Some things are harder to teach than others.
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I think this dynamic of people learning a task wanting formal official steps leads to people thinking that there is "One Right Way" to do tasks that can be done in many ways.
A frustrated teacher formalizes something that just isn't formal to avoid having everyone bugging her over and over "but how do I start it? how do I knot it?"
Will I cause someone in 20 years to be told "That's the Wrong Way to do it."
hmmm
@futurebird “book sewing approach #3562 of #?, NY 2026” or some such
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@futurebird tying shoes is like this. I thought my mom taught me The One Way To Tie Shoes. Then I met my wife and she had a completely different way of tying her shoes. When we had kids we each taught them our own separate ways of shoe-tying. Now that they are grown up I am dying to watch them tie their shoes to see which method they went with.
@bucknam @futurebird One of my favorite assignments for graphic design students was to create illustrated instructions on tying shoes.
They were eager for an easy assignment because they knew how to tie shoes. They were always surprised at the difficulty. After they turned it in we would debrief. I would always make a point of saying this kind of like making a rubric for a class. -
I think this dynamic of people learning a task wanting formal official steps leads to people thinking that there is "One Right Way" to do tasks that can be done in many ways.
A frustrated teacher formalizes something that just isn't formal to avoid having everyone bugging her over and over "but how do I start it? how do I knot it?"
Will I cause someone in 20 years to be told "That's the Wrong Way to do it."
hmmm
@futurebird I have a new-hire mentee that I keep having the same conversation with
him: should I do it by X?
me: sure. Y is also fine.
him: I don't understandI mean....yeah, that's clear and is also the problem. I'm not going to micromanage your keystroke by keystroke.
**I need you to understand the task.**
Only then will "instructions" make sense.
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@futurebird @va2lam @bucknam
I would really like a diagram of a way to do that...OK I've tried to draw it.
Do not overthink the details of these diagrams. Consider the difference between using a knot to hold the thread vs. using friction.
Friction is often a better, more robust solution. There are many ways to start sewing. Just overlap your stitches, back-stitch a few times until you feel it will not slide out.
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OK I've tried to draw it.
Do not overthink the details of these diagrams. Consider the difference between using a knot to hold the thread vs. using friction.
Friction is often a better, more robust solution. There are many ways to start sewing. Just overlap your stitches, back-stitch a few times until you feel it will not slide out.
@futurebird @Anke @bucknam that's sort of how I finish sewing!
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@futurebird @Anke @bucknam that's sort of how I finish sewing!
It's how I start and finish and I thought "everyone knew this" (because I learned to do this when I was so young I can't remember being taught... one might call it "instinct")
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OK I've tried to draw it.
Do not overthink the details of these diagrams. Consider the difference between using a knot to hold the thread vs. using friction.
Friction is often a better, more robust solution. There are many ways to start sewing. Just overlap your stitches, back-stitch a few times until you feel it will not slide out.
@futurebird Thank you!
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@futurebird @Anke @bucknam I was definitely taught, by a teacher maybe?
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@futurebird @Anke @bucknam I was definitely taught, by a teacher maybe?
My mom or grandmother taught me. But I was like 3. I have no memory of it.
It's really hard to teach things that you don't remember needing to learn. But it can be done!
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I think this dynamic of people learning a task wanting formal official steps leads to people thinking that there is "One Right Way" to do tasks that can be done in many ways.
A frustrated teacher formalizes something that just isn't formal to avoid having everyone bugging her over and over "but how do I start it? how do I knot it?"
Will I cause someone in 20 years to be told "That's the Wrong Way to do it."
hmmm
you'll do a lot better than the Ontario education system did when i was in it. they teach that there is only One Way, and if you do things Some Other Way, you will be punished for it.
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@futurebird I have a new-hire mentee that I keep having the same conversation with
him: should I do it by X?
me: sure. Y is also fine.
him: I don't understandI mean....yeah, that's clear and is also the problem. I'm not going to micromanage your keystroke by keystroke.
**I need you to understand the task.**
Only then will "instructions" make sense.
Yeah. Me, last night:
https://social.treehouse.systems/@angelastella/115948102123939180
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@futurebird @va2lam @bucknam
My grandmother taught me how to weave in ends on the back of the work when doing embroidery, but no-one ever taught me to sew. Wishing I had known to ask now. -
OK I've tried to draw it.
Do not overthink the details of these diagrams. Consider the difference between using a knot to hold the thread vs. using friction.
Friction is often a better, more robust solution. There are many ways to start sewing. Just overlap your stitches, back-stitch a few times until you feel it will not slide out.
@futurebird @Anke @va2lam @bucknam the cheap and quick sewing machine way of doing this is going back and forth at the start and the finish. (If you want to do it properly, go slow and possibly use the hand turn instead of pedal. If you want to be me, use the pedal and watch it all go haywire...)
It's much easier to do this nicely while handsewing
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OK I've tried to draw it.
Do not overthink the details of these diagrams. Consider the difference between using a knot to hold the thread vs. using friction.
Friction is often a better, more robust solution. There are many ways to start sewing. Just overlap your stitches, back-stitch a few times until you feel it will not slide out.
@futurebird @Anke @va2lam @bucknam i do the second one but i usually tie one knot. sometimes it starts to slide but it definitely works
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OK I've tried to draw it.
Do not overthink the details of these diagrams. Consider the difference between using a knot to hold the thread vs. using friction.
Friction is often a better, more robust solution. There are many ways to start sewing. Just overlap your stitches, back-stitch a few times until you feel it will not slide out.
@futurebird
and on a machine generally you sew forward a few stitches and then backward over them and then go... same at the end, reverse over the ending... i feel like thats probably taught more explicitly than hand stitching these days. like if you found a machine sewing beginners guide book theyd have it in there explicitly
@Anke @va2lam @bucknam -
@futurebird
and on a machine generally you sew forward a few stitches and then backward over them and then go... same at the end, reverse over the ending... i feel like thats probably taught more explicitly than hand stitching these days. like if you found a machine sewing beginners guide book theyd have it in there explicitly
@Anke @va2lam @bucknam -
@futurebird @va2lam @Anke @bucknam yeah I was def taught with a knot, and later learned to end that way, but never thought to start that way too
Great to know, and great visual
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OK I've tried to draw it.
Do not overthink the details of these diagrams. Consider the difference between using a knot to hold the thread vs. using friction.
Friction is often a better, more robust solution. There are many ways to start sewing. Just overlap your stitches, back-stitch a few times until you feel it will not slide out.
@futurebird @Anke @va2lam @bucknam I mean, knots are just friction made small, right?
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OK I've tried to draw it.
Do not overthink the details of these diagrams. Consider the difference between using a knot to hold the thread vs. using friction.
Friction is often a better, more robust solution. There are many ways to start sewing. Just overlap your stitches, back-stitch a few times until you feel it will not slide out.
@futurebird @Anke @va2lam @bucknam Why not both?
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@futurebird
yeah makes sense, I just mean that this knowledge of how to start or stop sewing using friction is more likely to be taught today in terms of a machine. the idea extends easily to hand sewing, but probably your students dont know machine sewing either.
@Anke @va2lam @bucknam
