DIY Fashion
Cheaper than retail?
The conventional wisdom is that it’s easier, faster, and definitely more fashionable to buy clothing than to make them. Making clothes is a lonely, expensive activity, that takes lots of time and requires a specific, hard-won skill set. If you want to make clothing because you’re crafty, sure, go for it, but understand you’re always going to be wearing weird, ugly clothing that isn’t as good as what you can get in the shops.
I think those statements need some examination.
Let’s start with the assumption that it is easier to buy clothing than to make it. That depends, a lot, on what size you are. I’m a tall, large woman. I’ve had trouble finding pants and skirts the right length since I stopped growing when I was thirteen. The same goes for finding long-sleeves which actually reach my wrists. Note also that the number of sizes carried by shops has been decreasing steadily since the 1940s. In my sewing and knitting patterns, I’ve gone down two sizes since I lost some weight last year. In retail clothing, I still take the same t-shirt size, despite having also gone down more than two bra sizes.
As for buying being faster than making, hand-made clothing wins if you compare prices by costs per wear (CPW). A fast fashion item can cost as low as $5 Canadian, but averages around $30, and typically only lasts for one season. That can be as much as $2.00 per wear ($30 cost divided by 15 wears). Making the same item from your choice of fabric will cost more like $40-$120, depending on what the item is and what you make it from, but will last for over five years (150 wears). That’s a CPW of $0.27-$0.80, and you’re very likely to be able to re-use at least some of the fabric for something else by the time it’s worn out, leading to additional savings.
I’m currently wearing a pair of pants I made when I first got back into sewing, three years ago. When my size changed so much I couldn’t wear them anymore, I took apart the waist and outside seams, sliced off 3cm from the side seams and 6cm from the waist seam, then re-sewed them. I was able to do that successfully with three different pairs of pants. The amount of time it took is hard to account for entirely, because I ripped the seams while watching TV, and usually listen to music or podcasts while sewing, but it’s about what it would have taken me to find three pairs of pants I liked on-line or at a mall. So my size changed by two sizes, but the CPW for different-sized pants was far less than if I had bought new ones. But wait: what about the pattern costs? Patterns can get pricey, but that’s partly because it’s expected you’ll make them more than once. Even so, there are plenty of free patterns available on-line, plus if you live in a place with a decent public library, you borrow pattern books.
That leads to another barrier to switching to making at least some of your own clothing: sewing skills. This has become a real gap, but it’s not as big as people may think. Yes, you need some practice to get comfortable with sewing, but you can make useful, wearable items as your first projects as well.
What if you need to learn how to sew? There are a few options:
YouTube: This was my main resource when I picked up sewing again a few years ago. YouTube is perfect for someone who has some previous training and wants to get back into sewing. It’s also great for complete beginners, but a complete beginner may also prefer in-person instruction.
Classes: these may be expensive, and may require your own sewing machine, but not necessarily. Check around. Don’t forget to check resources like public libraries, school extension/interest classes, and maker centres. There are some maker centres which specialize in providing access to sewing machines and other related equipment, like tables designed especially for cutting out fabric.
Ask around. You never know if you know someone who knows someone, who can either teach you, or lend you a machine while you decide if you want to get into it, or both. A lot of advertising and mass media hand-wrings over the death of DIY, yet the internet has made it easier to find people into DIY than ever.
That last part leads into the cost of getting into making.
Shopping is often promoted as a fun, social experience, while making your own clothes is portrayed as something one does alone. As with many activities today, you are only as lonely as you want to be. There are plenty of makers’ get-togethers, both in-person and online, for people who prefer to make things with other people making similar things. Joining such a group, formally or informally, can be a great way to get help, learn new things, be inspired, and just enjoy being social.
People ask how long my clothes take to make and claim I would be better off getting fast-fashion items, which often have missing seams and loose buttons. Home-made items are held to higher standards than factory-made, yet expected to work at factory speed. The truth is, clothes-making is best done without deadlines, like knitting while waiting for a dental appointment.
Like a lot of other making that takes place outside of paid work, making clothing can, and I would argue should, be done with an attitude that makes it fun and interesting, as opposed to yet another chore. If it’s a chore, if it’s just one more thing for you to get done... don’t do it. Buy your clothes instead. You won’t get the value of your money or your time out of something you hate.
Do you make or buy your clothes? Tell me your reasoning in the comments below.
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