The Power of Hand Sewing
There are countless things you can do with the knowledge of a simple hand stitch.
by Ali Cook
As a child, I would play a sewing game where I would weave shoe laces through small cardboard holes. While it was probably a tool to improve fine motor skills, I thought I was well on my way to becoming an expert sewer like my grandma. I was greatly disappointed when the game did not give me the ability to sew my own American Girl Doll clothes.
I circled back to sewing in my junior high home and careers class, where I learned how to hand-sew a button and use a sewing machine to make a pillow. Little did I know, earning the prestigious “home and careers” award at the 8th-grade award show was not where my sewing journey ended.
Freshman year of college, I revisited hand sewing while working on costumes for a production of Seussical the Musical. After a few minutes of watching the other members of the costumes team, I simply dove right in—full fake-it-til-I-make-it with the running stitch I remembered from middle school. With some fake confidence and fine-tuning, I went on to create a stunning bird tail, add straps onto strapless tops, turn a judge robe into a turtle shell, and more ridiculous Seuss-esque tasks.
At the time, I didn’t know the power of what I learned. Now, I have become the designated sewer for all my friends and family. Sewing a hole or rip in clothing can save one of your favorite pieces, money, and the environment—and it only takes around 10 minutes max.
Sewing also lets you buy a larger variety of clothing and comes in handy for frequent thrifters. When thrifting, it’s hard to find pieces that fit perfectly, but once you know how to sew, you can make minor adjustments and more pieces will work for you. You don’t need to worry about straps being too long, a skirt falling at a weird length, or pants that fit your legs but not your waist when you can easily adjust them all yourself.
My favorite aspect of hand sewing is completely transforming pieces by adding shapes and patches. Inspired by TikTok, I thrifted a simple mini checkered shirt and cut a medium-sized star shape out of it. I took a plain gray sweater I never wore, sewed the star on and it’s now one of my most worn pieces. I took a similar approach and thrifted pink patterned baby clothes and turned them into a patchwork style “A” on a baby tee. I even bought a Red Sox patch online and sewed it onto a blue baseball baby tee to make a completely unique and Brandy-Melville-esque Red Sox shirt.
Hand sewing is super easy to pick up! Just watch a YouTube video and you can probably figure it out in 30 minutes. The hardest parts are threading the needle and making sure you have enough thread at the end to tie a knot and finish it off. Both of which come with practice.
While my mom might say it looks like I’m wearing hand-me-downs that I had to fix up, I personally love a patched, handmade look and the sustainable power of hand-sewing!
Commentaires