"Sew You Own" and Why Do You Sew Your Own?

Having read a number of reviews on John-Paul Flintoff's "Sew Your Own" in the blogosphere I recently picked up a copy of his book in my local library. I was a little disappointed by the book. It reads more like a haphazard collection of short articles and jumps sweepingly between politics, religion and craft. His writing has a patronizing air and gives a feeling of inauthenticity. Some of the topics are, however, interesting and I picked up a good few ideas for further reading material.

Flintoff is also a man of my own heart in his undying desire for self-subsistence. He doesn't only want to make his own clothes, but also spin his own yarn, weave his own cloth, make his own shoes, build his own shelves, instead of hiring these things out to overseas factories, where nobody really fully knows how many badly-paid, overworked hands went into putting all the stitches into your jeans. By making those very jeans yourself we are going back to what every country and every household once did: make things they need.

In today's world it is highly inefficient to make the things you need. In fact, we don't make anything anymore and few even know how to. It is often argued that the new "make your own" trend that has gone mainstream with shows like "The Great British Bake Off" or "The Great British Sewing Bee" are a result of economic downturn.

People have to make their own because they simply can't afford spending money on these commodities anymore. But I don't think that's true. In fact "making your own" can sometimes be more expensive. You cannot possibly make your own jeans, or even a much simpler garment, if you don't own a sewing machine, have all the tools that go into sewing even the most basic garment and buying all the materials. This can never beat a five-pound skirt from Primark.

Still, more and more people are interested in making their own. Why? Now I don't want to go all out Marxian on you, but the term "alienation" comes to mind. What is life and what is work, if we don't make? Many of us have jobs, in which our tasks are extremely specialized, often in an administrative capacity. We don't make anything in work and are rarely involved in all of the steps that lead up to a saleable product or service that the company we work for offers. We are somewhat detached and this detachment continues into the products we buy. Where does this bread come from? Where was this sausage made - does it contain horse meat? :) Where was this t-shirt made? I don't know about you, but not knowing these things makes me feel powerless and - here is the word again - alienated.

When making my own things I regain this power. I'm no longer a cog in a wheel but the wheel itself. I'm involved in the whole process from start to finish and my tasks are as varied as can be. As John-Paul Flintoff puts it:

"By making my own clothes, among other things, I make my own life more varied. I recently drew up a list of all the jobs I have done, either 'for real' or as research towards an article, or just for fun. I presently reads like this: artist, baker, book-keeper, career coach, carpenter, cleaner, courier, decorator, dog walker, English-language teacher, film-maker, gardener, map-maker, minicab driver, poet, police-checked child minder, potter, second-hand bookseller, secretarial assistant, waiter, window-cleaner." (155-156)

It may be more economical and certainly more in line with industrial capitalism to outsource these tasks to someone who can do them for less and better, but is it more fun? Is it more meaningful?

John-Paul Flintoff may sound patronizing and inauthentic at times, but he lives in a world that often feels just like that, so in this sense, I really must give him the benefit of the doubt. He is trying to make sense of it all. The attempt feels clumsy at times, but it is an attempt nonetheless. He deserves to be commended for it.

What makes you want to make? What are your reasons for sewing your own? I'd really be interested in hearing your view on the "make your own" trend? Leave me a comment!

Or, hey, even better: now that I have recently joined twitter and am trying to make good use of this new medium of conversation, why don't we start a twitter conversation: join it at #whysewyourown. I'm excited.