Can be downloaded from website lost in translation? The one-inch truth about Netflix’s subtitle problem Level

Key words 
a. Find and underline the words in the article that match the definitions below. 
1. a man who has never been married 
(para 2)
2. activities that you enjoy 
(para 3)
3. cloth, especially when it is used for making things such as clothes or curtains 
(para 3)
4. the activity of decorating cloth with coloured stitches 
(para 4)
5. reacted to something in a way that shows you did not think it was worth paying attention to 
(para 7)
6. an activity that few other people do 
(para 7)
7. a drawing or shape that you use when you are making something so that you get the shape and 
size correct 
(para 8)
8. not the same as anything else 
(para 9)
9. metal goods and things for your home or garden such as pans, knives, tools 
(para 10)
10. controlled by, or mainly consisting of 
(two words, para 10)
b. Use some of the key words above to complete these sentences. 
1. The industry is 
five multinational companies.
2. The tailor used pins to fasten the 
to the cloth.
3. Each person’s DNA is 
.
4. Damien spent a lot of time and money on his artistic 
5. She’s never really found her 
in life.
‘When I tell people, they might laugh’ – George Clooney and the men who sew
Level: 
Intermediate
1
2
•PHOT
OCOPIABLE•
CAN BE DOWNLOADED
FROM WEBSITE
seamstress sew bros sewer tailor

---

Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2021.
Home >> Adults >> General English >> NEWS LESSONS
Priya Elan
4 February, 2021
‘Sew bros’ is the name for the growing number 
of men who are taking up sewing. And George 
Clooney is now part of that community.
Clooney, a father of three-year-old twins, told 
AARP magazine: “I do a lot of sewing the 
kids’ clothes … and my wife’s dress that tore 
a couple of times. I was a bachelor for a long 
time and didn’t have any money, and you have 
to learn how to repair things.”
The pandemic encouraged people to 
become interested in a number of domestic 
pursuits – including making marmalade and 
hairdressing – so sales of sewing machines 
have increased massively. “I feel incredibly 
lucky to have a business that has done so well 
during the pandemic,” says Michelle Zimmer 
from a fabric shop in Sussex.
Sewing is usually seen as a typically feminine 
pursuit, a stereotype that is good for no-one. 
“What’s particularly interesting is the number 
of young male crafters joining our community,” 
adds Edward Griffith, the CEO of craft 
community LoveCrafts. “The majority of our 
male community is aged 25 to 34, compared 
with our female audience, which is mainly
35- to 44-year-olds.” He says that about a third 
of them took up sewing and embroidery during 
the pandemic and lockdown.
People post photographs on social media of 
clothes they have repaired, or made, in the 
name of slow fashion. But most sewers remain 
female and most ‘Sew Bros’ I spoke to get 
raised eyebrows when they tell others about 
their hobby.
“When I tell people, they may laugh because 
they think I’m joking or they look quite surprised 
that I sew as a guy,” says Thabo Sabao, 22, 
who posts photos his self-made collection 
of tops and coats on Instagram.
Peter Cant also noticed this attitude about 
assumed gender roles. He says people 
dismissed it as a typically female pursuit. 
Perhaps this is why, even now, the ‘sew bro’ 
remains a niche of a niche. “The sewing 
community can be strange towards men. 
Tailors are well respected, but men who sew 
at home can be seen as feminine,” he says.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
But the sew bros continue to join the craft 
world, regardless of cultural expectations 
and raised eyebrows. Sabao says that after 
“looking for something to take me away from 
my computer screen,” he found a sewing 
machine. Ironically he went back online for 
help. “YouTube helped a tremendous amount,” 
he says. “Nearly everything I know came from 
YouTube.” He speaks about the first pair of 
trousers he made. “They gave me a real sense 
of achievement because I made the pattern 
myself, and it took me a few attempts, but when 
I finished, they looked great,” he says.
“I’ve been contacted by many men through 
Instagram who have taken up sewing in recent 
years,” says Cant. “They want to mend and 
reuse clothing,” like Clooney, “as well as
to make unique clothes.”
“I think men look at our store like a hardware 
shop and can spend hours comparing latch 
hooks, rings, buckles, rivets,” Zimmer says. 
“The men’s Foreman jacket was our bestselling 
pattern of 2020.” Despite this, Sabao thinks 
sew-broing is still a niche pursuit. “The online 
community is dominated by women,” he says. 
“I don’t think it is something a lot of men even 
consider. I think, when we are growing up, 
mothers and grandmother are more likely 
to teach a girl to sew.”
But for Sabao, sewing is a full-circle moment. 
“I recently found out that a lot of my family in 
Zimbabwe are tailors and seamstresses, so
my mum was pleased that I started to sew.”
© Guardian News and Media 2021 
First published in The Guardian, 04/02/2021
8
9
10
11