tidyturnip:

skullchicken:

Things I wish I had read in “beginner” sewing tutorials/people had told me before I started getting into sewing

• You have to hem *everything* eventually. Hemming isn’t optional. (If you don’t hem your cloth, it will start to thread. There are exceptions to this, like felt, but most cloth will.)
• The type of cloth you choose for your project matters very much. Your clothing won’t “fall right” if it’s not the kind of stretchy/heavy/stiff as the one the tutorial assumes you will use.
• Some types of cloth are very chill about threading, some are very much not. Linen doesn’t really give a fuck as long as you don’t, like, throw it into the washing machine unhemmed (see below), whereas brocade yearns for entropy so, so much.
• On that note: if you get new cloth: 1. hem its borders (or use a ripple stitch) 2. throw it in the washing machine on the setting that you plan to wash it going forward 3. iron it. You’ll regret it, if you don’t do it. If you don’t hem, it’ll thread. If you don’t wash beforehand, the finished piece might warp in the first wash. If you don’t iron it, it won’t be nice and flat and all of your measuring and sewing will be off.
• Sewing’s first virtue is diligence, followed closely by patience. Measure three times before cutting. Check the symmetry every once in a while. If you can’t concentrate anymore, stop. Yes, even if you’re almost done.
• The order in which you sew your garment’s parts matters very much. Stick to the plan, but think ahead.
• You’ll probably be fine if you sew something on wrong - you can undo it with a seam ripper (get a seam ripper, they’re cheap!)
• You can use chalk to draw and write on the cloth.
• Pick something made out of rectangles for your first project.
• I recommend making something out of linen as a beginner project. It’s nearly indestructible, barely threads and folds very neatly.
• Collars are going to suck.
• The sewing machine can’t hurt you (probably). There is a guard for a reason and while the needle is very scary at first, if you do it right, your hands will be away from it at least 5 cm at any given time. Also the spoils of learning machine sewing are not to be underestimated. You will be SO fast.

I believe that’s all - feel free to add unto it.

When your sewing machine becomes unruly and recalcitrant and mulish, unthread it completely both bobbin and spool, and rethread it from the ground up. Don’t just like, try to troubleshoot which step of the threading has come un-hooked or whatever, just fuckin re-do the whole thing trust me just do it. After a few months of this you will become SO GOOD at threading. And then it will be no biggie at all and one day you will just fix the loop that came unhooked from step 3 of 7 and then you have graduated from needing to re-do it all from scratch every time.

(via yourozness)

virgomoon:

books on, about, and made by palestinians. non-fiction books about palestine, palestinian poetry, history books, fiction books by palestinian authors, links to free e-books and poems. i apologize in advance for not breaking this down by genre / type.

LINKS & RESOURCES:

• Free Ebooks for a Free Palestine!
• Verso Books: Solidarity with Palestine: Free Resources and Further Reading
• Free Palestine! A Reading List
• Books for a Free Palestine
• Google Drive of Palestinian Poetry made by @firstfullmoon
• Palestinian poems series by @fiercynn
• 40 books to understand Palestine

FICTION:

• Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
• Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa
• Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
• Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
• Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh
• The Things We See in the Light by Amal Awad
• A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
• Secrets Under the Olive Tree by Nevien Shaabneh
• Trees for the Absentees by Ahlam Bsharat
• The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah
• Mother Country by Etaf Rum
• The Sea Cloak and other stories by Nayrouz Qarmout
• The Parisian by Isabella Hammad
• My First and Only Love by Sahar Khalifeh
• Velvet by Huzama Habayeb
• Haifa Fragments by Khulud Khamis

NON - FICTION:

• The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
• On Palestine By Noam Chomsky, Ilan Pappe and Frank Barat
• The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe
• Ten Myths About Israel by Ilan Pappe
• Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire by Jehad Abusalim (Editor), Jennifer Bing (Editor), Mike Merryman-Lotze (Editor)
• Except for Palestine The Limits of Progressive Politics by Marc Lamont Hill, Mitchell Plitnick
• Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians by Noam Chomsky
• Where the Line Is Drawn by Raja Shehadeh
• Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha
• Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights by Omar Barghouti
• Palestine: A Socialist Introduction [edited] by Sumaya Awad and Brian Bean
• From the River to the Sea [edited] by Sai Englert, Michal Schatz and Rosie Warren
• Palestine Speaks [edited] by Mateo Hoke and Cate Malek
• The Punishment of Gaza by Gideon Levy
• The Question of Palestine by Edward W. Said
• I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti
• Shell Houses by Rasha Abdulhadi
• Born Palestinian, Born Black by Suheir Hammad
• Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood by Ibtisam Barakat
• Orientalism by Edward W. Said
• Gaza Writes Back by Refaat Alareer
• Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd
• Ever Since I Did Not Die by Ramy Al-Asheq
• The Butterfly’s Burden by Mahmoud Darwish

(via mysharona1987)

urban-trek-thru-middle-earth:

Incorrect Lord of the Rings Quotes

illustratus:

toseeclearly:

YOU, A REGULAR PERSON: Pink Witch King of Angmar

ME, AN INTELLECTUAL: nazgUwU

cat-cosplay:

Every time

aspiringwarriorlibrarian:

You know, it’s kinda funny how much of high fantasy centers around kings and nobility and courtly intrigue considering that the archetypal high fantasy, Lord of the Rings, had the rather explicit moral of “saving the world is up to this backwater hick and his gardener because no politician, least of all inherited nobility, would have the ability to see past their own ambition and throw away a weapon”. Oh sure, Aragorn is a great king and all, but there’s a reason he’s over there running a distraction ring while the hobbits do the real work. Sauron loses because he gets distracted by kings and armies and great battles (i.e. typical high fantasy stuff) letting Frodo and Sam sneak through his back door and blow it all to hell.

Just saying, maybe old Jirt knew what he was saying when he said that the small folk doing their best and holding to each other was more powerful than a dozen alliances and superweapons and we should respect him for it.

mcnostril:

The Witch King’s very bad day continues.

catchymemes:

klngfili:

lord of the rings bigatures my beloved

animentality:

lukevangelista:

(via askcosplaysenpai)

lotrreactionmemes:

The fact that Orlando Bloom (Legolas) and Andy Serkis (Gollum) both said that they based their performances in Lord of the Rings off of cat behavior really shows you the sheer range of what cats are like

animentality:

hansoeii:

The Doctor!