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Intro
Welcome to the second issue of the blog series where I show you the random shit I make! This is what I call "The Indieweb hat". It's a patch hat themed after the indipendent web, with an anti-web3 spirit. If you don't know what "web3" means, I recommend this article by Indiewebcamp. But, TLDR: web3 is a buzzterm with no real set meaning. Twitter cryptobros love to talk about web3 as the direction the web should head in. So, in this context, web3 is the web of NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and buzzword hype around AI (note that, as I've mentioned beofre, this is not the only menaing of the term). The Indieweb, on the other hand, is everything I'd like the web to be: user-first, community-oriented, free, and accessible for all. If you want to learn more I once again recommend doing so through Indiewebcamp; I specifically recommend looking at their Indieweb principles page. I'm currently writing an article on the Indieweb and my experiences with running my own site (currently being hosted on Neocities, but I'm planning on buying a domain name and moving my site there in the future), so I won't go too much into detail about it in this blog post. Hopefully it will be finished soon ^_^
Now let's get to the DIY. The base is an old hat I thrifted for 5 euros at a local flea market! ^_^ The patches are all hand-painted and hand-sewn. The material is scrap fabric from an old pair of black jeans shorts, and from a striped shirt that belonged to my dad. I used fabric paint, but if you don't have any and want to try something similar I've heard that acrylic works as well.
I've also added some of my DIY pins to the hat. I might make a tutorial on how to make those in the future.
This project took several hours of painting and stitching. Here is how it turned out (click on a pic to open it in a new tab!):
Patches list and meaning
- html tags. These tags are used to define the beginning and the end of html documents, which are the foundations of web pages.
- WWW symbol with cursor (because I love the world wide web!! ^_^)
- "web back to users". The web has changed a lot since its early days. Nowdays, new features being introduced on mainstream platforms tend to prioritize profit over user experience.
- Pirate flag patch (self explanatory)
- "indieweb resident". This patch is a callback to the Geocities days, where independent sites used to be organized in "neighborhoods". Although neighborhoods are not as popular nowdays, independent sites on Neocities still use a similar concept (webrings), and many users still refer to their friends' sites as their "neighbors".
Upgrade plans
I have a lot more ideas and patches I'd like to include on the hat. Some of them are:
- Something as a tribute to the Internet Archive and the Wayback Machine
- "Right to repair" (not really related to the web, but close enough)
- Something open-source related. Maybe a patch with the GitHub logo
- "Web4All"
- Firefox/Mozilla Foundation logo
- Something related to ASCII art
- "Best viewed with eyes" (a reference to old web 88x31 buttons)
- "Web 3.0 isn't real"
I'd also like to sew some soda tabs on, maybe even some beads (I think it would be really cool to spell out "WWW" with Kandi beads), or some studs if I can find any. The main issue is that.. turns out hats are kinda small!! I really don't think I could fit everything I'd like on it. So I've considered thrifting a jeans vest, and making myself a whole Indieweb patch-jacket. It would give me a lot more space to work with, and I'm sure it would look really cool. I could even theme it after my personal website, and include patches related to videogames I like, maybe some bands too. But patch jackets are a lot of work, and I have a lot of ongoing projects, so I've not fully committed to it yet.
Comments
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Hydras Bloom
Love the hat, it has a look or rebelion alone for something that likes to be like the old web.
i feel like many from the indieweb rebel against web3 because, lets face it... the internet isnt as fun to explore as it used to be, just go to your socials and hope it feeds you something your interested (and thats if you dont cutom your feed by following/blocking things)
its sad its not the norm to make your own websites anymore, because i bet many would be pros at code if it was the norm (even simple like being able to customize your own page on a social media platform)
Yesss I tot agree!! I really don't like how modern social medias are. there is so much ragebait content and stuff being made just to do well in the algorithm
by Kie; ; Report
IKR!? especially ragebait specificaly made to anger you. its even more prevelent on short form content, many to focused on short things they cant disect something longer.
May i also say we kinda lost something to the short form concent of tiktok and its versions for other social platforms, now its just fed to you, not in youtube recommended stye but like scroll and theres your new video, cant even find what you want.
by Hydras Bloom; ; Report
Yeah I hate that! I just want platforms where I have to pick the content myself without an algorithm hand-feeding me stuff.
And what I hate the most is how after tiktok got popular other apps pivoted to promoting shortform content too (like instagram reels and youtube shorts). I was fine with tiktok at first bc I could just not use that app but nowdays every social media under the sun is trying to copy it :/
by Kie; ; Report
that to! like i feel like they only did that because it has proven to be a big money maker for tiktok, but it did whipe the other's purpouse/distinct traits of the platofrms, now insta isnt just pics and stories, youtube isnt just long form content from anyone, even facebook thats used to connect with your relatives uses short form content, its hell.
the only ones i dont see this happening are less prevelant places like tumblr, aldou even then i feel like algorithm is creepin in. while i get why its here and why its so effective, at times i wonder if it can be tuned to your interests rather then just whats popular (or in care of twitter, pushed ppl more into other's feed by paying money for it).
by Hydras Bloom; ; Report
tape57
looks cool and i like the meaning (mega thumbs up)
Tyyy!!
by Kie; ; Report
sim
the hat came out so good! love all the individual meanings on the hat :) can't wait to see its evolution
Thanks!! Will make an update if I add anything to it :D
by Kie; ; Report
Arlo
I love everything about this blog!!! :D the hat is so cool and I got to learn some stuff too :3
Glad gou enjoyed it!!
by Kie; ; Report
LuckyStar19
OMG UR SO TALENTED IT LOOKS SO COOL
Thank youuu ^_^
by Kie; ; Report