---
authors: 1
caption: 'Note: This post is a long read. Although nowhere near as long as this book'
date: '2020-08-30'
intro: 'Please help grow FreeSewing beyond what I can do on my own'
title: 'Please help grow FreeSewing beyond what I can do on my own'
---

Hi everyone, Joost here. I'm writing this post to address some problems that
have been worrying me lately. Specifically, these problems:

<!-- truncate -->

1.  [There is too much work for one
    person](#problem-1-there-is-too-much-work-for-one-person) 2. [I feel I'm
    losing track of the sewing
    community](#problem-2-i-feel-im-losing-track-of-the-community) 3. [I feel
    insecure about how to deal with the issue of systemic
    racism](#problem-3-i-feel-insecure-about-how-to-deal-with-the-issue-of-systemic-racism)

The good news is that it's a relatively short list. The even better news is
that all of these problems be addressed by the same solution: [Community
building](#community-building).

Before we get into that, let's briefly look at each problem:

## Problem 1: There is too much work for one person

Over the course of the last week I read [Working in public: The making and
maintenance of open source software](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578675862/) by
[Nadia Eghbal](https://nadiaeghbal.com/).

I bought it because I was hoping to find answers to some of the questions that
I ask myself. Questions like “_How do other maintainers do it?_”, or “_Am I
doing it wrong?_”

In other words, I was hoping to find a fix for what I increasingly perceive as
a problem: The inability to scale my own labour in line with how I'd like to
scale FreeSewing, the project.

I don't want to spoil the book, but it didn't provide any straightforward
answers on how to address that problem. It turns out that the vast majority of
open source maintainers are in the same boat. Most projects are run by either a
single person, or a handful of people.

There's nothing wrong with that. But it does put a firm upper limit on how much
projects like FreeSewing can accomplish.

## Problem 2: I feel I'm losing track of the sewing community

I worry that I have been neglecting the communal aspects of FreeSewing, there
are no comments or _social_ aspects on the site. I've always felt it was a
fool's errand to try to corral people onto your own website. Better to let
them have discussions on the platforms of their choice.

For the sewing community, the platform of choice is often Instagram. Since I
have left Instagram a year ago, I feel like I'm getting further away from the
sewing community.

My [reasons for
leaving](https://joost.decock.org/post/187710847164/24-hours-from-now-i-want-to-remove-my-instagram)
are as valid today as they were back then, but I wish I could connect with the
sewing community in a way that works for me.

## Problem 3: I feel insecure about how to deal with the issue of systemic

racism.

First things first: **Black lives matter** ✊🏾

My insecurity stems from my environment. I am a white, middle-aged, cis-gender
man who was born and raised in a country with a history drenched in the blood
of people of color ([that country is
Belgium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_State)).
To this day, casual racism permeates all aspects of the society I live in.

A welcoming and diverse community is a _sine qua non_ for me. But I feel
ill-equipped to figure out how to create one on FreeSewing.

## Community building

As I mentioned earlier, these things have been on my mind for a while, albeit
they were a lot more fuzzy. Then earlier this month I listened to [Black
makers matter with Julian Collins on the podcast Love To
Sew](https://lovetosewpodcast.com/episodes/episode-156-black-makers-matter-with-julian-collins/).

[Julian](https://www.instagram.com/juliancreates/) is a patron of FreeSewing
(thanks Julian) and actively involved with the [Black Makers
Matter](https://www.instagram.com/blkmakersmatter/) movement on Instagram. I
reached out to Julian looking for help, and we had a lengthy Zoom call where we
talked about his work and how he goes about organizing the community.

Julian had a lot of good advice. I couldn't possibly cram it all into this
post, but it sort of boils down to:

- Just ask people for help
- Be clear about what kind of community you want to build

So I am taking Julian's advice to heart, and asking for help. Before we get to
that though, let's make sure we're all on the same page about the kind of
community we're trying to build here.

## Quick check: Are you on board with FreeSewing's values?

To ensure that your values are aligned with those of FreeSewing, please take a
moment to familiarize yourself with:

- [Our community standards](/docs/about/community-standards/)
- [Our code of conduct](https://freesewing.dev/contributors/code-of-conduct/)
- [Our revenue pledge](/docs/about/pledge/)

If reading that made you happy rather than angry, we could use your help :)

## Please help grow FreeSewing beyond what I can do on my own

We're starting simple: We plan to hold a Zoom/Skype/Whatever call every 2 weeks
to figure it out as we go. We start the first weekend of September (next
weekend). We haven't picked a time yet, for it will depend on the time zones
the participants live in.

If you'd like to attend, please [let us know in our chat
room](https://discord.freesewing.org/).

### What kind of help is needed?

Beggars can't be choosers. All help is welcome, and I certainly don't want to
turn down any volunteers.

That being said, an overly vague call defuses the message. So I've
listed/included a number of _roles_ below to give you an idea of the kind of
work that goes into FreeSewing. It's not meant to be an exhaustive list, but
merely a starting point for a discussion.

The order is alphabetic.

**Backend Developer** You keep our backend in step with the latest frontend
developments. Express is no stranger to you. Node JS is a good friend. Or
maybe you'd like them to be.

**Body Ambassador** Maybe you're unusually short or tall. Maybe you have a bit
of a pot belly or very large breasts. Maybe you have a disability that requires
fit adjustments. Whatever it is, you represent a minority fitting issue, and
are willing to act as an ambassador to make sure your needs are heard and
understood.

**Community Builder** You're an extrovert extraordinaire, or you're good at
faking it. You enjoy chatting with all sorts of people, and networking is just
you doing you. You're like the jelly that molds a group of individuals into a
cohesive community.

**Database Administrator** You look after our database. Other people might
feel that's not important, but you know better. You're familiar with MongoDB.

**Devops Engineer** Your aim is to make almost all these other roles
irrelevant by automating the heck out of everything. CI and Github actions are
fun for you. You like to sit back and have the robots do the work for you.

**Frontend Developer** You improve our websites, specifically freesewing.org
and freesewing.dev. Both of them are built with
[Gatsby](https://www.gatsbyjs.com/), an open source framework for building
frontends that is powered by [React](https://reactjs.org/). If you know these
things, or would like to learn them, this is your jam.

**Illustrator** You create illustrations to go alongside the written
documentation. If you draw a bicycle from memory, it actually looks like a
bicycle.

**Inclusion & Diversity Manager** You have skin in the game when it comes to
inclusion and diversity. You'll help make our community welcoming and diverse.
You won't be afraid to tell this pasty white dude when he's wrong.

**Language Ambassador** You represent FreeSewing in a non-English community.
You can help answer questions or triage problem reports. Or you can point out
where translations are missing.

**Pattern Ambassador** You'll be responsible for a specific FreeSewing
design/pattern. You'll be _the person_ to ask questions about how to make that
pattern. You'll make sure the documentation is not forgotten. And you can
help with questions or triage problem reports to developers or designers.

**Pattern Designer** You come up with new pattern designs for FreeSewing. You
might not know how to turn on a computer, but damn if you can't draft a bodice.

**Pattern Developer** You program new designs for FreeSewing. You might not
know how to design sewing patterns, but you're not afraid of Javascript and are
happy to team up with a designer to work on a new pattern together.

**Proofreader** You check original English text of translations for typos
and/or grammar mistakes. You propose improvements and watch over a consistent
style and tone across FreeSewing's documentation and written text. You're
fluent in the language you're proofreading.

**Social Media Platform Manager** You represent FreeSewing on a _platform_,
where platform could be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, Snapchat, Reddit
&hellip;. You manage the FreeSewing account on the platform, and use it to
interact with the community.

**System Administrator** You look after our servers. You install updates, make
sure certificates are up-to-date, the works. Linux is where your heart lies.
You secretly automated most of your work with Ansible but hey, you put the
playbooks in Git so no worries.

**Technical Writer (code)** You write documentation for freesewing.dev, our
developers website. You have good writing skills and familiarity with code
(Javascript).

**Technical Writer (sewing)** You write documentation for freesewing.org, our
makers website. You have good writing skills and familiarity with sewing.

**Translator** You translate FreeSewing into one of its additional languages
(French, German, Dutch, Spanish) or if you're ambitious, add a new one. You're
fluent in the language you're translating to, and have a good grasp of English.

**UX Designer** You know what UX is and are happy to point out where it sucks
and how it can be made better.

**Release Manager** You pull the plug on new releases, you bundle our code,
and publish new versions of our packages on NPM.

**Web Designer** You know how to make things pretty, even if you're not sure
how to actually make them work. You appreciate that we don't use #000 for
black.

### What's in it for me?

We can't offer you money. Please [read our revenue pledge](/docs/about/pledge/)
to understand why that is.

What we can offer is responsibility, recognition, and a stake in something that
strives to be a force for good in this world.

It can also be an excellent learning opportunity for those of you who would
like to pivot to a role in web development. And for as far as my time
stretches — I will gladly teach and mentor people from underprivileged
communities aiming for social mobility.

## Conclusion

Maybe you can help. Maybe you know somebody who can help, or for whom this
would be a valuable learning experience.

Either way, I'd appreciate it if you could help spread the message that I'm
asking for help.

Thank you,

Joost
