Sewing Re-popularity Amongst Gen Z

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According to media reports, Gen Z is sewing. Most reports claim the uptick in sewing interest is due to a rebellion against screen time coupled with interest in protecting the environment. But, one cannot help but to wonder if there is more to this story.

AI takeover

Gen Z is facing a jobs landscape unlike anything in human history. At the present moment, many jobs are being replaced by AI. This has caused Gen Z to get creative. Instead of seeking white collar jobs, many Gen Z are looking towards doing more manual work. While there aren’t a ton of sewing related jobs available, the craft gives many the opportunity to make items for online sales, craft fairs, and more.

Data Centers

At the time of writing this article, many data centers are emerging. These data center are increasing energy costs and taxing an ever aging power grid. The increase in energy costs means citizens have less money to spend on necessities of life. Since many are unable to spend money on clothing and other textiles, they are turning to upcycling. In other words, they are repurposing what they already have to create what they need. In addition, many are thrifting and giving used items a second life. It helps the planet. But, it also helps curb increases in the cost of living.

Strait of Hormuz

In 2026, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to the US and its allies. This increased the cost of fuel. Since all goods must travel from point A to B, there was a steep increase in the cost of goods attributed to increases in fuel costs. This is yet one more economic blow that could have contributed to an increase in sewing amongst Gen Z. When you sew, you can re-purpose and re-use a lot of things that otherwise would have been repurchased at a price so many today cannot afford.

Tariffs

In 2025, tariffs were proposed on all imported goods. These tariffs were supposed to be charged to any company who wished to import items into the USA. Here were the promises of the tariffs:

$2000 payments to citizens funded by tariff collections
Reduced and even eliminated income taxes
Jobs returned to USA since tariff payments would attract jobs back to USA soil

Instead, things turned out differently. The overwhelming majority of businesses didn’t return jobs to the USA. Instead, they paid the tariff fee and tacked additional costs onto consumer goods in order to offset the costs. In addition, no bill was ever passed to give consumers a tariff refund check. Instead, the supreme court ruled the president couldn’t use the International Economic Powers Act to levy tariffs. Afterwards, $166 billion in refunds were given to companies who paid tariffs imposed via act. Unfortunately, consumers never received any refund for the additional costs they paid.

Once the International Economic Powers Act could no-longer be used to levy tariffs, they were imposed via other means. As of the time of writing this article, there has been no national debt reduction, no reduction in income taxes, and no tariff payments to citizens. It is estimated each household paid an additional $1000 in tariffs prior to the supreme court ruling and an additional $860 once new tariffs were imposed.

More…

The US dollar is currently being devalued by two emerging issues:

Japans shifting role as a creditor
De-dollarization trends associated with the BRICS alliance.

This means one needs more US dollars to buy the same thing they could have bought much cheaper in years past.

All of the above mentioned problems…

…have contributed to Gen Z having less disposable income to spend. Therefore, there is a great possibility Gen Z is sewing because they need to recycle items in order to get what they need – not just because they love the environment.

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