Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

my black friday sale is still on!

Screenshot of tree and snowflake dolls on etsy

Screenshot of hand and tree dolls on etsy

Screenshot of alien and radio dolls on etsy

December 2, 2025 at 5:14 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

its… her

December 1, 2025 at 6:09 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

for my inaugural “Medici Tier” doll, i present the chicken lady of artificial scarcity 🐔

patreon.com/stitchy

A handsewn doll of a chicken lady holding a chocolate cake she cannot eat. a single cherry from the cake is at her feet, amongst the ants

December 1, 2025 at 6:09 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

CRAP lmao. thats my etsy link 🙈 here is the patreon where you can sign up to get my kooky little crafts every month!

patreon.com/stitchy

Three handsewn picture frames with legs and collage art.

December 1, 2025 at 5:29 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

cannot say enough what a force for good in my life my patreon ppl have been this past year‼️ they give me a safety net to take risks on new ideas and venues for my work, and YOU CAN BE ONE OF THEM for just $1! Upper tiers get monthly handsewn perks! December is🦵🏼Art With Legs🦵🏼

stitchybutton.etsy.com

Handsewn Picture frame with legs and a collage of a skeleton that reads “you used to call me on my bone phone”

Handsewn Picture frame with legs and a collage of a godzilla that reads “date night”

Handsewn Picture frame with legs and a collage of a surreal landscape that reads “ my kingdom for a non-exotic wormhole”

December 1, 2025 at 5:20 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

i’ll finish up tomorrow, stay tuned 👀

pieces of fabric pinned with paper patterns

Disembodied, wired doll limbs in white yellow and red

A chicken doll leg and the hem of a sparkly red and blue dress

A patch of sewn silk grass and fake ants

December 1, 2025 at 1:29 AM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

chicken art incoming

November 30, 2025 at 5:27 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

just helped my buddy put up a photo op installation for the town holiday event this weekend :)

A portal to a winter wonderland with trees, snow, and enormous red flowers

November 24, 2025 at 7:52 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

A movie that takes place where you're from

A still from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

November 23, 2025 at 9:53 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

i make you…. a sweet lil bud who can’t hurt nobody but a bedbug. at great price because i am at no risk of having to reverse engineer an alien supersuit!!! 😌✌️just pick a color and lets gooo

A handmade doll in a yellow pajama top and bottom with cute toes and crazy hair

November 23, 2025 at 6:19 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

i too have have been tormented by The Character and their evil outfit. its too uncomfortable to cosplay. a whimsy killing Ordeal to draw. a fortress of godforsaken fabrics and closures requiring a technical manual to disarm in the event of smut. thats why we (me) at Stitchy Labs invented~

November 23, 2025 at 6:19 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

we traded in our big tree for a smaller pre lit and two back up dancers… mix in some other stuff we already had and??? something something christmas??

Six things on a pink blanket that could technically be described as christmas trees

November 23, 2025 at 4:40 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

It was great! leftovers are now on sale on etsy!

stitchybutton.etsy.com

A craft booth with many handsewn items, especially christmas decor and offbeat dolls

November 23, 2025 at 4:04 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

✨🧸 my black friday sale is live! get 45% off on ready made items* and rare discounts on custom made dolls ✌️🎁

stitchybutton.etsy.com

*except of course “The Twenty Dollar Doll That Costs Thirty Dollars” read more on this art piece about labor and manufacturing here

www.tumblr.com/stitchybutto...

Handmade plushies of oversized hands, rainbow christmas trees and snowflakes

Handmade dolls of aliens, boombox, and TVs with eyes

A handmade doll of a white deer in a suit

November 23, 2025 at 4:02 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

doing a craft show tomorrow against all odds! at a super old presbyterian church! i WILL be snooping around corners like

Fozzie and kermit in the muppet movie a la “they dont look like presbyterians to me!”

November 21, 2025 at 10:38 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

You are welcome to buy it at either $20 or $30. I will recover my material expenses if I can sell more than half of my stock at the lower price, but possibly not my labor. Still, I have a life to lead that costs $. 20 bucks is 20 bucks 🤷🏻‍♀️

stitchybutton.etsy.com

November 17, 2025 at 8:47 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

In writing the text for the design itself, and tabulating my costs, I realized that even the very simple $20 doll I had in mind was very stupid to sell at that price point. So, the last step of this art is what my audience makes of it. What *your* takeaway is about art and commerce and labor.

The eye of providence plush having some detail sewn around in a glittery frame

The plush sewn by machine as far is can be, but without stuffing or defined toes

The plush being stuffed and closed by hand

November 17, 2025 at 8:47 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

So, I set out to design a $20 doll. A little eye of providence, as made popular by none other than the US Treasury, with leggies. Something I ought to be able to quickly make at low price point, but with room for a little cheekiness. but Uh oh.

(Part one) Fabric design that says in writing: I wanted to make a TWENTY dollar doll. Artists are always saying we love to pass around the same TWENTY dollar bill and hey, I could use a turn. I could keep it simple, and pay myself fairly. I kept track of my time and materials expended, the bare minimum I ought to ask for. For instance, this took an hour to write and edit. Drawing it into a design took 4 hours. Custom fabric costs $34 a yard to print. It costs $7 more dollars to ship to me. I knew from TWENTY years experience/vibes that to be worth my while I should make at least 10. That upped things to $102 of new fabric, plus some scraps from previous projects. At least I had enough to make a dozen of my TWENTY dollar doll, at that point. It took 6 hard working hours to sew all of them. (Here, I estimate, knowing there’s a decent chance I’m lowballing myself and the rest of this math will be thrown out of undervalued whack!) I figured that to start, I’d pay myself the state minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. I calculated that if I pay myself that and add my material expenses, it would take $189 to break even. Divide that per doll. A bit surprised we managed it, but, hey! That came in under TWENTY ! There’s one problem, though. While $15.75 ain’t bad for the customer, it’s bad for me. I can’t guarantee these sell out, and either way I gotta pay rent and utilities over $1k a month. I gotta eat. I gotta pay taxes. I have to pay for thread, and machinery upkeep, and an occasional refresh of my tools as they wear and tear.

Another picture of the printed fabric next to a sewing machine, the rest of the text on it: I have to cope with venture capitalists destroying the largest fabric retailer in the country this past year, (RIP Joann, you crafty bitch) and 100% tariffs on the foreign made fabric that remains. Not to mention I spent TWENTY thousand on a degree in sewing. I’ve honed my ability nearly every day for TWENTY years. In any field that sort of expert would deserve better than minimum wage. So, lets keep all that simple and say I pay myself at twice minimum wage, okay? (I sheepishly asked my office worker wife what her hourly is like and HAHAHAHA. Don’t go to art school, kids.) Uhh. Oops. Now the TWENTY dollar doll cost TWENTY THREE dollars. And, ugh. Speaking of college… I broke my back working 80+ hour weeks when I was TWENTY years old, so now I have to pay for doctors and drugs to keep my body functional enough to sit and work from 7 or 8 AM until 4 PM Monday thru Friday. My arthritic ass certainly can’t manage a brick and mortar retail job on top of manufacturing. So add on $9 to ship inventory to a shop, and the 30% overhead they charge because they too are small business owners trying to keep the lights on. Respect. Divide that by twelve again. Ahhh fuck. “Our communal TWENTY dollar bill” we small artists keep passing around is closer to $30.65 now. Sorry guys, but THIS TWENTY DOLLAR DOLL COST THIRTY DOLLARS.

November 17, 2025 at 8:47 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

Even when we “mass produce” something by doing a batch of a dozen or so, it really is horrifying to think about how severely crafters, artists, makers are likely to be underpaying themselves, just recoup any money at all. I was inspired also, by the notion adopted by many artists on social media:

Screenshot of X post: @BrandyLJensen: modern friendship is just sending the same $20 back and forth via venmo, forever.

November 17, 2025 at 8:47 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

“Could a depressed person” meme completed with “meet the pope?”

November 15, 2025 at 11:33 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

The Twenty Dollar Doll That Costs Thirty Dollars

visit my etsy for process pics and artist statement on labor and manufacturing 💵

stitchybutton.etsy.com

Four handmade triangular dolls featuring the eye of providence

November 15, 2025 at 6:07 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

i cant say i know this fella well but i like the cut of his jib

stitchybutton.etsy.com

A handmade doll of foreman spike on vacation??

November 14, 2025 at 5:16 PM

stitchy

@stitchy.bsky.social

have you imprinted on a niche historical figure who inhabits your every waking thought?? you are not alone! there are treatments available!!

stitchybutton.etsy.com