LAST SEMESTER, I worked as an English tutor while I was an exchange student in Japan. In Japan, you will inevitably be asked what your hobby is. The head English teacher asked everyone this question:

“What’s your hobby?�

“I like sewing and cooking,� I said.

“You will make a great wife,� he said.

Ouch. This all takes place in front of the high school students I was supposed to be teaching. The girls asked me questions.
“Can you make clothes?�

“Do you like to bake cakes?�

Never mind the wife part, it was interesting to them that I knew how to sew and cook at all. I guess America isn̢۪t the only place where domestic skills are dwindling.

Making clothes is my favorite part of sewing. It̢۪s a wonderful feeling to be able to create something exactly as you would want it, even if it does take weeks to finish.

My mother has been sewing since she was a child, and I learned from her. I̢۪m not sure where I learned cooking from, though.
Maybe because I grew up in a single-parent home, I had to cook, because I was the only one there to do it.

Now, with the convenience of drive-thrus and $10 shirts from Wal-Mart, perhaps these once common skills are being lost. I̢۪ve known many people who couldn̢۪t sew a button back on their shirt to save their life.

Maybe some students associate sewing with their grandmothers, and don̢۪t want to feel like an old ladies.

Once upon a time, home economics was required for students. Students learned valuable skills in those classes, from button-sewing to pants-hemming, and how to cook for themselves.

According to the Home Sewing Association, 39 percent of people say they sew because it gives them a sense of accomplishment.
The HSA survey also said that 31 percent sew because it saves money. Sewing was a creative outlet for 27 percent of survey respondents. For 15 percent, sewing helped them to express their individual fashion style.

“But it’s easier to just buy new clothes,� some students say.

It may be easier, but with just a little effort, I save a lot of money by fixing my clothes, instead of replacing them every time they need a small repair. what if it was your favorite shirt? You can̢۪t just get a new one, so fixing it makes sense.

It̢۪s also so much cheaper to cook for yourself than to go out and eat, or get take-out.

“I’m too tired to cook, I’m going out.�

That̢۪s me, at least once a week. If I̢۪ve been in class all day, I̢۪m not going to go home and cook. But on weekends, or a holiday like Thanksgiving, I̢۪m always cooking.

And the food I make at home always tastes better than the 4-pound pumpkin pie from Costco.

Now that you̢۪ve run out of excuses, take a sewing or cooking class. You may just find yourself enjoying your new hobby, and impressing your family and friends with things you made just for them.