With sweatshop fashion in the spotlight, you can't read a newspaper without someone suggesting you try SIY (sew-it-yourself). My head says it's a great way to save money and avoid eco/ethical quagmires, but my heart? Hmmm... yet another dirty little secret: I am philosophically opposed to sewing. Obviously not all sewing, just any done by me personally. When you grow up a good Mormon girl, someone's always shoving a needle and thread in your hands – no matter how big a tomboy you are. They tried teaching me to embroider, knit, crochet and quilt, all to no avail. Perhaps my failure is simply down to being a left-handed pupil in a right-handed world, but I like to think it was a burgeoning feminism, shaking off the shackles of knitting needle and crochet hook.
You'd rebel too if you thought sewing your own meant the modest, puffy sleeved garb you may have seen recently in the US news (and in Big Love, right). Let me clarify: I was raised in the 'normal' church, not some polygamist offshoot but still, these dresses do look disturbingly familiar rather than just disturbing. It's not a particularly flattering look – even style icon Chloë Sevigny can't really pull it off.
[By the way, I did learn one thing in my sewing lessons: if you soak a
rusty embroidery hoop in cola
overnight it wipes clean in the morning. Note: time for a closer inspection of that
ingredients label.]
Oddly there's actually a demand for pioneer-style dress patterns online, but luckily 
most SIY is now decidedly more stylish. Keep and Share offers machine- and hand-knitting courses in Herefordshire and sells ready-made clothing, including
an
Eco Collection made from organic, locally sourced yarns. Clothkits has relaunched and Gossypium has a new line of home sewing kits too. I've even heard of a knitting club at a pub near me, so SIY has definitely come out of the mumsy closet.
most SIY is now decidedly more stylish. Keep and Share offers machine- and hand-knitting courses in Herefordshire and sells ready-made clothing, including an
Eco Collection made from organic, locally sourced yarns. Clothkits has relaunched and Gossypium has a new line of home sewing kits too. I've even heard of a knitting club at a pub near me, so SIY has definitely come out of the mumsy closet.I heartily recommend you give it a go, and many of you are (Argos reports sales of its inexpensive Brother sewing machine are up by 500%). I'm sure it is in fact liberating, but will I personally whizz up a few simple summer skirts? Maybe when I see men nattering over their knitting, I'll feel ready to join the SIY revolution, but I fear I'll need years of therapy first...