As an employee at a sewing store in Long Beach, I have met my share of people interested in sewing. While I was working a few nights ago, a customer and I got into a conversation about my generation’s lack of interest in sewing.
While I know this is a rather broad generalization, it does carry some truth. Most kids today don’t have to take mandatory woodshop or home economics classes, so a lot of students leave school not knowing how to do even simple tasks in those fields.
I find it disappointing to know a good number of people I come across on a daily basis don’t even know how to sew on a button, a skill kids in previous generations learned in home economics within the first week. Despite my high school offering a home economics class, I still remember girls in my choir hemming dresses at the last minute using masking tape and safety pins.
Effective yes, attractive, no. Actually, if it weren’t for my job, I wouldn’t even know the basics of sewing.
I think our generation should reconsider the neglect of skills like sewing. Yes, ready-to-wear clothing is cheap and easily obtainable, but I have never seen anyone as proud of a shirt bought at Target as the women who try on the apron they made in their beginning sewing class.
A lot of people, myself included, like to make fun of their parents when parents demonstrate a lapse in technological skills. On more than one occasion I have teased my mother while showing her how to work the remote. In fact, it’s kind of a tradition.
However, despite my skills with the remote, I still needed her to fix tears and rips on my favorite jeans until I started my job. It’s kind of funny we make fun of people who aren’t up on technology, but a lot of people today cannot sew a patch onto a Girl Scout sash.
I say it’s time to change things. Classes like woodshop and home economics teach skills people should know. Students should have to learn how to, at least, sew a seam closed and sew on a button. They should also know the difference between a Phillips and a flathead screwdriver, even if they don’t know what they do.
Sure, it might take a couple of minutes to thread a needle and sew a hem, but that little bit of time can save you the embarrassment of tripping over your pants while en route to class. And let’s face it, those of us living in the dorms probably don’t want to have to wait months for the maintenance staff to fix that loose leg on the bed. Knowing how to fix it ourselves is much easier and convenient.
For those people who don’t have time to take classes in the fundamentals of sewing, cooking and other handiwork, there are some really good books out there, many of which have pictures. Remember, a stitch in time saves nine, whatever that means.
Allison Baldwin is sophomore journalism major and the assistant city editor of the Summer Forty-Niner.