All you really need is a little plastic thing of needles ($1), some pins ($1), thread (varies but even good cotton thread isn’t that much), scissors (where you might actually consider investing a little - do not use these scissors for anything else, and consider a rotary cutter if you really get into it), and fabric.
Fabric might seem like the pricey part of the equation, but consider how much a thrift store is going to charge you for a duvet or a pile of t-shirts! I have something like 30 t-shirts I spent maybe $5 on several months ago, and I’ve been working through that pile for a while.
You can turn a t-shirt into a pillow, a reusable bag, use the scraps to patch clothing, make dolls, quilts… The bits that get to be so small to be unusable for a scrap quilt you can use to stuff things.
It takes a lot of time compared to machine sewing, but it’s an activity that can be done while watching a tv show.
Machine sewing isn’t that much more expensive, and it’s a VAST improvement over hand sewing unless you’ve got plenty of time, and lots of boredom.
also if you like needles relentlessly stabbing your thumb.
Also space and peace of mind. Sewing machines aren’t the largest of machines, but they do require a dedicated space, and can be somewhat noisy.
they don’t need a dedicated space, just a space. I have a cheapo lightweight machine with a built in handle that takes 1 minute to set up
This is a great point. I will say though that I’ve struggled to “get good” with machine sewing - enough for my occasional small projects. And OP just reminded me that I can actually step down to hand sewing if that is all I need.
I was going to advocate machines, specifically the vintage Singer machines (the black, all-metal dudes). They are very simple, there’s tonnes of information online for repairing & maintaining them, and you can usually find people just trying to get rid of them. Find one that isn’t rusty and moves freely and you’ll probably just need to oil it and mess with the tension.
If space is a concern, you don’t need to keep it in the sewing table (though it’s more comfortable). Those vintage machines are simple and tough to kill.
What about repairing the knee on jeans? I have several that I’d love to repair (as I’m not normal sized, nice clothes are rare for me) but I only have a classic sewing machine.
I’d imagine that machine sewing is quite useful in “making the thing,” but hand sewing is more fun for “doing the stitch”. And there can be some stitches on a “thing” that require hand sewing even if most of it is machine made, so it’s not a bad idea to know some different hand stitch techniques.
Counterpoint: hand-sewing reduces your impact on the environment more because you can’t impact environment that much with both hands occupied for dozens of hours. It’s like touching grass but productive.
By that logic, the best thing to do for the environment is to die - which is probably true, it’s just not a very good (or even particularly interesting) argument.
right on both counts