Sewing is a very useful skill to learn. It is a big colorful world with so many layers. You can do crafts and decor, make your clothes, alter and fix, make toys, make bedding, DIY soft furnishings, do quilt, do applique and so much more. Here, I am giving you 14 reasons why you should learn how to sew.
Sewing used to be something that is commonly learned either in school or taught by the ladies in the family. But nowadays, as long as you are interested and resourceful, learning how to sew is a breeze. There are countless resources and tutorials on the internet and sewing communities to learn from.
With all these resources around you, I hope you will allow yourself to discover (or rediscover) your interest in sewing and see how it can positively impact your life, as it did mine.
14 Reasons why sewing is good for you
#1: You can make home decors with your personal touch
With a few straight sewing stitches and absolute beginner skills, you can make your home from looking good to magazine-worthy. You can personalize many things throughout the year to celebrate each season. You do not need special sewing skills to get started. Grab some old curtains or blankets and try these envelope closure pillowcases. No zippers, no buttons, perfect for beginners.
#2: You can do your own mending/recycling/upcycling/etc.
Once you learn the basics, you can adjust a length, attach a button, alter the size of store-bought clothing, and a lot more. You can extend or give a new life to old clothes by turning them into something else like an oversized shirt to a skirt or an old towel to a hair towel wrap. After learning more skills, you can make your clothes that properly fit.
Here is a piece of bonus information on upcycling clothes to encourage you. Click here.
#3: You can sew and sell
No, I am not only referring to making clothes – if sewing clothes overwhelm you at this point. You can do tons and tons of things. Make crafts and sell for money, charge for an alteration, open a shop, offer a sewing course, make tutorials on Youtube, the list is endless!
Learning how to sew could lead you to have a profitable side hustle. You just need to be at least a confident beginner in sewing to start making money. You will pick up more skills as you keep sewing. Do you know that a simple scrunchie can be a profitable home-based business? If you want to give it a try, click here and find three very easy ways to make a scrunchie.
#4: Spark creativity and DIY your gifts
You should try sewing if you are someone who likes to give handmade presents. You can sew gifts for teachers, for pet lovers, for nurses, for teens, for homemakers, etc.
#5: Make memorable moments with your kids
Teach kids the basics of sewing. Kids love to tinker, so let them tinker with the sewing machine (in a good, productive way)! If you are not sure that actual sewing is something they should be doing, involve them in other ways.
My son (5), always gets excited when I am working on a project. He collects the scraps and pretends to sew on his kiddie chair – yes with sound effects.
Never underestimate kids’ ideas when it comes to creating something from scratch. When he asked me to DIY a pet sling/carrier for his bunny toy, he clearly explained how it should look, how big, and what fabric to use. Of course, he “directed” the entire sewing process with more specific instructions. He paid me with hugs and kisses. Making memories with my kids is probably the biggest reason why I learned how to sew .
#6: Sewing is good for your health
Sewing involves planning, drawing, complex thinking, lots of imagination, and problem-solving. Sewing (like knitting and other crafts) can release the neurotransmitter dopamine that improves our mood and make us feel happy. Completing a sewing project, no matter how simple, gives a sense of accomplishment and joy. Who needs an anti-depressant?
Moreover, I can attest that sewing gives a quiet, meditative “me” time. It keeps me away from gadgets, and tunes out the “noise” around me. My sewing table is my fortress of solitude until my kids wake up, break down my invisible walls and deliberately claim my little corner.
#7 Benefit of sewing: Sewing allows you to be unique
Imagine this, whatever sewing project you make for yourself is UNIQUE since it is not mass-produced in store. Sewing allows you to create something that reflects your personality. Make your clothes and accessories. Stand out and be proud!
#8 Benefit of sewing: Sewing cultivates happy memories
I grew up in a home with my mother’s vintage Singer in the living room. It is a sewing machine and table with drawers and a cast iron treadle base.
Occasionally, my mother would dust it off to sew clothes for us for special occasions. I never fully understood why she was sewing dresses as a busy school teacher and a mother of four. As a kid, I thought she was making clothes out of necessity because we cannot afford new ones.
When I got into sewing, I discovered that sewing is an art. There is so much more that goes into sewing that we do not see, especially when it is done by someone we love.
Now I see it, my mother’s sewing was an act of love and service. And it floods me with good memories.
#9 Benefit of sewing: It teaches us to be patient
Sewing will teach you to slow down and focus on one single task at a time. If you are working on a sewing project, the only way to see it complete is to go through every step of the process one step at a time.
#10 Benefit of sewing: It provides opportunity to build a community and support causes
Sewing offers you tons of opportunities to help others. You can make adult bibs and hand warmers for the elderlies in your community; weighted blankets for children who have sleeping disorders; donate masks and facial coverings, etc.
Remember Campbell Remess? At nine, he taught himself how to sew, so he could give Christmas toys to sick children in a nearby hospital. Now, at 16 (as of this writing), he has made over 3000 bears for sick children around the world. Here is a video of Campbell sewing. Yes, you can sew, too! (Find out how you can support Campbell at https://www.project365.org/).
#11 Benefit of sewing: Sewing can be a second career
Sewing (or other related careers like fashion design) isn’t always an initial career choice for some people. But their love for sewing enables them to make a second career out of it. Such is the story of Inga of Cushie Doo.
Inga hand prints her own designs onto locally woven natural fabrics in her studio in Fife, Scotland.
Inga has always loved being creative and learned to sew at a very young age. Her youthful dreams included going to Art College, but her life followed a different path. Many years – and three children – later, she returned to studying, gaining a BA Degree in Design, specializing in Interior Design. She loves sewing and making soft furnishings. She is currently running workshops teaching people to sew.
#12 Benefit of sewing: Sewing improves your motor skills
Sewing improves your dexterity and fine motor skills by threading needles, working with thimbles, and buttons. Every single step in sewing improves your dexterity. The movements involved in sewing train your fingers to move properly and smoothly, promote hand-eye coordination, move with precision and manipulate small items with ease. These motor skills are important in building other skills and performing daily tasks.
#13 Benefit of sewing: Sewing is good for your brain
Sewing (and all DIYs) requires you to plan, organize, draw, make (simple) maths, and solve problems. The processes involved in doing all these improve the brain’s ability to produce new brain cells.
Sewing provides CONSTANT learning opportunities. As you learn, you challenge yourself to work from simple to more complex sewing projects. From scrunchies to skirts, to shift dresses, and so on. Sewing can challenge your brain indefinitely! The more you use your brain, the better your chances at warding off early dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
#14 Benefit of sewing: Sewing has healing abilities
My sewing journey started when I became a mother. Post-partum depression is real. (If you are a mother, reading this, receive my warm hugs!) PPD made me a different person– someone I did not know. It took me heaps and loads of willpower and even greater grace from God to move out from that gloomy place. That experience made me rediscover sewing when I needed to do something to keep my hands busy and my mind calm.
ANOTHER WOMAN'S STORY OF HEALING (Featured in www.theguardian.com) When my sister and I sat with our dying mother, for four days and nights I sewed. Although, by that time, she was in a coma, I like to believe she sensed our presence, heard me describing my work-in-progress and acknowledging the skill she had passed on to me. I still have the cloth I embroidered then. It evokes our last days together, connects me to her still and gives me comfort. This is the healing power of sewing: a way to express, sometimes exorcise, pain using a tactile language scripted by a needle and thread. Read the full story here.
Final thoughts
Sewing can be life-changing in subtle ways. I am sure there are more than just 14 reasons why you should try sewing. Ask any seasoned sewist and you will know stories, life lessons, and many unexpected ways that needles and threads can stitch. Are you sewing as well? If not yet, are you interested? Which of these, you can relate to the most? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Here is another post to finally get you started: 12 things that you need to start sewing
