Episode 214: Sewing is an act of self-determination (part 1), with Ruby of Spokes & Stitches

The Big Question: If fast fashion sucks, why aren’t more people sewing their own clothes?

It used to be the norm for people to sew their own clothes, and in fact it used to be the “cheaper, more thrifty” option for someone (usually women) to sew for themselves and their family. What happened?

1. History of mass production of clothing
   1. Started with army uniforms and workwear in the mid 19th century, cost-effective and efficient, not concerned with aesthetics
   2. By the early 20th century, standard sizing for womenswear had been developed and the rise of the department store gave way to the popularization of ready-to-wear for women
      1. It was considered/marketed as a modern luxury to buy your clothes at a store and leave the drudgery of sewing behind! 
      2. The Victorian “sphere of domesticity” falls out of fashion, and women start participating in society and the workforce more. 
      3. Poor women are increasingly pressured to leave rural areas and go work in textile factories to send money home.
      4. Young female factory workers often become the perfect customers for ready-to-wear, as they no longer have time to do their own sewing.
      5. The earliest ready-to-wear was designed to be boxy and shapeless, with lots of extra seam allowance. It was sold with the expectation that people would alter the garment after purchasing it, or pay an in-store tailor to customize the fit for them.
      6. As production ramped up and moved overseas in the 1980’s and 1990’s, this practice began to fade to cut costs.
2. Why did people “stop” sewing their own clothes?
   1. Reagan administration cut a lot of home economics education in the 1980’s to focus on funding STEM education as part of the Cold War. Lots of people born after this time never learned how to sew (or cook, or manage personal finance) in school, so it became something you had to seek out to learn.
   2. 2nd Wave Feminism also pushed for new social and professional roles for women, often painting domestic tasks like cooking and sewing as old-fashioned and unimportant
   3. Moving production overseas in the 1980’s also resulted in cheaper prices for ready-to-wear, so even the poorest people could afford basic clothing… the calculation became less about “it’s cheaper to buy fabric and do it myself” and more about “I have to work all the time to afford food, I don’t have time to sew my own clothes. It’s cheaper to just buy what I need at the store.”
   4. Sewing becomes a luxury, a hobby practiced by people with disposable income, free time, and lots of space for an in-house sewing room or crafting corner
   5. Crafting/creativity becomes less about thriftiness and making do, and more about consumerism, like purchasing the latest high-tech embroidery machine, or the most luxurious yarn, or spending tons of money on flashy equipment at big box stores like Michaels or Joann

1. What are the modern barriers to sewing?
   1. Lack of education 
      1. Sewing used to be a skill that was passed down within the women in a family; mothers, grandmothers, and older sisters taught the young ones how to do it. It was seen as a necessary life skill.
      2. Who will teach you to sew if no one in your household knows how?
      3. Finding lessons that work with your schedule can be a challenge.
      4. Sexism: Because of the devaluing of labor that is traditionally done by women, many of us still hold on to a prejudiced view that learning how to sew shouldn’t cost us anything, and that learning the skill should be easy.
   2. Sewing machines take practice to operate, and building skills takes time. A lot of time! Just like music lessons or rock climbing or driving.
      1.  You won’t be amazing at it right off the bat, you will probably have to get through a few mediocre or failed projects before you are happy with what you can make.
      2. It’s easy to devalue the work because so much of what we see is at such an artificially cheap price point. If a brand new shirt costs $5, it couldn’t possibly be hard to make, right?
      3. Easy to get frustrated and give up, feel like you are wasting materials.
   3. Takes up a lot of space in the home…
      1.  You need a large table to lay out fabric, and somewhere to put the sewing machine. You probably also need to set up an iron and ironing board. As housing has become more expensive, people are living in smaller spaces with more people, and finding the room to sew becomes a challenge.
      2. Insert anecdote about Ruby sewing out of her bedroom in Brooklyn, having Power Ranger stunt doubles sit on her bed while she did alterations.
   4. Fabric and materials are often more expensive than just buying a completed fast fashion garment… 
      1. fabric can range from $4/yard on the cheap end up to $50+/yard, and most garments take 2-3 yards of fabric. So even if you use “cheap” fabric, you still might spend at least $15-$20 on the materials for a garment, and then you have to also spend 2-10+ hours cutting it out and sewing it! 
      2. Many people do this calculation and feel like “it isn’t worth it.”
   5. Crafting/hobbies in general have become a luxury that takes both time and money.
   6. Prewash fabric
   7. How much to buy? 2-4 yds?

1. Why should you sew your own clothes?
   1. Once you get good at it, it’s very fulfilling.
      1. Gives you a different relationship to the clothes in your closet.
      2. Sentimental value; you are less likely to carelessly discard something you spent hours making, and more likely to try to mindfully rehome it when you are done with it.
      3. You’ll also be more likely to take better care of the things you make, because again you will have that understanding of its value.
   2. Creativity and Quality
      1. So many of the clothes out there today are kinda boring! Especially fast fashion, as details get cut to produce things cheaper and cheaper.
      2. When you make something yourself, you can opt in to the details that matter, like using nice fabrics that will feel good against your skin, adding deep pockets, or using novelty prints or buttons that make the garment special.
      3. You can tweak the fit of the garment so that it works for your body and your proportions. Fashion companies do not think about “niche” body types when designing…everyone references the same sizing standards,which are based on averages, which just don’t really work for most people. If you are tall, short, have a wider waist or a narrower shoulder, you can account for all of this when you sew your own clothes.
   3. Sewing is Pleasurable!
      1. Many people will refer to sewing as their “therapy.”
      2. It’s a chunk of time that you get to spend alone, away from others, and aren’t looking at a screen
      3. It’s tactile, especially if you use nice fabrics that feel good against your skin, it can be pleasing from a sensory perspective
      4. Ruby- I personally love the smell of the iron, especially against muslin or cotton fabric, nice earthy smell
      5. It’s a chore that once it’s done, it’s done, and you have a finished thing! Unlike cleaning, cooking, doing the dishes, laundry, etc that need to be done over and over again.