COMMON THREAD
The return to more traditional activities during self-isolation is providing plenty of solace right now
By Dan Ahwa
While I sit at home doing the very modern thing of Facetiming my grandmother, I’m taken back to the memory of her, pre-arthritis, whizzing away over a black midcentury Singer sewing machine complete with a motor drive belt with one hell of a grunt.
The portable sewing machine was how my nan would pour her heart and soul into clothes fashioned from fabrics she purchased on her weekly trips to Barker & Pollock on Karangahape Rd. Sewing was a cathartic release and an opportunity to express her creative spirit.
Creativity blooms in crisis — and whether it’s the story of the Waikato supermarket worker sewing face masks for her essential colleagues or the desire to simply take idle hands away from our screens, the growing interest in sewing during lockdown is an unsurprising return to a traditional skill in a world filled with so much uncertainty.
A handful of local fashion brands have put their sewing resources and skills to good use; Ruby is connecting to its community through virtual sewing classes and you can buy patterns of its popular styles online.
Annah Stretton, Rachel Mills and Frances Lowe of Loclaire are local examples of brands sewing and selling re-usable facemasks, providing comfort and much-needed support right now.
“Sewing is a very forgiving pastime, as you can always unpick anything that doesn’t work,” explains avid sewer, vintage advocate, and New Zealand Fashion Museum trustee Rose Jackson, who has also worked as a workroom assistant for Auckland-based label Pearl.
“Don’t be hard on yourself or feel like your sewing has to be perfect. We’re all working with limitations at the moment, which can bring some unexpectedly beautiful results to any creative project.”
Part of the appeal of sewing comes from its strong sense of community. Londonbased Tara Viggo, who grew up in Dunedin, now runs the popular domestic patternmaking company Paper Theory Patterns @paper—theory for home-sewers around the world. Her most popular pattern, the Zadie jumpsuit, went viral last year, becoming the most-made sewing pattern worldwide.
“I think its popularity is due to the fact it is easy to wear regardless of your size or body shape,” she says from her home in London. “It has a forgiving fit and you can modify how much you want to accentuate your waist with ties. I have a more inclusive size range than most traditional brands, which I think is really appreciated by the sewing community, as many people make their own clothes because they feel unwelcomed by the current size ranges on offer from designers.”
Auckland-based journalist and sewing enthusiast Maggie Wicks agrees that the sewing community’s inclusive spirit is appealing in challenging times. “The sewing community, in New Zealand and internationally, is the most incredible community. We review patterns for each other, heap praise on to each other’s Instagram posts, openly share our body measurements — nothing is out of bounds. It must be the safest space on the internet,” she says. “Once a year around the world, Frocktails events are held. Here you’ll find a roomful of women wearing outrageously beautiful outfits that they’ve sewn. Wellington and Auckland have their own events, although recently, sewists around the world took part in a lockdown #virtualfrocktails — basically an excuse to put on a nice dress and some lippy, and justify a 2pm cocktail at home.”
Whether it’s fraternising or getting stuck into a sewing project, Tara, who has worked with a diverse array of fashion brands including J.W. Anderson, Emilia Wickstead and Erdem, advises us to enjoy the process.
“The most important thing is not to be too hard on yourself. People often feel selfconscious that their sewing isn’t good enough, and it puts them off developing the craft further. All the little mistakes you make along the way are essential learning curves. If it looks shit just call it punk, and wear it with pride!”
Conversations around sustainability are also connected to sewing, and as the fashion industry continues to grapple with its impact on the planet, it’s a discussion even more fraught during the lockdown period.
“Sewing my own clothes has taught me that we should spend more, and buy less,” says Maggie. “If you knew how much time went into sewing a garment, you would know immediately that you probably did not pay enough. In developing countries, the fashion industry is one of the largest employers of women, and those women are some of the lowest-paid members of the world’s workforce. We shouldn’t take our clothing for granted the way we do.”
Rose, who is also a member of NZ Fashion Revolution, agrees. “When you make a garment from start to finish, you get a true understanding of the huge number of processes that a single piece of clothing has to go through. It gives you heightened respect for all the garment workers of the world, many of whom are woefully underpaid to meet the voracious appetite for cheap fast fashion.”
Whether practical or frivolous, creative freedom is what makes a sewing project fun. “I’m currently sewing with Liberty of London silk, and an embroidered silk organza,” says Maggie. “I decided earlier this year that I should up the quality of the fabrics I wear, so I splashed out on several beautiful pieces. By the end of lockdown, I suspect I’ll have a large collection of inappropriately extravagant workwear.”
“ALL THE LITTLE MISTAKES YOU MAKE ALONG THE WAY ARE ESSENTIAL LEARNING CURVES.” — TARA VIGGO