{"id":5889,"date":"2012-03-21T10:53:39","date_gmt":"2012-03-21T10:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/?p=5889"},"modified":"2012-03-21T15:19:54","modified_gmt":"2012-03-21T15:19:54","slug":"why-sewing-is-back-in-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/?p=5889","title":{"rendered":"Why sewing is back in fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"It was\u00a0love at first sight for Isobel Vaisanen. When asked how she got involved in a sewing class, the 11 year old recalls the\u00a0moment of her infatuation. Her local Greely, Ontario, sewing club holds an annual fashion show that features\u00a0pieces by members; Isobel attended as a fifth grader.<\/div>\n

\u201cI was amazed at how they did the sewing,\u201d she says, \u201cand I really wanted to join.\u201d Which she did that following summer.<\/p>\n

Fast forward, and Isobel is now into her second year of the craft, mastering projects that include\u00a0clothes\u00a0and full-sized quilts. Her most prized possession: a dress she hand-made for her fifth grade graduation. \u201cA lot of people thought it was the best dress they\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\""sewing"\"
\n Craft apprentice: Kianna Levine, 14, makes\u00a0a quilt in sewing class.<\/p>\n

Janet Pray is\u00a0executive director of the National Sewing Council in the United States. The council is responsible for attending craft shows across the country and educating the public on the ins and outs of sewing. She says that Isobel\u2019s story is just one example of a current trend: young sewers joining.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve definitely seen a rise in youths sewing,\u201d she says. \u201cWe meet new, young sewers at almost every event, and the number is continuing to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

While statistics on youth involvement remain elusive, a current general rise in sewing\u2019s popularity is amply attested. For example, according to Time<\/em> magazine, there are about 35 million sewing hobbyists in the United States, up from 30 million in 2000, while\u00a0annual sales of Singer sewing machines have doubled since 1999, to 3 million.<\/p>\n

Runway dreams<\/p>\n

When asked why\u00a0more young people are joining a craft usually\u00a0associated with oldsters,\u00a0Pray is quick to reply:\u00a0\u201cProject Runway<\/em>! It\u2019s created a brand-new way to look at sewing.\u201d Project Runway<\/em> is a reality TV series, now in its sixth season since\u00a02006, that showcases wanna-be designers vying to have their\u00a0patterns shown in New York. Pray says the show\u2019s popularity \u201chas shown teenage girls that sewing can be both a career decision and a creative outlet.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Project<\/em> Runway <\/em>has created a brand-new way to look at sewing’ \u2014\u00a0expert Janet Pray <\/span><\/p>\n

Sherry Pettigrew works\u00a0at Dragonfly Fabrics in Ottawa, where she teaches a beginners\u2019 sewing class. Over the years she has noticed a steady climb in numbers of\u00a0teenaged students. Some, she says, have joined to better\u00a0their chances of getting accepted into fashion schools such as Ryerson\u2019s, in Toronto.<\/p>\n

Tori Hill, 17,\u00a0has been sewing for the\u00a0six years. When asked why she began, she\u00a0echoes the dream of many\u00a0girls her age. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to be a fashion designer,\u201d she says. \u201cThe skills I learn here allow me to make my own designs.\u201d Like many young fashionistas, Tori\u00a0hopes\u00a0one day to see her\u00a0clothes on the catwalk.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just career\u00a0ambition that draws young people to sewing, says Pray.\u00a0 Because so\u00a0much youthful creativity these days is expressed through\u00a0electronics, she argues, a hands-on productive activity like sewing can provide\u00a0special\u00a0gratification. \u201cIf a young girl makes a clutch bag, she\u2019s made something she uses all the time. She gets total creative control.\u00a0 And to hear all the positive feedback from family and friends is a feeling like no other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cost effective<\/p>\n

Anne Warren has been teaching\u00a0sewing for over 20 years, currently for the Kid\u2019s Sewing Company, a\u00a0program in Nanaimo, BC, designed specifically for ages\u00a0eight to seventeen. Warren\u00a0has more than\u00a030 students and runs three-hour classes five days a week. She says her enrolment is\u00a0up, which\u00a0she attributes to a shaky economy. \u201cWhen the economy is down, my numbers usually go up.\u201d She says sewing is less expensive among the\u00a0hobbies and is often a better fit for a families on\u00a0tighter budgets.<\/p>\n

Michele Santerre owns\u00a0The Running Stitch, a quilt store\u00a0in Kanata, Ontario. She says the boost in young sewers has to do with fabrics\u00a0being available for purchase by\u00a0Internet. \u201cYounger people can now find fabrics cheaper online.\u201d Because\u00a0fabric prices have\u00a0gone down in this way, she says, youths can\u00a0join a hobby that was once too expensive. She says the influx of young sewers has resulted in her \u201cbuying more modern fabrics.\u201d Further to\u00a0attract\u00a0younger customers, Santerre has begun\u00a0advertising with Groupon,\u00a0a website that offers\u00a0a daily deal on the most \u201cpopular things to do, see, eat and buy\u201d and that provides users with a \u201cdaily coupon,\u201d good at a\u00a0local merchant.<\/p>\n

\""class
\n Hamilton’s students enjoy their sewing class’s relaxed setting.<\/p>\n

A \u2018sewcial\u2019 scene<\/p>\n

And not least of all,\u00a0the social element\u00a0has\u00a0contributed to sewing\u2019s\u00a0popularity with\u00a0youth,\u00a0according to Pray. In fact, her organization, the National Sewing Council, recently adjusted its\u00a0marketing strategy,\u00a0to\u00a0aim at younger sewers by highlighting\u00a0social benefits. \u201cThe social aspect, that\u2019s really where we\u2019re going with our marketing, to attract the younger generations,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Danielle Hamilton agrees. For the past nine years she has taught sewing out of her Ottawa home to students as young as seven. She runs\u00a0a two-hour class, usually capped at\u00a0five students, every Monday and Thursday night. Students spend most of the class time at\u00a0sewing machines, but can also be seen cutting out fabric patterns\u00a0on the floor of the basement-level studio.<\/p>\n

Hamilton says\u00a0her class is in\u00a0high demand,\u00a0due to the\u00a0chance\u00a0it gives young people to be creative and\u00a0learn valuable life lessons: \u201cThey\u2019re learning how to be patient. They\u2019re learning self-esteem, and they\u2019re learning how to celebrate their own as well as their classmates\u2019 successes.\u201d She says that since\u00a0schools no longer offer\u00a0programs of this type, some students experience\u00a0a\u00a0creative void,\u00a0and sewing is\u00a0one way to fill it. An informal survey of Hamilton\u2019s students reveals a range of motivations.<\/p>\n

\""clothes"\"
\n The bounty of self-reliance. Less expensive\u00a0fabrics available online now have more youths making their own clothes.<\/p>\n

Erin Wilson, 15, started\u00a0Hamilton\u2019s class\u00a0amid dreams of becoming a fashion designer. But it\u2019s the\u00a0social setting that has kept her coming back for\u00a0six years. \u201cThe girls in my class, I\u2019ve really bonded with them,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re not just friends; we\u2019re like a family.\u201d Another student of Hamilton is Sophie Laurin, 14. Much like Erin, she says it is the first half hour of\u00a0class, when\u00a0all the kids talk, that is most important to her. When asked just what a bunch of teenage girls talk about, she grins before answering: \u201cGossip. We all love to gossip.\u201d Laurin started to sew after she quit playing soccer. Her decision to switch hobbies has greatly benefited her wardrobe. \u201cI\u2019ve made dresses, capris, vests, shirts, a whole bunch of things,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

And for others,\u00a0learning to sew is a chance to join a family tradition.<\/p>\n

Robyn Boucher was one of Hamilton\u2019s youngest students when she enrolled four years ago, at age seven. Now in\u00a0sixth grade, Robyn remembers why she joined: \u201cMy grandma used to sew, and so does my mom.\u201d And that has developed, she says, into\u00a0\u201ca love for making shirts, skirts, shorts and tops.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only is it fun;\u00a0it\u2019s useful. When her brother bought a pair of pajamas that were a tad too long,\u00a0Robyn\u00a0came to the rescue. \u201cI took them and I hemmed them down to his size,\u201d she says, as she smiles from ear to ear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grandma, move over. Across\u00a0North America, a\u00a0rejuvenated\u00a0sewing\u00a0scene now attracts more young people, to learn this\u00a0age-old, hands-on\u00a0skill.\u00a0\u00a0
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5889"}],"version-history":[{"count":109,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6773,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5889\/revisions\/6773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}