I am not a regular reader at sewcountrychick because I was a little put-off once by a comment she made regarding 'visible hems'. I have great appreciation for blind hems but somethings are just fine with a top-stitched hem! I felt like..."Aren't we on a high-horse..." about it.
But today...Sigh.
Lots of bloggers are calling GOMI out lately and yep, I've lurked the site. Some stuff is ridiculous, some is funny, some is blunt and direct and borderline mean. I think it's much easier to be put off if you read something about yourself or a blogger friend -- I am way too low on the totem pole to be mentioned there, I'm sure, as they focus mainly on bloggers who are monetized or the uber popular bloggers -- but there is some critical discussion about the sewing community there that you can't really disagree with.
Today, Justine posted an open letter to GOMI of sorts... HERE
I was reading it and I was sort of following along, nodding my head...
My comment (it's long - but y'all know I'm long-winded!)
I was completely and totally there until I read this, “…for all we know it’s a frustrated ex blogger on there, eating potato chips while she types, getting fatter by the minute, in a sexless marriage, spending all day behind the keyboard, on this site. Why is what SHE says so important to everyone? SHE is an anonymous nobody who lashes out under the shield of internet anonymity. But why?” I mean…c’mon. That’s pretty rude. If *nothing* else it reinforces fat = bad and it is generally held that body snark is never okay. People are made how they are made.
And then, “Many of these seamstresses can totally outsew the younger group, yet they might not have the computer skills to put together beautiful looking blogs and photos to draw in new readers. I sense a feeling of resentment from some in this group, …”
Seriously, everyone who blogs doesn’t do so to have a million followers and to be “popular”. So I doubt that “resentment” is real.
My $0.02 cents…
I have been sewing just under 2 years. I was frustrated at first with the ‘old school’ thinkers because I did not, under any circumstances, want to sew a stupid tote bag! (poking fun just a little). I started sewing to sew garments and that’s what I wanted to sew. IMO it doesn’t help to try to tell a newbie to focus on fit because fit is the MOST DIFFICULT PART OF SEWING! A newbie is just very unlikely to execute a garment with perfectly fitting shoulders, zero wrinkles, gorgeous buttonholes and a perfectly even hem.
I have been sewing just under 2 years. I was frustrated at first with the ‘old school’ thinkers because I did not, under any circumstances, want to sew a stupid tote bag! (poking fun just a little). I started sewing to sew garments and that’s what I wanted to sew. IMO it doesn’t help to try to tell a newbie to focus on fit because fit is the MOST DIFFICULT PART OF SEWING! A newbie is just very unlikely to execute a garment with perfectly fitting shoulders, zero wrinkles, gorgeous buttonholes and a perfectly even hem.
Sew some things up, have fun, eventually you will start to realize what’s “off” and will start asking questions and getting better at fitting your body. But first and foremost most of us do this as a hobby and so it is something to be enjoyed not fretted over about tiny details (like wonky topstitching). Eventually your skills will begin to improve and you will learn to get neat topstitching, etc. Just keep going.
BUT, I feel all bets are off when you decide you are going to sell a product or service. Seriously. There is no good reason for bad customer service. I do not accept bad customer service from restaurants, department stores, the large chain craft stores…why should I accept poor service from someone because they are part of the SBC and have a pretty blog? I think that’s INSANE.
Obviously anyone can start selling just about anything with the internet as a platform. But the minute you start to sell something you are saying “I stand behind this product/service that I am offering”. You can’t go run and hide in a corner and cry fowl foul when someone critiques your product/service.
And then, I got an email that said:
Well said. But people aren’t fat because they’re made that way
It’s because they eat too much and don’t exercise enough. But yes, that comment was rude, and I should probably not have said that . Just painting a picture of the type of person who most likely hangs out on sites like that all day
I thought, WOW. Did she really say that to me??
And then I realized she actually posted that on her blog, in response to me. And I don't care what anyone thinks, I don't feel I'm perpetuating it, I feel like this really needs to be called out because Oh My Gosh, who says that? I am seriously disgusted. I think that this line of thinking is far more ridiculous than someone at GOMI calling out a blogger who inserts 22 photos in a post or is on Blog Tour #317.
A portion of Samantha's comment sums things up greatly.
First of all, there are a great many people in the world with a variety of opinions. Their ideas and thoughts are not made invalid due to their weight, body type, or activity level...People who have an opinion that deviates from yours do not deserve to be dismissed in that manner nor should it be assumed that the opinions of those who may be overweight matter less than those of other body types.
