Sewing: An Important Skill in a Depressed Economy

Modern manufacturing has made clothing inexpensive to purchase. Most of the clothing that is sold in America is made in countries around the world, where cheap labor is currently readily available. In many cases, it is more expensive to make your own clothing than to buy it, and t-shirts are often given away for free as promotional items. As a result, many people do not know how to sew. If the world sinks deeper into recession and the US dollar drastically loses its value, clothing would probably get more expensive; in an extreme scenario, it may even become unaffordable. Learning how to sew could become a valuable skill. These sewing skills would be valuable in the case of an economic depression.

Repairing Torn Seams

One of the most important sewing skills to have is knowing how to repair a torn seam. If the economy keeps you from buying clothes for a while, the seams might wear out. Even today, you might buy clothes that were poorly made and have seams that quickly unravel. Sewing a torn seam is fairly easy, and requires only the most basic sewing skills. You don't have to have a sewing machine to do it, although one might make the job faster. If you don't have a friend that can teach you basic sewing skills, there are free instructional videos available on YouTube.

Sewing on Buttons

If you have an outfit for a while, you end up losing one of the buttons. Sewing on buttons is an important sewing skill to have. This is another skill that can either be done by hand or by machine, although if I'm only sewing on one button, I find it faster to sew on a button by hand. This is another skill that you can learn by watching YouTube videos, although if you already know how to sew a torn seam, you can probably figure out how to sew a button.

Transforming Clothing

During the Great Depression, people (mostly ladies at that time) would transform one piece of clothing into another. For example, old curtains and dresses would be transformed into clothing for children. My grandmother recalls how they would sell potatoes in printed bags; people would use the bags to make clothing for their children. Some people would buy clothing at a store, take it apart, copy the pattern used to make the outfit, sew the clothes back up, and then return it to the store (I don't recommend this today). Although the ability to transform clothing is a lot more difficult than sewing on buttons or repairing seams, if you can learn this skill and we enter another Great Depression, you might find yourself one of the best dressed individuals on your block. You might even be able to barter your skills for items that are in short supply once money is hard to get.

Sources:

Shlaes, Amity. The Forgotten Man.

Weitz, Eric D. Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy.