by Heather Foster

Created on: January 11, 2010

Boys should definitely be taught at least the basics of sewing. If a button falls off their shirt or jacket, no matter their finances, is it not easier to thread a needle and stitch the button back on at home rather than seeking a seamstress, a dry cleaner or going home to mother?

Let us be sensible here and look at all the minor items a person can take care of with a needle and thread in moments. As stated earlier, buttons do fall off. However there are many other instances where even minor skills with the simplest of sewing implements can save time and money, along with embarrassment. A hem rips out of a pair of dress pants before a big meeting or date. A seam splits in the crotch of a pair of pants or a pocket seam comes undone dropping change everywhere. Couch cushions, sheets, curtains and other household items made of cloth need minor repairs sometimes.

Then there are the times when a man needs a dress shirt hemmed or even made for a special occasion. A man that knows how to sew, and is willing to do so, can take care of the problem just as easily as a woman that knows how to sew. Tailors are in high demand in many places due to the desire of men to have their clothing fitted to them rather than looking like they were just pulled off a rack.

It is a sad state of affairs when sports programs in schools take precedence over music and home economics. Music has been proven to aid students in processing mathematics problems. Home economics used to teach students cooking and sewing schools, budgeting time and money in the home and creative crafts to dress up the home when there was time in class. Girls learned to make clothing to fit their own size and tastes along with tips and tricks to save on fabric and time.

At one time the stereotypes of 'men's work' and 'women's work' separated students. Being female, this writer was not allowed to attend metals and woods shop classes, drafting classes or auto mechanics classes. Boys were excluded from home economics because it was considered a skill set they would not need in life. Tomboys had to learn to cook and sew, regardless of their interests in other skill sets.

Now schools do not have home economics classes for any students because they are considered unnecessary in this era of fast food, microwaves and frozen dinners. Knowledge of sewing skills is considered unnecessary because clothing is cheap and people are led to believe that sewing is not worth their time. Women wanting custom-made wedding dresses, prom dresses or just want clothing fitted to them better than just off the rack items must seek out people, like this writer, that have the knowledge and skills to alter and even create clothing for them. Our prices are rising like everything else because of the deplorable lack of education coming out of today's schools, where children are not even taught to write legibly, much less speak properly or sew.

There will come a time when clothing will once again need to be made in the home and who will have the skill sets needed? Only those people who were taught in programs like 4-H and by those mothers who acquired the skills from their own mothers and school programs from a much more enlightened and thrifty time. Yes, boys and girls should learn at least enough sewing skills to avoid embarrassment. They should be encouraged to learn many skills that some consider obsolete, just to be prepared when those people that are less enlightened need those skills and have to pay someone knowledgeable in that field for their expertise.

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