I am a retired Family and Consumer Sciences teacher. I taught classes in several of the FACS
components. My favorite courses were
textile and sewing, and housing and interior design.
There were occasions I had to do a great deal of wheeling
and dealing to keep my sewing classes alive in the school that I worked at,
especially the Advanced Sewing course that I taught.
This winter, two things happened that made me realize that the
decline in the quilting / fabric textile industry truly is related to the decline
of sewing / textile programs junior high schools and high schools across the
United States.
1 1)
Two teachers talked about their Sewing and
Textiles programs being shut down to make
room for different programs and
subject areas in their school.
2 2)
One of my favorite fabric companies, Free
Spirit, notified consumers that they were closing production of their fabric
lines. It was stated that the company
was going to focus on
products other than fabric. Very soon after, a private company purchased
Free Spirit fabrics. I was thrilled but
it made me think about the correlation of the two.
A bit of History
background, according to my memory :-) : Up
until the late 80’s people really did sew because it was cost effective. I sure
did. I remember digging through a pile
of fabric in Menomonie, WI to make my interview outfit for my first teaching
job. The cost, approximately, $9.00. We
can’t and don’t do that anymore.
Around the same era a change came to the name Home Economics
in the United States; to Family and Consumer Sciences. (The name was officially changed during the mid-90’s) With that, it was said that society changed
too. It was declared that students didn’t
need to learn and practice sewing and cooking which led to curriculum in
schools focusing on college preparation courses. The movement of “college for everyone” began. One of the original land grant schools, The
University of Minnesota, stopped teaching food preparation and sewing to their
FACS education majors.
Therefore, as less and less people used fabric, the prices rose due to
increased production costs and the lower fabric demand.
I am on a Facebook page for only Family and Consumer Sciences
(known as FACS or FCS) professionals. I
also follow Scott Fortunoff on Facebook, A family member of the Jaftex group
that purchased Free Spirit. (Thank
You!)
In the very same week, those two FACS
professionals were saddened because the programs that they built in sewing and
textiles were being shut down to add the different courses to the schools
curriculums. And, Scott Fortunoff
mentioned that sewers should continue to support local quilt shops and help keep
them in business. (Which I do, very
well. Ha-ha) But the thing is, I have seen three amazing quilt shops close in
the last 2 years, just in the Midwest. On
the Facebook page for the Kaffe Fassett Collective (Fabric designers) I would
guess 70 percent of the members are over 45.
This leads to the question, “What happens when the baby boomers are no
longer able to sew?”
I have always maintained that you cannot be a fashion
designer if someone does not know how to put it together. This was a pretty good argument to keep
programs alive during a time when fashion was a focus in the media via reality
shows. When I was teaching, we always
strayed away from a quilting course because it was labeled as crafty and didn’t
relate to fashion. Now, when I think
about how much math I do every day while I quilt, I just laugh at the former criticism.
So, what exactly is my point? My point is that industry needs to support
the Family and Consumer Sciences professionals.
Support them and their programs through word of mouth and financially if
you can. Be political, encourage states, counties and
school districts to continue to teach children to sew and create; it is art,
design and career oriented. If FACS
professionals and the textile industry help each other, we will help each other. (How is that for profound?)
And in the meantime, think about this. Do we have a societal problem with children
feeling depressed, insecure, lacking in manual dexterity, and trouble with
personal socialization? I believe the
answer is yes. So, if by chance, sewing
turned to a hobby instead of a career, would that be a problem? Life does not always have to be serious, it
can be fun too. If a student gets joy
out of sewing, cool! They are also
getting; manual dexterity through cutting, math through measuring and figuring,
and socializing through chatting with their neighbor while they sew and help
each other.
Keeping FACS alive will help keep the textile industry
alive, I promise.
With love from your retired FACS teacher,
Jane
