Lifelong Learning: 5 Reasons Why Sewing Is a Good Skill to Have After 60
Ever since home sewing machines came to be, they have been a helpful asset and a reliable partner of capable housewives who either had some spare time for a hobby, or more likely had to dress their entire households with a fairly small budget.
Obviously, they all knew very well why learning how to sew was a smart idea, just like any other sewing enthusiast does nowadays.
If you are over 60, and still don’t know much about sewing, then you should definitely take some time to find out what kind of advantages this craft, or more precisely, art form, offers to anyone who decides to practice it.
Today we’ll explore why all those people, who aren’t quite sure what they could gain by learning how to sew, should at least try it out for a while. Because the positive sides of it are, without a doubt, enticing, to say at least.
Number of Options
Sometimes, when you want to buy a new piece of clothing and you go out shopping, you go through all of the stores and still can’t find the thing you had in mind or one that fits you well.
Realistically speaking, this can happen very often, especially if you have a very refined taste in fashion. Mass produced garments just don’t offer you enough uniqueness or style, resulting in the mentioned failure in finding the appropriate article.
However, when you make your own clothes from scratch, this can’t happen no matter what. You can just use your sewing skills and create the clothes you had imagined.
This way, the number of options you have when it comes to wardrobe pieces is virtually infinite. No more saying that you don’t have anything to wear!
Sewing Your Own Clothes Will Cost You Less Than Buying Them
Certain types of clothing can have a pretty ridiculous price tag, especially if they’ve been made by a very famous designer/manufacturer.
Buying such items could considerably deplete your home budget, forcing you to cut corners on other expenses. Funds are usually limited after you retire, so you should make every cent count.
This isn’t a problem when you’re sewing your own clothes, though. For the price of one luxurious dress or gown, you can create two or even three identical pieces that won’t lack in any way.
You will spend considerably less money by getting a simple sewing machine and making your own clothes while having a relatively large wardrobe at your disposal. Win-win!
You’ll Be Able to Earn Some Money
Once your sewing skills have reached an appropriate level, and you’ve become quite experienced, you can start accepting customer requests and become a craftapreneur.
It’s up to you to decide what kind of work you’ll be doing – small and fast adjustments and repairs or serious projects like creating an entire dress or suit. Either way, the money amount you could be earning this way is pretty nice, and it could fill up your pockets decently.
You’ll Become More Organized, More Patient, Diligent and Passionate
Sewing requires proper preparation and organization in order to go smoothly, and if you rush it or do it without much thought, you’ll probably end up making a big mess out of everything.
In other words, picking up sewing as a hobby will help you improve your patience and diligence without even noticing it.
You’ll Be Able to Relax and Enjoy the Creative Activity
We all have something that stresses us out or angers us sometimes, and keeping those emotions bottled up could cause some serious damage. Retirement gives us the gift of time, but that is also a curse in disguise because having too much free time puts more focus on our problems or aches.
Thus, it becomes very important to find an activity that will help you relax and erase all bad thoughts from your mind.
Sewing helps you convert that negative energy into productivity and feel much better afterwards. Once you create something from scratch, there’s no room for anything other than pride and a sense of accomplishment in your heart. This is why sewing is so enjoyable and relaxing.
Armed with those five reasons to learn sewing, we hope you’ll consider this hobby, and who knows – maybe turn it into a business!
Let’s Have a Conversation:
What was your last sewing project? How long ago was that? Would you have interest to pick up sewing again after 60? Why or why not? What type of project would you attempt to do first? Please share with the community and let’s have a discussion!
Tags Creativity
My grandmother was a seamstress and my mother also. I was taught to sew as a child and made my children’s clothes. I stopped sewing when I lived abroad and it was cheaper to buy or have made. Now I’m in my late 60’s and would love to revive my sewing skills again but alas there are no sewing classes or sewing groups where I live in Northern Ireland. My aim is to make clothes using natural fabrics and also restyle items I have. Community groups are fantastic for social interaction we just need the funding!!
I started sewing in Home Economics class in Junior High School. I was about 14 and honestly, I felt like I found my passion. I haven’t stopped sewing since. I still have my very first thimble (anyone remember those?) and I still use it. Sewing is rewarding, therapeutic and creative. I am now 72 and I intend on continuing sewing for as long as I possibly can.
Welll, my mom was an excellent seamstress, that skill did not get
passed down to me.
Nothing makes me swear more quickly than trying to sew! It’s not a pretty picture!
I completely admire those who can sew, but I can’t imagine ever finding it relaxing!
I did some sewing in my younger years but never was really skilled. I still would like to be able to alter my clothes to fit better but need a better machine! Alas, they all seem so expensive and complicated! If anyone has any suggestions for a suitable machine, I’d appreciate it.
Hmm. I have a slightly different perspective on this, but maybe this differs depending on where one lives. As a child, my mother was a very skilled sewer and made all of my clothes. We’d go to the popular fashion stores, decide what I’d like, then go to the various fabric stores available at that time, find the same fabric, a similar pattern or two or three, then my mother would create the same item. No one ever knew the difference. When I was in grade six, my mother taught me how to sew and for that year, I sewed my entire wardrobe to her exacting standards. Then did this every year after until I began to work and decided to buy some items.
When my I had babies and toddler, I was home with them, so decided to sew all their clothes. Unlike before, I found the cost was equal to buying them. My mother said she was finding the same. She expressed that sewing was something that poorer women did but now it had become a fad so the price of fabric and other essentials had risen accordingly. I kept my sewing skills by creating great Halloween costumes and other things.
Recently, my granddaughters were born, and with the help of pinterest, I decided to sew fun baby accessories. I found it difficult to find quality fabric. The chain stores that have taken over, sell second quality. To find good quality, I had to go to quilting stores or small fabric shops in far away small towns. The fabric now is fairly expensive. I did this to give something very cute and unique so didn’t worry about the cost.
If one could find quality fabric, and had above average sewing skills, it would be worth sewing to duplicate classic designer styles of clothes, but otherwise, fast fashion has definitely made buying them ready made the cheaper option.
Also, if one was creative, and skilled at sewing, one could find fabric or clothes at thrift shops, and recreate them into something different. But lately, people are making a business of going into scooping anything serviceable and reselling it on line for considerably so often what remains is hit or miss.