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Made by: James
James Wallbank, Access Space, Sheffield.
james@lowtech.org http://lowtech.org
Progress:
The patch is complete, and it's at Access Space. Today (10th November) we're staring to stich the patches together.
Photos:
Notes:
I work at Access Space and this is the second patch I've made. I wrote some things about me on the wiki entry for my other patch - so if you're really interested in biographical details, check there.
I chose this (s)lime green colour because it's really bright and nauseous. I thought it went really well with the bright pink thread. In a sense this is a frankenpatch - there's a seam across the top of it.
This patch is one of the later ones to be completed. It's been really interesting to see the patchwork grow here at Access Space as the project has progressed. We asked Ele to be our artist in residence here, and run the HTML Patchwork project, because the idea sounded really good - but we didn't realise just how interesting it would be.
- Lots of people who would never come into Access Space before have been attracted to come in - particularly women above the age of 30, who were statistically under-represented before.
- Lots of the regulars at Access Space have had a go at making patches, and found it really fun. Today we had loads of people sitting around sewing and chatting.
- There has been much discussion of the similarities between using and developing open source software, and patchwork and craft activities. In particular, we've noted how textiles are really digital - stiches are like pixelation.
- We've also found that lots of women who have come in to contribute patches have husbands or boyfriends who are IT professionals. Before the project they didn't see much in common between their craft activities, and their partner's computer programming. Now, we've found there's lots in common - particularly self-help groups which people who are into each activity tend to form.
- There's been lots of talk about the value of doing it yourself. Whether it's knitting a jumper or coding your own web page, there's a particular value in creating it yourself rather than buying it.
