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Any course on making "almost anything" that doesn't include sewing is short-changing its students.

And given that I see neither woodworking nor welding, I'd argue that the course should be renamed to "How to make some things (most of which require a computer)".



Sewing feels so underrated to me. Nobody talks about it.

I had a little stint doing sewing projects and I found that I could make totally legitimate, durable, functional outdoor gear in a single weekend (~15 hrs) from zero experience. As functional and close to as attractive as something you'd buy at REI. I think the nice industrial machine I was on helped, but still!


Good tools are very important. Especially for things like woodworking, metalworking, sewing. A good machine has decades or centuries of trial and error and has systmatically eliminated pain points and possible mistakes.


Refurb sewing machine prices on eBay are comparable to mobile phones, quite the bargain for long-term value.


I took this course recently! The class is mostly digital fabrication, but when working through it, you end up learning a lot of other techniques through your own work, the TAs, and seeing what your classmates bring.

In recent iterations, they have a choose-your-own week which included embroidery machines (which while admittedly barely scratching the surface of sewing, fits easily in the digital fabrication theme!) I also learned a fair bit about woodworking in the CNC week! The class is a whirlwind, but I left the class not being afraid of many types of fabrication, even if I was well aware I had a lot to learn.


FabAcademy which is the course taught by the same professor, but not part of MIT, includes a "wildcard" week where you can choose what to do. Many students will do embroidery using a embroidery machine. A number of final projects will also include sewing/textiles.

A friend of mine final project: https://fabacademy.org/2022/labs/charlotte/students/nidhie-d...

Also, as someone already mentioned, see fabricacademy.

Edit:

What about making a cast iron skillet from scratch? https://fabacademy.org/2024/labs/dilijan/students/shushanik-...


Well, there is the Fabricademy (an offshoot of HTMAA / the Fab Academy) for all sorts of things related to textiles: https://textile-academy.org/

But yes, generally speaking, the focus is on digital(ish) fabrication which is probably not entirely surprising - it's a course by the Center for Bits and Atoms.




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