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January 31, 2019
This is short and sweet but something I thought I would share. For many of us who have sewn for a while or were taught by our mothers or grandmothers, we've often lamented the lack of instruction in public education particularly as we've all known it to be a life skill or a skill that we could not only use practically with our hands, but with the background we have in sewing, we can also use it to be discerning and quality consumer of clothing. This last part has
led to a dearth of quality clothing in the marketplace and only those consumers who have not been exposed to this poor-quality clothing are waking up the rest of the market place that the consumer really doesn't want cheap anymore. They are after quality, sustainability, durability and classic. But how can you pick out quality, sustainability, durability and classic if you don't know how it's made or what components to look for? You simply have to trust the
manufacturer and more often than not that's not a good place to put your trust.
But never fear. This article from Mood Sewciety is really a bright light on the sewing and sewists scene. It talks about the increasing hi-tech modifications of the sewing machines of the future - with on board cameras, wifi capabilities, app syncing to easily access tutorials or social media revitalizing the sewing industry but also the sewing teaching industry.
Now, I've mentioned this before, but one of the things that all these folks are not addressing, well, Business of Fashion addressed it slightly (click my blog here for more on this), here's the bottom line: a garment that cost $200 at the end of the 80s would cost $412 today - that's comparing it to the cost of food and gas.
What has happened is that the rise of the cheaper and cheaper clothes has come at the expense of cheap labor (well, it's not cheap labor - it's slave labor - which of course makes for very cheap manufacturing costs), but not only is there a price in ethical values to pay for this, there is a financial price. That price is that you can not hold down that cost forever, or even for any period of time. Yes, there's a cry for more moral and ethical pay for clothing
makers, but the consumer is tired of cheap clothing. Fashion is also tired and bored and wants to change from cheap clothing. But having held down the price of clothing for so long at abnormally low cost, the consumer is not going to be prepared for rise in cost. But that jump from $200 in the later 80's that went for $40 or $50 in the teens, is going to jump up to $400 to keep up with the cost of everything - you can see how the psychological jump from $40 to 400 is going
to be a major jump in price for the consumer and retail to try and reconcile.
So what does this do for sewing? The bottom line is makes sewing look a lot more valuable, more sustainable, and a skill that makes a garment that is more durable, more individually tailored (fitting and styling) to the person than anything that RTW could offer.
So the rise in Millennial's' interest in crafting (they make up almost half of the crafting segment), the rise (like rocket ship rise) of cost of clothing that will take place in the 20s, and finally the rise in sustainable/ethical manufacture of clothing is all going to turn sewing into not only a much more practical alternative to purchasing
clothing, but also a much more creative alternative with the prospect of being able to customize a garment so that it fits your individual style, shape and size.
Suddenly there's an upswing in the interest of sewing coming! This is what excites me so much.
But I've never done a check to see how many of you were taught by your mothers or grandmothers (older sewists - Boomers) and how many of you are younger. I would love to know. So if you want to hit reply to this email and let me know!
___________Boomers - Born between 1944-1964
___________Gen Xers - Born between 1965-1979
___________Millennials - Born between 1980-1994
___________Gen Zers - Born between 1995 - 2015
I'd be interested to know!
This new year will bring a new look and lots of new things added to the sewingartistry.com to the site. In the meantime, things will be placed a little different, and if you can't find something that you liked or would like to find, just let me know. It's easy as pie - you can simply respond to this email and I'll get it. I get all these emails and I read all of them. so let me know if something seems awry for you or out of place.
We're working on simplifying it and changing it to a more functional and easier place to get around.
If there's something you liked from before and don't see, LMK.
If there's something you've never seen, but would like, LMK.
And of course if there's something that seems haywire or good, LMK!
You all will be the first to know when it's more settled, but for right now we're still moving the furniture around!
On the Blog
PS - I do a lot of posting on Facebook as SewingArtistry - like my page to see more goodies!
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