For some at Point Loma Nazarene University, the craft of sewing is a form of decompressing; for others, it can distract them from their daily tasks. Yet, the art form seems to sneak into the lives of many.
Isabelle Dorantes, a first-year biology major, was introduced to sewing at 7 years old by a family friend. Her first project was a skirt, and somewhere between going to the fabric store, cutting the pattern layout and stitching, she fell in love with the craft.
As a lifelong ballet dancer, the skill was useful because she had to sew her pointe shoes. However, the tool that once aided her creative outlet of dance eventually became a creative outlet itself.
“Sometimes, when everything with science has been too black and white and I need to be creative, sewing is my outlet,” Dorantes said.
As a biology major on track to become a physician assistant, Dorantes is often immersed in the analytical world of science. She said that when she was younger, she wanted everything to have a concrete, scientific answer, but as she has gotten older, that has changed.
“When I was little, I wanted everything to be black and white, but as I’m growing up, I have realized that sometimes it’s not, and that’s OK,” Dorantes said. “You need to be able to accept that, lean into it and find rest there in the unknown.”
Dorantes finds rest through the creative freedom sewing brings to her life, and uses it as an escape from schoolwork.
Lana Kim, a second-year biology-chemistry major, has a different relationship with sewing. Kim loves to make her own clothes. She is often seen walking into the lab or class wearing the fruits of her labor: the tank tops and shirts she has made herself. Though she loves sewing, she doesn’t do it at school because she said it would consume her life.
“Sewing is the type of passion that, once I start, I will not rest until I’m done,” Kim said. “I love structure and early bedtimes, but when I have a project I’m really intent on, time will fly. I’ll look up and it’s midnight.”
During the COVID-19 quarantine, Kim picked up sewing. Once she experienced what it was like to be able to make something that was both functional and boosted her confidence, she realized her passion.
She started with conventional patterns but now gets inspiration and guidelines from people online, adding her own creative spins to truly make them her own. While she would like to try something elaborate someday, she mostly sticks to everyday clothes.
Lael Corbin, an art professor at PLNU, has been around the craft of sewing since elementary school. He is currently using the craft to create wearable objects for a short film. As he has worked on this project, his sewing skills have become an important part of his creative expression, he said, and believes that they are a valuable part of others’ as well.
“Because we interact, through our clothing, with things that have been sewn on a daily basis, there is something kind of deeply ingrained,” Corbin said. “It feels like we’re tapping into an old tradition, even though we’re doing something that’s really new.”
The craft of sewing is time-consuming and hands-on. Corbin said that the tactile part of the craft might be part of its power in today’s society.
“It’s this wonderful creative outlet, but it is also a physical outlet,” Corbin said. “We spend so much time scrolling and passively doing things these days that I think when you encounter something that’s three-dimensional, it’s physical, it’s in the same space that you are — you can’t help but respond to it.”
Adee Tulcan 
Olivia Roberts