[Caption: picture of Ruth Ellis as an elderly black woman smiling at the camera. She has short white hair and is wearing a light pink jacket over a black shirt with a partially visible white drawing on the center.]
🏳️🌈 Ruth Ellis (1899 - 2000) was the daughter of former slaves. She came out as a lesbian when she was 16-years-old to the complete acceptance of her family. In 1937, Ruth and her longtime partner moved to Detroit from their hometown of Springfield, Illinois for the promise of higher wages. There, she became the first woman in Michigan to run her own printing business. She printed fliers, posters, and stationary in the front room of her home, which also quickly became a hotspot for Black LGBTQ social life. Before long, Ruth was helping those who came around in any way she could, including by paying for college tuitions. After the Stonewall uprising, 70-year-old Ruth began giving speeches in support of gay and lesbian rights all across the country. She remained an activist for the rest of her long life and even spent her 100th birthday leading the San Francisco Dyke March. At the time of her death at 101, she was recognized as the oldest out lesbian in the US. She is the subject of the documentary "Living With Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100" and is the namesake of the Ruth Ellis Center, a shelter for homeless and at-risk LGBTQ youth in Detroit.
Idk who this guy is but I’m just gonna leave this here without comment and hope the audience I’m indirecting it at finally understands something for once
Usually I wouldn't address stuff like this but I feel like it as a conversation is bigger than me. I'm not gay; but I think the culture of trying to "find" some kind of hidden trait or behavior that a closeted person "let slip" is very dangerous. Overanalyzing someone's behavior in an attempt to "catch" them directly contributes to the anxiety a lot of queer and queer questioning people feel when they fear living in their truth. It makes the most pedestrian of conversations and interactions in spaces feel less safe for our gay brothers and sisters and those may be questioning. It also reinforces an archetype many straight men have to live under that is often times unrealistic, less free, and limits individual expression.
I've been very clear about the intentionality I try to put into using my platform to push back against those archetypes every chance that I get. Being straight doesn't look one way. Being gay doesn't look one way. And what may seem like harmless fun and conversation may actually be sending a dangerous message to those struggling with real issues. I refuse to inadvertently contribute to that message. Happy Pride to all of my queer and questioning brothers, sisters, and individuals. I pray that you feel seen in ways that make you feel safe in the celebration that is this month. As an ally I continue to be committed to assisting in that where I can and helping to cultivate a future where we are all accepted and given permission to be ourselves.
due to factors such as "time pressure" and "tulle is of the devil" my expectations for this shirt are not high. but i spent a lot of time imagining these button bands and they turned out pretty nice
attached the back and the yoke; did the yoke with wonky little panels for reinforcement(?), as it's not double-layered, and for a fun symmetrical piecing moment
attached fronts to back at shoulders (not pictured)
constructed a collar and collar stand and arranged Leafs upon it
started hand stitching down leafs. it would be more elegant to do this before assembling the collar, but i can't visualize how both the seam allowances and the crease in the collar work + the tulle is itchy if misplaced
have yet to do sleeves, side seams, finishing hand stitching on collar, attaching collar, sleeve plackets (on tulle??), cuffs, Buttonholes (evil to me)
Shirt's done except for finishing the collar handstitching & touching up some of the buttonholes (used a friend's fancy machine with varying success). Lots of things wrong with it that are hard to see from more than three feet away
No pictures of it on me because I have yet to obtain a suitable layering piece which is a really funny problem to have!
Finished the collar! If you want to make embroidery you cut out of some tulle look like it is On There For Real this is what I did
roughly cut out and place embroidery. baste with glue stick (glue sticks to the back of the embroidery and not the tulle)
tack it down with a color matched running stitch (or whatever) along the stems and centers
cut off more tulle from the edges with tinier scissors
tack down the edges. with, in this case, a different thread color, do a faux chain stitch where you grab the very end of a stitch from the extant embroidery
like so
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this has the benefit of kind of squashing down any tulle that didn't get trimmed
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and now it moves with the fabric and doesn't stick up at the edges!
Tearing your favourite article of clothing and discovering that it’s
irreplaceable because the technique of its manufacture has been lost
Realising you’ve thought of the perfect comeback to someone who’s been dead for three hundred years
Not being able to eat your favourite dish anymore because the source of some critical ingredient has gone extinct
Having strong opinions about sports that are no longer played
Getting a song from the 13th Century stuck in your head and being unable to get it out because you don’t remember how it ends and you’re the only person on Earth who knows it
Having that perfect pun you’ve been waiting forever for a chance to use stop working due to linguistic drift
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