Molly says she’ll make the costumes for her group’s skit, because she loves sewing. But, then she arrives home and is informed her little brother, Tommy, has broken her sewing machine. Molly only knows how to sew on a machine, and hers is broken. What is she going to do? You could be in Molly’s position one day.

Women have been sewing on machines for about 170 years. Elias Howe invented the first sewing machine in 1846. Howe had a legal battle with Isaac Singer and Allen Wilson for the right of who invented the first sewing machine; Howe won.  The first sewing machine stitched 250 stitches a minute and was much faster than sewing by hand.  Even though sewing on a machine is faster, I think hand sewing is a skill people should have.
According to Monica Brinkley from University of Florida IFAS extension website, “The goal of teaching children, and adults for that matter, to sew is to gain self-confidence as they learn a new skill.” I agree that learning how to sew brings self-confidence to people. In fact, “85% of people have low self-esteem.” Connie Bennett’s interview with Dr. Joe Rubino states. This could be attributed to the fact that more and more people are clinging to technology, but forgetting about old practices, such as sewing. If a sewer finally learn how to sew a project they’ve been wanting to for a while and finish it, that brings them loads of confidence. Sewing is like playing an instrument. I play trumpet, and for a long time was horrible at playing high notes, but then I played a note higher than the note I was supposed to play and that brought me loads of confidence.  Now I can play high notes easily.

“Every evening I’d come home and practice…” Anthony Youn, from CNN, states. In other words sewing invests people in the habit of practicing for things. Some may argue that Youn is a doctor, but he wouldn’t be a doctor if he hadn’t practiced his stitches. Practicing pays off. When a sewer messes up in sewing, they do it over again until they get it right.

“Sewing teaches listening and following directions…” Brinkley adds. Sewing forces someone to: focus, do STEM(science, technology, engineering, and math), and much more.  Multiple studies— Huff Post, BBC News, TODAY.com—have found that women are better multitaskers than men. I’m guessing a portion of the reason why is attributed to generations of  sewing.

According to Adam Strassberg, of STANFORD MAGAZINE, “We, too, speak idly as we stitch, often joking and interjecting, always working in unison towards a common goal.” As you see even doctors multitask. They talk while they sew, and have a good time, too. Another factor about their multitasking is they probably don’t even have to think about their stitches and this is because they practice them. This is similar to when someone plays an instrument. Multitasking is great, and sewing helps you accomplish multitasking.

Brinkley also states, “In today’s world, sewing is no longer a necessity as it was in our mothers’ and grandmothers’ day… Now sewing can be expensive, so why should children be taught to sew?” I agree with Brinkley that sewing no longer seems like a necessity. But, I assure you it is, and will be in the future, too. Our clothes are sewn together, doctors sew us together when we’re hurt, and our blankets are sewn, among others. What happens if the important people are hiding for their own lives, fighting a war, or are too busy taking care of everyone else?We could all die, either it be from hypothermia or bleeding out. Sewing is important and could save our lives, because sewing plays in to just about everything. Sewing makes our furniture, pillows, seats, shoes, bags, books, and so much more possible.

Strassberg states, “ I sew and sew, as have the many matriarchs before me, except my quilt is not cotton, but a girl’s skin, and the stuffing is not fleece, but a girl’s flesh.” What’s at stake here is that Strassberg could mess up and accidentally end this girl’s life. He is a fourth year medical student, and will be a doctor one day. If doctors messed up their stitches, we could all be dead. But, doctors practice their stitches and do a great job stitching us up. Surgeons influence all lives. Learning how to sew is more of a necessity than you may think. As I said before, what happens if surgeons can no longer work in hospitals or help us?

Another variable that could directly affect our futures is, “Humans and pigs share from 80 to 90% of their nucleotide sequences identically, a genetic resemblance that is much more than skin deep…” Strassberg casually states. If we share this much resemblance with pigs and they are already putting pig veins in as artificial valves for the human heart, this will deeply affect our future. Think of how many lives will be saved by artificial pig organs. Pigs may not be able to fly, but they can save a person who is in need of an organ, and that’s amazing. It’s also helpful. Sewing is helpful now; if a doctor were to mess up when putting an organ into someone, that person could potentially die. Again, sewing will be helpful in the future if we end up in an all out kind of war and a person needs to sew a pig organ in someone to a friend’s life.

Molly is going to learn how to hand sew from a friend and sew the costumes with her, but the task would have been easier if she already knew how to sew by hand. Hand sewing and sewing in general is important. The next time your in Walmart, or your local store, pick up a needle and thread.