This is probably my first year being legit excited about National Sewing Month! I’m not sure what changed between this year and previous years but I’m completely committed to making this National Sewing Month my best yet. Maybe because of Covid and we don’t have much else to do/be excited about.
A Little History On National Sewing Month
On September 21, 1982, President Reagan declared that September was National Sewing Month at the request of the American Home Sewing & Craft Association. This is an industry and trade association that supports the craft and sewing industries. President Reagan declared September as National Sewing Month under Proclamation 4976 “In recognition of the importance of home sewing to our Nation.” How dope is that? But because we didn’t have the internet back then, we don’t really know how it was celebrated during these early years.
In 2004, the Home Sewing Association (formerly the American Home Sewing & Craft Association) commissioned a new logo. There were a couple more logo changes–including one this year as well! There’s a website that celebrates National Sewing Month as well! There’s more in-depth history on the website if you’re into that sort of thing.
2020 National Sewing Month Theme…
I’m super excited about this year’s theme. For those that don’t know, I run TheCrunchyMommy.com which is a site that serves as a practically green guide to millennial moms on the go. This year’s focus is leaving fast fashion behind while investing time and creativity into sewing your own clothes. This year’s theme is as a result of the wake-up call of the environmental and human impact of fast fashion.
Something great to do this month is jump into upcycling clothes or reusing some items that you already have so that you can reduce textile while creating something new. Grabbing some old sheets and turning them into new jammies or a dress or whatever is an idea. While I think that thrifting is a good idea, I’m not really partial to grabbing plus sized clothes to turn them into smaller things because there’s already a low amount of plus-sized clothing available to thrift.
So What Can You Expect From The Needle And The Belle?
I have some goals for myself this month outside of the theme. Since Covid hit, I’ve had one foot out of the community. It’s been hard for me focus on really connecting during this time because honestly, I feel like I’ve barely been keeping my head above water. So I’m using this time to reconnect to my love of sewing and pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone.
Here are my goals:
- Make daily blog posts here.
- Sew 2 new bras.
- Hit 10K on my Instagram.
- Create a sustainable plan for teaching.
Alright friends! That is all! I’m excited to hear from you too–what are your goals for this month?
