9. The end of hustle culture
On coping with not doing what you love and why everyone you know suddenly likes to sew.
Oh no! Everyone wants to sew, no one wants to work. 💁🏻♀️
Between three friends joining me at the Dusen Dusen fabric sale in the middle of the workday and two people talking about sewing machines on Instagram stories in recent weeks, it feels like sewing is so hot right now. In one instance, comedian Lauren Servideo asked her 121,000 followers if she could borrow a better sewing machine than her starter model.
When I sent the post from Servideo to my friend Sarah, a cartoonist with a full-time job, she remarked: "I can’t part ways with mine even temporarily - I’ve got too much momentum lol," referring to a mattress cover and part of a quilt. Coincidentally, she just cartooned about quilting on her Substack.
This noticeable rise in sewing among my friends and influential people could be an age thing, but considering my circle consists mostly of people who live in big cities and have stressful full-time jobs, that theory doesn’t feel quite right.
"But all the city people were into baking," you might counter. "Isn't sewing the logical next step?" Sure. Except baking got big during the pandemic when everyone had nothing but time – time to do their endless stretch and folds of dough. Now, people are making time in their busy schedules to sew. Making time in their limited lunch break to hit fabric sales.
Perhaps it’s the rising interest in “trad wife” life intersecting with the mandate to do hobbies just for fun. I’ve been hearing this idea preached over and over on podcasts and in articles.
Women especially seem eager to abandon the ‘rise and grind,’ ‘but first coffee’ hustle culture of yesteryear. Most likely because the happiness and abundance promised to millennials if they glorified capitalism and followed the “do what you love” mantra has proven to be a lie. We all have to go to work, make money, and exist in today’s society. We are, in fact, so often not doing what we love.
Of course, the economy plays a role here too. At my SXSW panel in March, we talked about why WeWorks (scandal aside) were so undesirable now. I really believe part of it is people's aversion to the "rise and grind" mentality which their brand and interior designs embody — it's just not cool anymore. But also, VC money is much harder to come by in 2025. Gone are the days when anyone and everyone could be a founder. Perhaps nature is healing - I think we have enough founders and DJs. :)
In response, current culture has become more focused on how to cope with our jobs that we do not love. And one of the ways to do that is picking up hobbies. Sad at work? Do a hobby just for fun! Having a hard time dating? Start running in a run club just for fun!
The popular Substack Work Wife reimagined 10 school courses their readership would want to take. They included things like: “How to stop carrying the mental load for everyone,” “Reading smut without apology,” and “Mastering the rich mom uniform.” But notable to this conversation was the imaginary course: “The art of doing things just for fun: A masterclass in hobbies that don’t need to make money.”
The entry goes:
Prerequisites: Unlearning hustle culture
We live in a world where you knit one scarf and suddenly people are asking if you have an Etsy shop. This course is about reclaiming joy in hobbies that don’t have to turn into side hustles. Students will explore why you don’t need to be ‘good’ at something for it to be worth doing, how to enjoy an activity without posting it online, and how to tell capitalism to sit this one out.
Vox just published an article yesterday titled: "The midlife crisis is coming for millennials lol." Subhead: "How millennials are freaking out about being halfway to death, when everyone’s broke and already in therapy."
It made me wonder — is sewing the millennial, female version of the midlife crisis convertible?
P.S. The arts and crafts market size is projected to grow from $44.71 billion in 2024 to $48.33 billion in 2025. You could easily apply this desire to make things for fun and to escape corporate life to your next conference depending on your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Figma did (ICP = designers). At their annual conference there was pin-making, riso print-making, and airbrush-your-own-tee stations.
Today’s letter includes: why 'rust-out' is hitting the internet (and why everyone's going private), the latest gossip on The Devil Wears Prada sequel, who your next CEO will probably be, the delicious rise of vegetarian sausage rolls, plus quick hits on Temu struggles and David Lynch's upcoming auction.
Rust-out hits the general internet ushering in the social media recession. First reported on in 2022, rust out feels omnipresent now. While burnout is exhaustion from overwork, rust-out is more like boredom and lack of purpose at work. “Rust-out is a lot deeper and more profound than boredom. It’s where people don’t feel they’re doing anything purposeful or being recognized,” said Teena Clouston, professor of occupational therapy at Cardiff University.
Eugene Healey and other strategists have started talking about how that fatigue in work is permeating the whole internet, causing a social media recession. What’s even the point of looking at social media anymore? All major social platforms are seeing engagement going down year-over-year. People are scrolling out of boredom and apathy. They’re still online but they’re going private.
The head of Instagram admitted that teens are spending more time in DMs than stories and more time in stories than in feed. Discord and Telegram experienced record growth in 2024. The natural next step is that brands are going to want to follow into these private spaces, something marketers are going to have to navigate with care.
Side note - If you’re worried about your own employees rusting out, a little more info for you: Psychologist Dr. Audrey Tang asserts that rust-out is an organizational issue not really a personal one: “With burnout, you’re the one pushing yourself, even though your boss may be encouraging it; whereas the person rusting has been left by a careless manager.” No one likes a micromanager.
Hope you like the smell of banana. T Mag called banana summer’s freshest fragrance, claiming it can actually be sophisticated and not remind you of sunscreen. It calls out a few brands doing it, and I realized I actually have one of them. “For those looking to add the scent to their shower routine, the New York-based skin care brand Soft Services’ exfoliating Green Banana Buffing Bar has a freshness reminiscent of the fruit in its leafy, unripe form.” TBH I’m not sure I realized it was banana-scented but I do legitimately recommend anything from Soft Services.
No new IP ever. Though no cast members have been confirmed, The Devil Wears Prada sequel apparently has a release date of May 1, 2026. Stanley Tucci told Variety, “I know they’re working on it. If it happens, I would be so happy, but I cannot give you any information. Otherwise, I’ll go to the actor’s prison or something.”
Your next CEO is probably a former consultant. Consulting firms are churning out more C-suit executives than ever. The shift away from corporate behemoths such as General Electric as proving grounds for CEOs comes amid increased globalization, the rise of services industries and new technologies. Data tracking 4,300 global public companies shows that the biggest CEO factories today are McKinsey, Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) and Swiss staffing firm Adecco Group. Big Four accounting firms, having built out their consulting capabilities, also rank among the top 10 CEO producers.
Even sausage rolls can be vegetarian. I didn’t know we needed a feature story on sausage rolls, but I’m here for it nevertheless. Especially because there has apparently been an uptick in vegetarian options.
“Hart’s Bakery in Bristol serves a plant-based sausage roll stuffed with pearl barley and mushroom, while Fortitude Bakehouse in London folds dough around spinach and feta. High street sausage roll purveyors are also following the trend. The vegan sausage roll at the fast-food bakery Greggs, which owes its deeply savory flavor to a mushroom-based paste, is so beloved that it contributed to a 58 percent increase in profits in 2019, the year it was introduced. At the bakery chain Gail’s, more pastries are now filled with spinach and feta than with pork each day.”
In the rest of the article “creative Londoners” share their favorite spots. If you must have meat, apparently The Ginger Pig in Borough Market serves the Rolls Royce of sausage rolls. “The pastry is like a crispy cloud, all buttery flakiness, and the filling is an explosion of juicy, dense, delicious pork, with a little black pepper and herbs,” said Cynthia Shanmugalingam, cookbook author and owner of the restaurant Rambutan.
Other stuff: Lisbonata has a permanent location in Brooklyn; EY Studio+ is the firm’s new marketing and design services arm; Temu lost 58% of its daily users last month after the U.S. ended a tariff loophole for Chinese imports worth under $800, so they’re investing more into Europe; you can buy David Lynch’s stuff at auction on June 18th; Balenciaga released its 2026 resort collection and as Amy O’Dell said, it’s kind of giving Free People.
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When am I getting invited to knitting?!
We come from a talent pool of great sewing but it skipped a generation on my end. Hopefully, it has reappeared down the line.