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In the British Army every subunit is entitled to train someone in sewing and using sewing machines so that they can repair the subunit’s clothes and webbing equ

In the British Army every subunit is entitled to train someone in sewing and using sewing machines so that they can repair the subunit’s clothes and webbing equipment, including in the field. It’s a very creative course and people come back able to build you all kinds of rigs and pouches and things like this from webbing and Cordura that are extremely robust. The soldiers are all super keen to get on the course and to learn to sew.

musingsole 4y ago
Sewing was a skill I picked up in a Home Economics course I filled an empty middle school schedule slot with. Next to programming, it's probably one of the most helpful things I learned in school.
- nonrandomstring 4y ago
  Edit: I just remembered something more HN relevant. At one of the London hackspaces there was a machine, maybe a Roland IIRC, that you could program to do really intricate embroidery. TBH it looked like a real hassle to set the thing up with different bobbins of thread and whatnot. "Home Economics", was a thing at my school too, then we did sewing again in scouts and cadets, as the GP says make-and-mend is considered an essential survival skill. Thing is, I'm rubbish at it and usually stab my finger with a needle, but to this day I still pack a mini sew-kit wherever I travel.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    >I'm rubbish at it and usually stab my finger with a needle, but to this day I still pack a mini sew-kit wherever I travel Even if I'm rubbish at it and take forever to thread a needle, I've still made field repairs to gear while traveling that were a lot better than having no repair at all.
    - dividedbyzero 4y ago
      If you add a length of thin wire from a crafts store, the kind that feels like a stiff thread, and a slightly bigger needle, you can even temporarily reattach backpack straps and securely mend rips in suitcase fabric for the flight home.
- nicbou 4y ago
  It was unfortunately way too early for us. We were 11. I forgot everything long before the necessity of it became obvious.
- dylan604 4y ago
  I filled that hole in my schedule with a typing class. My mom taught me the stuff kids were learning in HomeEc classes.
  - earleybird 4y ago
    Thanks for the reminder. I remember my mum saying "if you're going to program you better learn to type" - that was when I was going into gr 10. I didn't always follow her advice but I did take the typing class.
    - lotsofpulp 4y ago
      I learned how to type by playing online multiplayer games in before teamspeak or whatever they use now became a thing. Although it was still quicker to type to communicate even after teamspeak.
      - dylan604 4y ago
        Mavis Beacon FTW!!! They typing class I took was a proper typing class though, so much more learning than just where the keys are located. Old Skool stuff too like double spaces at the end of sentence puntucation. How to set up tabs. How to format letters. Just to completely date myself, I was taught PASCAL!
      - DiggyJohnson 4y ago
        Selling rune long 32k - k man 20
gonzo41 4y ago
I still have my sew awl I bought for fixing gear out field. It's a very useful skill.
b112 4y ago
Canadian here. My grandmother was a girl during WWI, just married before WWII (with my grandfather going to fight in 39), and of course she saw Korea, Vietnam, the cold war, etc. When I was young, maybe 4, I remeber her teaching me to sew. It is one of my earliest memories of her, along with her saying "hay is for horses!", every time I said "hey grandma" to her. I recall asking her why, and she became very soleoum, and said that I had to learn how to fix my own socks, that no one would do it for me, in a trench, during a war. Can't say I blame her thinking, with it being the height of the cold war, the Cuban missile crisis just over, and her whole life and mind filled with the knowledge war. Yes, soldiers need to know how to sew.
- jamiek88 4y ago
  I started thinking of my friends in Ukraine and their grandmothers worrying about their socks and got all teary. Thank you for this lovely snippet.
implements 4y ago
The US Army had dedicated Military Occupational Speciality “43M - fabric repair specialist” for sewing (renovation) until 2001. It was then merged with another to become “92S - Shower, Laundry & Clothing Repair Specialist”. In 2015, the sewing component was removed to allow extra training on operating bulk laundry machines, apparently: https://www.army.mil/article/146104/clothing_repair_taught_for_final_time_at_quartermaster_school https://www.army.mil/article/146104/clothing_repair_taught_f...

musingsole 4y ago

Sewing was a skill I picked up in a Home Economics course I filled an empty middle school schedule slot with. Next to programming, it's probably one of the most helpful things I learned in school.

nonrandomstring 4y ago
Edit: I just remembered something more HN relevant. At one of the London hackspaces there was a machine, maybe a Roland IIRC, that you could program to do really intricate embroidery. TBH it looked like a real hassle to set the thing up with different bobbins of thread and whatnot. "Home Economics", was a thing at my school too, then we did sewing again in scouts and cadets, as the GP says make-and-mend is considered an essential survival skill. Thing is, I'm rubbish at it and usually stab my finger with a needle, but to this day I still pack a mini sew-kit wherever I travel.
- ghaff 4y ago
  >I'm rubbish at it and usually stab my finger with a needle, but to this day I still pack a mini sew-kit wherever I travel Even if I'm rubbish at it and take forever to thread a needle, I've still made field repairs to gear while traveling that were a lot better than having no repair at all.
  - dividedbyzero 4y ago
    If you add a length of thin wire from a crafts store, the kind that feels like a stiff thread, and a slightly bigger needle, you can even temporarily reattach backpack straps and securely mend rips in suitcase fabric for the flight home.
nicbou 4y ago
It was unfortunately way too early for us. We were 11. I forgot everything long before the necessity of it became obvious.
dylan604 4y ago
I filled that hole in my schedule with a typing class. My mom taught me the stuff kids were learning in HomeEc classes.
- earleybird 4y ago
  Thanks for the reminder. I remember my mum saying "if you're going to program you better learn to type" - that was when I was going into gr 10. I didn't always follow her advice but I did take the typing class.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    I learned how to type by playing online multiplayer games in before teamspeak or whatever they use now became a thing. Although it was still quicker to type to communicate even after teamspeak.
    - dylan604 4y ago
      Mavis Beacon FTW!!! They typing class I took was a proper typing class though, so much more learning than just where the keys are located. Old Skool stuff too like double spaces at the end of sentence puntucation. How to set up tabs. How to format letters. Just to completely date myself, I was taught PASCAL!
    - DiggyJohnson 4y ago
      Selling rune long 32k - k man 20

gonzo41 4y ago

I still have my sew awl I bought for fixing gear out field. It's a very useful skill.

b112 4y ago

Canadian here. My grandmother was a girl during WWI, just married before WWII (with my grandfather going to fight in 39), and of course she saw Korea, Vietnam, the cold war, etc. When I was young, maybe 4, I remeber her teaching me to sew. It is one of my earliest memories of her, along with her saying "hay is for horses!", every time I said "hey grandma" to her. I recall asking her why, and she became very soleoum, and said that I had to learn how to fix my own socks, that no one would do it for me, in a trench, during a war. Can't say I blame her thinking, with it being the height of the cold war, the Cuban missile crisis just over, and her whole life and mind filled with the knowledge war. Yes, soldiers need to know how to sew.

jamiek88 4y ago
I started thinking of my friends in Ukraine and their grandmothers worrying about their socks and got all teary. Thank you for this lovely snippet.

implements 4y ago

The US Army had dedicated Military Occupational Speciality “43M - fabric repair specialist” for sewing (renovation) until 2001. It was then merged with another to become “92S - Shower, Laundry & Clothing Repair Specialist”. In 2015, the sewing component was removed to allow extra training on operating bulk laundry machines, apparently: https://www.army.mil/article/146104/clothing_repair_taught_for_final_time_at_quartermaster_school https://www.army.mil/article/146104/clothing_repair_taught_f...