“I quite like being the guy that challenges the ideas around what men or should or shouldn’t be.”
Four years ago, Jordaan Tuitama (Waikato Tainui, Samoa) got into sewing.
Now as a 38-year-old man he’s breaking stereotypes of what sewing is and who it’s for.
“I’m 6’5, I’m like 150kg,” he says.
“I should be playing footy on the weekends but instead I’m in the op shops and visiting the haberdashery to re-up on my needles and cotton.”
Watch Jordaan teach men to sew in this episode of Allgoods, a new series on TVNZ+
He had always been interested in fashion and pop culture and started op-shopping years ago to find himself cool clothes.
It led to the realisation that lots of textile waste was going to landfill and Jordaan felt compelled to do something about it, so he started upcycling old clothes into new ones.
He began posting his creations on social media and now has more than 19,000 followers on his Instagram account @creativetaro.
“I kind of realised, I’m one of only a few dudes online that are sewing, particularly here in Aotearoa.”
Sewing can be seen as a feminine task in Western culture, but Jordaan says his cultural background has made it natural for him to be interested in it.
He says it’s normal in Samoan culture for men to be the ones who cook and take care of children.
Touching on his Māori whakapapa, he says that rangatiratanga (self-determination) and uara (values and desires) don’t belong to any specific gender.
‘You can feel the mauri shift’
Jordaan is a youth worker by day and runs sewing workshops for at-risk youth, teaching them what he believes is a valuable skill.
He says some young men feel apprehensive — “Who’s this big dude, and why is he dressing weird? And why is he talking about sewing?”
Jordaan talks to them about the “hustle” of upcycling and reselling, explaining how they can turn $10 into $40 in a way that is safe and low risk.
“You could feel the mauri shift.
“At the end of my kōrero with them, and at the end of us playing on the machine, you can see their ideas going like, ‘I could do this, I could do that, I could fix mum’s curtains’.”
Sewing benefits your hauora
Jordaan’s nan taught him how to wind a bobbin and sew a straight stitch, and he taught himself everything else from watching YouTube videos.
“When I’m in the zone, I’m really in there. Even the rhythm of the sewing machine is quite soothing.”
Jordaan is featured in the new series Allgoods, which looks at what it really means to be well for young Māori and Pasifika in Aotearoa today.
Watch the new series ALLGOODS now on TVNZ+.
In episode four, he runs a sewing workshop for a group of men like himself, teaching them to make coasters while facilitating conversations around men’s mental health.
“I could see all of the bros in that workshop fully engaged, fully zoned in and they were being meticulous about what part of the material they wanted on their coaster… and then they got to take it home.”
He says sewing gives you a taonga to hold at the end of the process, which you can cherish or koha to someone else, and that having sensory tangibles are as important as intangible things — like your values.
Jordaan often visits a haberdashery in Wellington, and says the older women there are really keen to share their knowledge and tips with him.
“It’s a real inviting and accepting community.
“You would actually be surprised, these ladies, they’re just like us.”
Senior lecturer at Manukau Institute of Technology Jayne Jackson has researched how crafting can benefit your hauora.
She is a quilter herself and says quilts can tell stories, record histories, honour those who have passed and connect people across generations.
Jayne’s research found the most important thing was how “the shared craft and creativity gives you a social connection with people who are interested in the same things”.
“The sense of satisfaction when you learn something new or you master a skill or something turns out the way that you thought it would is huge for people, and that’s got to be a big mental health boost.”
Participants in Jayne’s research told her crafting helped keep them physically mobile, and others said it was meditative and calming.
“All of the things that older people get from quilting is absolutely available to younger people as well.”
When Toi Rankin realised his wellbeing was out of balance, he roped in his mate Pab to help him out. What started as a personal check-in quickly became a kaupapa; a raw, honest, and often confronting exploration of what it really means to be well as young Māori and Pasifika in Aotearoa today.