A New Hero: Michael Swaine, Sewing for the People

I was considering whether to mend or throw away my daughter’s ballet tights when I remembered watching the Michael Swaine video (see it below). A couple of years ago, I would have tossed the ripped ballet tights and bought a new pair for my daughter, wanting to save her the embarrassment of having to wear darned tights to class. This year, I considered it momentarily, but the thought was gone a couple of minutes later when I already had needle and thread in hand, ready to mend. Ends up that my daughter was totally ok with it and even proud.  The notion of disposable product, whether it be clothing, furniture, cars or electronics is clearly no longer sustainable. And my 11 year old already knows that.

Which is why I think that Michael Swaine is a kind of hero for our times. While mending for the people (he appears in the Tenderloins neighborhood in San Francisco once a month to mend) might be an artistic as well as an altruistic expression for him, the fundamental message is “why are we throwing away still serviceable goods”. If my proud 11 year gets it, so can the rest of us. Let’s conserve what we have, treat it right, cherish it and fix it when it’s broken. So much more rewarding…