Layla Totah is Beirut’s own seamstress with a social conscience. A former English teacher in London, she holds regular sewing classes in her apartment. Her students learn everything from making a simple tote bag or sundress to a tailored coat, while enjoying Layla’s homemade breads and cakes. “When I was talking to my husband about doing it, I said in London this would totally work. But here, will enough people come? I didn’t think they would,” she says. “Beirut is such a consumerist society.”
Dress to impress
There’s no sartorial buzz more satisfying than being able to answer, “Thanks, I made it myself” when someone compliments your clothes. If fashion is a way of showing your personality, sewing your own clothing is a sure-fire way of raising the sartorial stakes at milestone events. “Two of my students even made their own wedding dresses,” she enthuses.
Not just for girls
There’s something sexy about a man who can handle a sewing machine. While a shirt or blazer can be a bit tricky for the first-time tailor, “refashioning” is a great way to get started. There’s a plethora of blogs and other sites that show you how to update that guilty pile of unworn, ill-fitting clothes lurking in the wardrobe.
Look like you’re on TV
Yes, you can make a gravity-defying shift dress to sashay down the corridor à la Joan in Mad Men – all you need is the right pattern. Layla rates picking up vintage patterns second-hand, to find the style you want to emulate and recommends searching sites like eBay for them, which is how she got started in the first place.
Change the world
The sewing revolution isn’t just a catchy headline. It’s a serious economic and environmental commitment to reclaim consumer autonomy. “I’ve always wanted to be more self-sufficient in everything I do. It’s not just about sewing. I grow my own vegetables and I always prefer to buy handmade,” says Layla, who made a pact with her husband to stop buying clothes two years ago. Her classes have become a haven for Beirut’s self-sufficient. “One guy didn’t even want to use an iron because he didn’t want to add to his carbon footprint.”
Get stitching
“There’s a massive sewing community out there, and you get involved really quickly. There are people you aspire to be – sewing idols. It’s about thriftiness, lessening your impact on the environment, as well as wanting to make your own clothes,” explains Layla, whose own blog is called The Old Fashioned Way. “It’s totally competitive!” With likeminded people just a click away, after an afternoon on sites such as www.threadbanger.com and refashionco-op.blogspot.com, you’ll be a bobbin Bolshevik in no time.
