Elevate Your Fashion Game By Picking Up A Needle And Thread

This back-to-school season, elevating your fashion game is as easy as picking up a needle and thread.

- Lesley Chen

I can remember it like it was yesterday: It was Christmas during my senior year of high school and, in a few short months, I would be off to college. As I watched my family tear through the slew of presents under the tree, my mom pushed a large, cumbersome box my way.

“This should get you all set to go to school,” she said. As I struggled to unwrap what felt like some sort of industrial appliance (“Please don’t let this be a microwave,” I thought), my confusion turned into pure joy. “It’s a sewing machine!” my mom exclaimed. I had never felt more seen.

Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve loved experimenting with clothes. I pored over any fashion magazine I could get my hands on and studied designer collections like I was cramming for the SATs.

But when it came to the clothes I actually wore, there was nothing I cherished more than pieces I made myself. Don’t get me wrong—I was by no means an accomplished seamstress. But I knew how to take whatever fabric I could find and turn it into something totally original.

From little totes to tank tops and makeup bags, sewing was my go-to hobby of choice. I’d spend hours in my basement trying to figure out how to piece together a runway-inspired skirt or fiddling with the lining on my next clutch.

Back then, it felt like I was the only one in my crew tackling topstitching. But now it feels like I can’t flip on the TV, scroll through Insta or stroll through the mall without hearing someone mention their not-so-secret passion for sewing. Is it just me, or is sewing having a moment RN?

THE NEW CREATIVES