What does it mean to Sew Manly?
A little background first, Halloween has always been one of my favorite times of the year and my family always put lot of effort into our costumes. We had the parade trophies to prove it.
In high school I made a complete ninja uniform as the first costume I created completely on my own. I traced my Taekwondo gi to make the basic pattern and rendered it in some black fabric my mother had left over. I made a hood, sash and leg wraps based on some pictures from a Martial Arts magazine. I also carved a Sword from a scrap of wood quarter-round molding and hand stitched a leather scabbard and handle wrap. It may not have been historically accurate but it was fun. It was the first of many over the top costume projects that were definitely "Manly" in a geeky sort of way(monsters, superheroes and such). One of the best costume I made was a copy of "Sub Zero"(see above left) from the "Mortal Kombat" Film. I worked with 2 college friends who went as "Scorpion" and "Reptile." We started working on these 5 months before Halloween that year.
So, what does it mean to Sew Manly? For me, it means dealing with some stereotypes. First, there is the "really?
You, Know how to sew?" factor, My wife likes to point this out in many a conversation. It also comes up when we are shopping for fabrics, the clerks will look at my wife first and ask her if she needs help and she says "don't look at me, he's the one that sews." and they reply dully with "Oh, O.K."
Obviously, most fabric stores and the industry on the whole, are
geared toward women so there is a lot of pink and flowery items in these stores. To counter this, I carry my sewing supplies in a black tool box and instead the traditional Tomato pin-cushion, I made one that looks like a skull and I am going to make one that looks like Pin-Head from Hellraiser. I currently have an overwhelming desire to paint a flame job on my sewing machine (I'll post photos if I do). Also, I like to watch action movies while I work on projects. This is especially juxtaposed if I'm working on a frilly fairy dress up costume for my daughter!
Sewing Machines are power tools!
