There is a logical sequence of machines when you are building from scratch.  You cannot do much of anything if you don't have buildings to live in and space for a workshop.  So the first generation of GVCS machines are the tractor for general dirt moving, CEB press for making building blocks, power cube as a general power source, etc.  The next group being worked on include the sawmill, and cement mixer.  So all of that allows you to put up some buildings.

Once you have workshop space, you start filling it with part making machines: Lathe, milling machine, furnace for making metal castings, torch table, etc (there are 10-15 machines in this group).  I see an industrial grade sewing machine as a possible output of those part making machines.  A light grade sewing machine, like a Singer portable, is available at low cost, so there is not much savings from trying to build your own.  One capable of doing furniture upholstery or leather, with a wider throat (distance from needle to support post) and a heavy duty motor is not as cheap.  So it might make sense trying to make your own, or find a broken one and make parts to fix it.

A loom implies a cotton or flax field and spinning machines to make the thread with which you weave.  Does community scale production make sense for this vs just buying fabric wholesale by having one person do all the fabric buying?  My own opinion is some things, like computer chips, are just way to difficult to make, and low enough cost to buy, it just does not make sense to try making your own.  Instead, just make some surplus lumber with your sawmill, sell it, and then go buy the computer parts.  I don't know where making textiles would fall in the practicality scale, but light and heavy duty sewing machines I would consider part of the toolset for any sustainable community.  They are just not the *first* tools needed.

There are a couple of pages started in the wiki about sewing and textiles.  Feel free to add your thoughts there, especially if you have any numbers on what the needs are vs cost and time savings.

marcin met up with some guys called last wear a while ago. theyre doing open source patterns.

we all wear clothes everyday so the need is obviously there.

personally i think people passionate about particular projects should definately follow that road

as one person digs into a field their new ideas interest others

at the moment most drive has been in foundational tech bc of the freedom it can bring to people but that doesnt mean anyother project is less exciting to someone

i bought a sewing machine a while back and started to get some experience, i think it would be awesome to build a machine then use it to make a shirt.

The GVCS makes more sense as a system of tools that make other tools. Once you've got tools-that-make-tools you can make all the tools that DON'T make other tools. A sewing machine doesn't make other tools the way a drill press does. Kind of like how a washing machine is great, but it doesn't make other tools.

Well, sure, it makes perfect sense to EVENTUALLY have a plan for an open source sewing machine. However, every tool that makes modern life more convenient requires the tools-that-make-tools exist first and with sufficient spare capacity to devote to convenience activities. I'm not saying it's a bad idea just that it's premature.

@DavidIAm - not at all, people are free to propose designs. But when I search for "industrial singer sewing machine" on ebay, all of them are under $1000.  A do-it-yourself machine will still take some materials and labor to build, so the question becomes "is the savings worth the effort"?  On a farm tractor the potential savings is much more because existing tractors are much more expensive.  Same for houses, they are pretty expensive, so the potential savings is big.  I have owned about a half dozen sewing machines over the years, and the most I have paid was $400, and that was a commercial shoe repair one.  The heavy duty portable I have now, which I sewed canvas tents with, was half that.  There are so many sewing machines out there already, and used ones are so cheap, I just question whether it is worth the bother to make another one.

@danielravennest I think the answer to 'is the sole monetary savings worth the person time' is a definite NO.  But I don't think we should let that stop us.  We're not doing it for monetary gain (at least I'm not).  I'm not even interested in the monetary perspective, which only seems to occlude idealism and awesomeness in the interests of capitalistic efficacy.  The ethical perspective I'm trying to take indicates to me that the designs and prototyping of the designs should be available regardless of the monetary vs. person time equation.  In a nutshell, there are more reasons to create something than money alone.

@DavidIAM - In the long run, I agree that having a robotic/automated fabricator that can spit out the parts and assemble a sewing machine, loom, and other fabric-related items would be good.  Having the CAD files open source to feed it is ideal.  But having relatively cheap machines already widely available to me means that it is not a pressing need to solve right this minute.  I'm personally more interested in getting a sawmill and solar furnace for making cement done first, because Compressed Earth blocks only take care of 15-20% of what you need for a complete building.  With a sawmill, obviously you can make all kinds of lumber, and with cement, you can do concrete for foundations, blocks, and concrete roof tiles.  Combined with CEB and straw insulation, you are now looking at more like 50-60% of a building.  You are still missing fasteners, wiring, windows, etc, but you need workshop and living space to bootstrap the rest of what you want to make.

If someone else wants to concentrate on fabric technology, that's great.  I have done my share of sewing and leather work in the past myself, and know it's important. But I feel the more pressing need is for making buildings, and machines to make machines, so that is where I will put my efforts for now.

Still seems like there should be a defined requirement for one. I don't see them getting very far without hoses and o-rings and gaskets and whatnot. Probably worth replacing "magical universal does-everything power supply" with "rubber machine" if keeping the count at 50 is important.

That wiki link about dandelions and latex is amazing, Mark.  Thanks for posting that.