I learned how to sew when I was in the eighth grade. Every woman in my family and most of the men knew how to sew. Sewing is a tradition of sorts through my family. Why? "Because it's something you'll always need to know. It's something everyone needs to know." Well, if sewing is such an important skill for survival, then why does no one my age know how to do it.
"I have a shirt that's missing a button, I'll just give it to Goodwill."
"My leggings have a hole in the leg, I guess I'll just have to throw them away."
Why is my generation being taught that if something has a small problem, we should throw it away? Why aren't we taught to sew on a button? Sewing on a button should take five minutes, at the very most. Sewing up a hole, depending on the size and fabric, is a very simple fix. You can even hand sew these problems! So, why does no one do it? Why does it seem so hard? So tedious? So old-fashioned.
At this point, saying "I know how to sew" gets me some pretty strange looks. Older people look at me with awe and amazement, younger people always ask why or how. It's so strange to me that sewing in this time is such a rare occurrence for people my age. I've been sewing for years, I was even a competitive seamstress. I competed in the Fashion Revue category in 4-H, where I placed second in the state for the outfits I made. I made entire outfits all the while people my age, and even people much older than me, find sewing such an old-fashioned and boring task. Some see sewing as a chore.
Sewing, in this day and age, is a dying art. Nobody wants grandma to teach them to make their own clothes. Everyone wants Beatrice down the street to hem up their pants, rather than just doing it themselves. People will pay someone to take up the sides in a dress. No one really even sees sewing as a hobby anymore, just as something they would only do if they absolutely had to. Some people will just say "If I need something fixed that bad, I can easily get someone else to do it for me." or "If it needs to be fixed that bad, why don't I just go to Target and buy another shirt?" Well, let's be honest here. Fabric is getting expensive, sewing machines can be expensive, and it's so hard to find a pattern for modern-esque clothes. Sewing is dying out, but it isn't just the fault of all the people who don't care to learn, it's also the fault of the sewing industries. It's so much cheaper and convenient to just go out and replace something that's torn. So, why does nobody want to sew anymore? Simply put: Why WOULD anyone want to?
