Sew long to needlework skills as schools drop ‘sexist’ lessons

SEWING skills are dying out because it is now deemed sexist to teach needlework to schoolgirls.

Nearly six in 10 adults are unable to sew confidently or at all, according to a survey of more than 2,000 people commissioned by the British Heart Foundation for its Big Stitch campaign.

A quarter of those polled could not sew on a button, with a fifth admitting that if they did lose a button they would rather replace the clothing than fix it.

Fifteen per cent of women were unable to sew, with that percentage more than doubling for men. Julie Nugent, the chief executive of the Design and Technology Association, said schools were moving away from teaching “gender specific” skills.

“Darning and mending as a skill for young girls is not valued anymore,” she said. “We have shifted away from the anachronistic view that girls should sew as an acquired life skill. Now we would say that boys or girls who want to go into textiles [need to learn certain skills] and we would try not to be gender specific.”

Dr Susan Kay-williams, the chief executive of the Royal Society of Needlework, said: “Plain sewing has gone out because clothes are now so cheap to buy. The practical skills of actually making a garment – knitting and sewing – have disappeared completely from schools.

“Unfortunately it has not just skipped one generation, it has skipped two. It is not the parents who know how to teach, it is the grandparents.”

Tom Corker, who is head of the technology department at Kesgrave High School and leads a network of DT teachers in Suffolk, said: “Every school is now very inclusive in terms of gender. Sewing is now covered as part of a broad range of activities.”

The British Heart Foundation’s Big Stitch campaign is encouraging people to buy clothing from one of their charity shops and make alterations.