns. But online we are quite prevelant. I guess like most things marketing is targeted to 20-35 year old. And Sewing is vastly more popular for 40 yeers and up. Now when we were 20 yes sewing more mainstream. I've seen marketing for sewing products aimed at 20 somethings and I do hope it's working. I would almost go as far to say that the internet has revivied an interest in sewing and all crafts. but I feel does have it's down side as well. I wonder how many of us would actually sew more without the comptuer? lol.
  
Member since 12/15/07
Posts: 559
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Re: Internet and it's impact on sewing (posted on 6/14/09 11:13 AM ET)
The internet has had an impact on just about everything. The communication between people is wonderful.
But remember people were sewing since bone needles were used to fashion two animal hides together.
Sure, the tools and styles have changed. But it is still sewing and textile art and people still get the same type of enjoyment and satisfaction from it.
  
Member since 7/23/07
Posts: 7276
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Re: Internet and it's impact on sewing (posted on 6/14/09 11:16 AM ET)
Not to mention the education component. Friends were exclaiming about how professional one of my outfits looked and I told them it was all due to stuff I have learned online. I've always had for example, a twin needle, but my sewing machine manual has no instructions on how to use it! A little browsing here at PR and a couple of cones of woolly nylon later and voila! hand-made versus "home-made." And yes, I should be sewing right now....
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http://bgballroom.wordpress.com to follow the progress on my next ballgown.
  
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Member since 7/1/08
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Posted on: 6/14/09 12:02 PM ET
Can you imagine sewing without the supportive Pattern Review community?
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Sewing: A creative mess is better than tidy idleness. ~Author Unknown
  
Member since 12/3/05
Posts: 6572
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Re: Internet and it's impact on sewing (posted on 6/14/09 1:59 PM ET)
The only reason I'm sewing today is because of Pattern Review. I started three years ago when I was over 50 and I doubt I would have gotten very far without the advice and camaraderie I found here. It's true the computer eats up some time, but it allows me to make better use of the time I actually spend sewing.

I wouldn't have known which machines, equipment and notions to buy or how to find them at the best price. I never would have found my favorite TNT patterns. And if I didn't have a place to post my reviews, I might never have been motivated to tackle ambitious projects.
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No sewing project is ever a complete success nor a total failure.
  
Member since 7/16/07
Posts: 30016
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Re: Internet and it's impact on sewing (posted on 6/14/09 2:19 PM ET)
In reply to Vie
Quote:
The internet has had an impact on just about everything. The communication between people is wonderful.
But remember people were sewing since bone needles were used to fashion two animal hides together.
Sure, the tools and styles have changed. But it is still sewing and textile art and people still get the same type of enjoyment and satisfaction from it.

What you said.
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my shield and my very great reward ~ Gen. 15:1

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If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. ~ Albert Einstein

People have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be, not what you nag them to be. ~ Scudder N. Parker
  
Member since 3/21/07
Posts: 624
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Re: Internet and it's impact on sewing (posted on 6/14/09 4:33 PM ET)
In reply to quiltingwolf
I'd probably never have learned I overpaid for my first treadle ;)

I wouldn't have bought my second vintage machine (a 1925 Singer 99 handcrank)--got it from ebay. I certainly spend a good bit of time on the internet.

Cutting into my sewing time? I don't think so. I'd all but stopped sewing prior to finding that Redeye treadle at a church bazaar, and it was due to finding information on it *and* on bringing it back to working condition that I worked up the nerve to start using it--even teaching myself how to treadle.

In the meantime, because of my activity in an online group for treadle and handcrank fans, I used my handcrank (bought on ebay) machine to piece my very first quilt top (as part of a mystery quilt project run by Treadle On) and got well and truly bit by the quilting bug. That has well and truly re-awakened my interest in sewing and I've made 3 other quilts since that first quilt top, all of them sewn in some way with my treadles and hand cranks (although I've also used electric machines for some of them).

In fact, I just returned from a local quilting fabric store after buying the fabrics I'll need for my newest quilting project--that car and truck quilt project for my soon-to-be step-grandson. I found the store on the internet. I got the coloring pages that I'm using as patterns from the internet. I got the idea for how to work the sashing so that it looks like roads right from this group here--on the internet. I'll likely post the pictures on the internet.

So does the internet interfere with my sewing? Maybe. But it also became the catalyst for my renewed interest in sewing. Granted, internet usage can be excessive. But you know, according to my family, so can sewing. (they think it's excessive to have 11 or 12 machines, even if I use them all! lol)
  
Member since 12/15/07
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Re: Internet and it's impact on sewing (posted on 6/15/09 7:54 AM ET)
Quote:
Can you imagine sewing without the supportive Pattern Review community?


I don't have to imagine -- I did it for about 40 years and so did millions of others.
  
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Re: Internet and it's impact on sewing (posted on 6/15/09 9:36 AM ET)
In reply to nancy2001
Quote:
The only reason I'm sewing today is because of Pattern Review.


Hear, hear! Me too. I would have quickly fallen flat if it weren't for the community I found here. PR taught me how to sew.

It's a different world now; so many of us do not have the sewing support groups that used to exist within every community. While I do agree that sewing would still exist, I question whether it would exist for me without the internet and PR.

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Cindy Lou, no more than 2
"Sew, Esmerelda! Sew like the Wind!" -Martin Short, The Three Amigos
"When inspiration calls, you don't send it to voicemail." --Will I Am.
  
Member since 12/15/02
Posts: 8690
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Posted on: 6/15/09 10:01 AM ET
I was always a lone sewer before the internet. The only sewing conversations I might have would have been in line at Joanns waiting for fabric to be cut.
  
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