Yes, Sew It Yourself.
Published September 20, 2023 · 9:19 · 110,300 views
About This Video
A sewing tutorial from someone who doesn't know how to sew and sews things all the time. Strong thread, big-eye needle, knot bigger than the hole, tie off before the thread gets too short. Van sews grosgrain lanyards onto keys and cameras: a bonding ritual he credits with not losing keys in 20 years. Padlocked Lefty scissors, still sharp after 13 years because no one can use them to cut paper. I love that detail.
Sewing is the second-least sophisticated level of repair. Above taping but below gluing. It's the best entry point for people who want to start working with their hands. If a project requires a sewing machine, Van has someone else do it. Ok. Fine.
Transcript
two subscribers to the patreon separately suggested I make a video about sewing and it never occurred to me that people don't know how to sew because I don't know how to sew and I sew things all the time this is what I do know about sewing use strong thread don't use 100 cotton thread use a strong needle with a pretty big eye make sure you tie a knot that's bigger than the hole that the needle will bore into the fabric so the knot is thicker than the needle tie off your stitches before the thread gets too short to tie a decent knot and that's all I was ever taught about sewing the rest one can figure out pretty much on one's own I sew these lanyards on my keys and cameras this incredibly strong type of ribbon is called grosgrain comes in all sorts of patterns but I love the Old Glory type because I'm American and I love it here I cut the grosgrain then cauterize it with a lighter so the threads don't Fray and I cut the ends into little arrows so the scars don't stick out from the Hem I put a padlock on these Lefty scissors 13 years ago and that's why they're still sharp enough to cut fabric if you use fabric scissors to cut paper eventually when you need them most they will fail to cut the fabric without fraying it up into a bird's nest padlock deters those who don't care about such important matters as the sharpness of fabric scissors before I do an integration I vet the company and I vetted skillshare by joining skillshare and checking out their creative writing classes above all compelling videos are well written I saw that skillshare had creative essay writing classes all of my videos are essays I call them industrial essays I watched a couple of Ashley C Ford's lessons she immediately recommends things to read I love it when writers do that and I scroll down for more writers and found Susan Orlean began watching and was like okay I'm doing the skillshare integration and here we are Susan Orlean wrote The American man at age 10 I read it in college and I've been trying to write in that vein ever since for 27 years or whatever it is it's a landmark story for me I only take advice from people who have done the thing and skillshare is full of lessons and videos from folks who have done the thing skillshare offers the macro skills and the micro skills to do your creative work sure making videos is writing shooting editing but it's also freelance and Entrepreneurship productivity marketing and personal development creative people will be creative no matter what so we need guard rails and when we have guard rails for our creativity we can steer it in optimal directions I wish uh skillshare had existed when I was 20 you're lucky if you're trying to do creative stuff if you're trying to get better or go pro I say join skillshare learn as much as you can click the link in the description of this video and the first thousand of you who do who join skillshare get one month for free thank you skillshare for supporting the channel how long does it take to sew these lanyards let's see I want this one tailored to my right hand this knot was temporary about two years temporary until I had the opportunity to commit to its fit for strength and neatness I fold the arrows under what will be the seam like when you clasp your hands together like this and then safety pin it thick needle big eye strong thread I don't know exactly what this thread is called but I think it's used to sew heavy leather like baseball gloves and it's coated in wax it's totally overkill for this application but I tend to over build when I sew I bury the first knot under the seam I think this Stitch is called a running Stitch like the stitches on the Hem of your blue jeans which are sewn by a sewing machine when we sew by hand we have to sew a length of stitches across the ribbon then go back and retrace our stitches in the opposite direction people have suggested to me for decades that I should get a sewing machine but my philosophy is if it requires a sewing machine I have someone else do it and I don't tailor my clothes I have professionals do that and professionals use sewing machines machines are cumbersome and the thread route is really confusing the good machines are the old ones and the old ones are not Idiot proof the slow work of this lanyard sewing ritual I'm convinced prevents me from losing keys and cameras this sewing ritual bonds the keys and cameras into my subconscious I think I have thank God only lost one camera and I haven't lost Keys thank God in maybe 20 years or more and I think this ritual has something to do with that sewing by hand is slow but somehow it seems slower I used to save sewing projects for long airplane rides sewing is the second least sophisticated level of repair and the first technically significant level of repair sewing is above taping but below gluing believe it or not I was wearing these 501s when I looped my motorcycle attempting a balance point wheelie landed on my ass tore a hole in the pocket I hand drew the Levi's stitches with a gold paint pen I plug the hole with an iron-on patch but iron-on patches must be sewn for permanence the iron-on glue holds them in place while you sew I got these jeans in Onomichi Japan and they're the famous Japanese denim they're not Levi's brand but I hand sewed the Levi's stitches on the pockets for fun these might be the most repaired article of clothing that I own patches on patches so much labor I can't bring myself to throw them away people who are not handy but wish they were handy sometimes ask me how to get started and I think sewing is a good entry point for working with your hands hand sewing oh