No, It's Not Weird That George Clooney Sews

Like all of us, George Clooney has spent the last year or so stuck at home due to the pandemic, and in a recent interview, the actor revealed that when he’s not spending quality time with his wife Amal and three-year-old twins Ella and Alexander, he’s been handling a lot of household chores — including sewing his family’s clothes.

“I do a lot of sewing the kids’ clothes … and my wife’s dress that tore a couple of times,” he said. “I was a bachelor for a long time and didn’t have any money, and you have to learn how to repair things.”

And as a new piece by The Guardian points out, Clooney is not alone. The publication chronicles the rise of what it has dubbed “Sew Bros” — men who have taken an interest in sewing or other needlecraft (including embroidery and cross-stitch) as a hobby — many of them significantly younger than Clooney.

“What’s particularly interesting is the rise in younger male crafters we’ve seen in our community,” Edward Griffith, the CEO of craft community LoveCrafts, told The Guardian. “The majority of our male community is aged 25 to 34, compared with our female audience which is mainly 35- to 44-year-olds.” Griffith noted that about a third of the men in his community took up needlecraft during the pandemic as a new hobby. But male interest in what has typically been considered a female pursuit has been growing for years.

“I’ve been contacted by many men through Instagram who have taken up sewing in recent years,” Peter Cant, a contestant on The Great British Sewing Bee said. “[They’ve been] inspired by the growing need to mend and reuse clothing as well as to make unique garments.”

Of course, for many years, sewing was stereotyped as a feminine hobby — something that is ludicrous for a number of reasons. For one, there’s a long history of men working as tailors, especially as high-end ones working to craft bespoke suits for clients in places like London’s legendary Savile Row. Why is needlework seen as “acceptable” for men when it’s part of a professional endeavor but not when it’s done at home by a guy who simply gets a kick out of sewing? Knowing how to repair a lost button isn’t “feminine”; it’s just a good life skill to have, regardless of gender. More power to you, Sew Bros.