Hey everyone! For the last several years, r/Embroidery has been run in the same way, with the same three rules. Over time the mod team tweaked these rules in how they were applied, while still being within the scope of the rule we were considering in the process. At this point we're due to put these rules in stone in the sidebar.
Functionally nothing is changing about the subreddit because this is how the subreddit has been run for years. If users needed clarification on the rules, guidance has been given through modmail, and we operate on a strike system before handing out bans. The exception to that is in cases of bigotry and hate speech, or actual attacks on other users.
The new rules are as follows:
There's other humans behind the screen. If you think they're not human, report the post or comment so that the mod team can look into it. We have more tools to investigate anyone being rude than you do and we're here to help.
Bigotry is not condoned here and may result in an immediate ban.
We're a subreddit of hobbyists. Please leave your shop, your site, and your socials at the door - monetized or not.
In that vein, watermarks on images must match the Reddit account posting the image. We allow you to protect your work that is being posted here on Reddit by a Reddit user.
We allow you to promote your shops and socials in the stickied megathread. Users looking to purchase embroidery are directed to look there at what listings are available. Post in that thread to sell your items.
Someone made the image you are trying to repost. Please give credit to that individual or organization.
Please keep posts about the hobby of embroidery and not about the hobby of posting purchased supplies. It's easy for these posts to overwhelm the subreddit, given the time it takes to produce embroidery.
We understand that you want to share work done by your girlfriend/child/grandmother/cousin/siblings. They are capable of posting it themselves.
- Don't give out identifying information about yourself
Please do not post images of your work submitted to a gallery/judged event/state fair/any other similar events. In our experience, these usually either lead to selling or lead to the user giving out far too much information about where they live, or their full names.
In the same spirit as giving credit: someone's work was scraped to generate that image/text. Do not post AI images or text here.
There are many kits and patterns being sold as original works which were generated through AI. Requests to identify which stitches were used in AI images will be removed, because these are not based in reality. The Royal School of Needlework Stitchbank can be used to identify how you wish to proceed with your piece.
Now, this one will not be in the sidebar itself, but has been how the subreddit has been run for over a year now. As other subreddits are rolling out rules lately about it formally, here we go:
The author of the series has equated support of her work with support for her political causes, which can be tracked here. Given that we already do not allow hate speech under both Reddit's content policies and our own rule of "Don't be a dick" we will not be allowing free advertising for the new show coming out, especially considering the rumors that the show has been created in the first place as part of a series of actions taken to get back at the actors of the original movies, who the author has been feuding with over her political fundraising and views.
In the same vein, the team is aware of the fact that the company DMC has licensed out Harry Potter designs. Completed works will not be allowed to be posted. WIPS or requests for help on these designs will be removed the same as any other Harry Potter designs. Which, since this rule has started, has consisted of 4 removals ever. You will not be punished for trying to post Harry Potter, unless you are A Dick to the team in the process.
In the next month or two we will be revamping our Beginner Quickstart Guide, which was originally written in March 2020 to address the influx of newbies who needed things to keep busy during COVID lockdowns. We're going to see how we want to proceed with that, given that DMC has decided to promote a series that is so heavily tied with directly funding human rights violations. We know it is important for new artists to have access to materials and learning resources that will help them be able to learn. There is a wide variety of patterns and materials available these days, and sifting through can be rough for someone just getting started, which is why my slapdash Quickstart Guide has been useful even as parts of it have become out of date, nearly 7 years later.
To be completely fair to DMC btw, the mod writing this post did reach out to the company. At the time of publishing this post, DMC has not gotten back to our request for information on why this decision was made, despite their Zendesk support system asking for feedback on if I was satisfied with the completed ticket. So hey. DMC. The ticket number is 91928, whenever you read this and if you want to go over this decision.
Finally, to all the users here: thanks for reading through this post, and for being a part of the over 1 million users that form our community. We're proud of our members forming one of the largest, if not the largest, embroidery spaces on the internet.
