The Stitch Up

Meditating on Slow Stitching

I wanted to pass on a little something I've been reading about lately.  I try to dedicate time for a short meditation in the morning but I'm always looking for ways to incorporate a little more mindfulness into my day.

 

The practice I came across recently is called Stitch Meditation.  It's been around for a few years.  The main proponent of the concept is Liz Kettle.  Her Vimeo channel walks you through how to set up materials so you can just check out, relax your mind and stitch whatever comes to feel.

 

Similar to Stitch Meditation is the Slow Stitching movement which is similar, but doesn't necessarily require any preparation, just grabbing whatever fabric or thread inspires you in the moment and stitching what comes to you, whatever inspires you.

 

The idea with both of these concepts is to focus just on the stitches, the thread, the movement of needle and be in the moment, much the way you would concentrate on your breathing when sitting in traditional meditation.

 

I love finding ways to combine crafting and mindfulness.  I find a lot of relaxation and peace in stitching in general but often projects require a lot of focus.  This process lets you utilize stitching to let go, be in the moment and just embrace stitching for the enjoyment of it.

 

 

 

The Benefits of Stitch

Hand & Lock had an article this week listing 12 ways that embroidery can boost your mental health.  

 

Some of the benefits listed include alleviating stress, reducing anxiety, lowering blood pressure and being mindful. I definitely feel many of those benefits when I stitch - depending on the project I'm working on. Once I have a pattern on the hoop, I've chosen the color scheme and I'm working with stitches that I'm comfortable with, I can just relax and enjoy the repetitive feel of the needle moving through the fabric.

 

On the other hand when I'm developing a project, the process can be challenging, stimulating and frustrating. The Hand & Lock article notes the benefits from the more difficult side of stitching as well: it keeps your brain healthy, it builds confidence and allows you to express yourself.

 

 

I think it's this duality of embroidery that I love. Some days it's the method I use to check out, quiet down and relax. Other days it's what I turn to in order to challenge myself to make some needlework concept in my mind a reality (with varying degrees of success). It's a hobby that fits every mood and makes you healthier on several levels while you're doing it. That's pretty amazing!

Mindful Stitching

I have been intending to write a few articles about mindfulness in crafting.  I have found myself turning to mindfulness techniques over the years - primarily meditation - in order to combat anxiety.  But it took me awhile to realize that the stitching, knitting, quilting and other crafts I've worked on over the years were all mindfulness techniques, and I was engaged in some really beneficial "mindful" activities, before mindfulness was even a term you heard used. 

Portia Lawrie of Makery wrote a great article in Issue 30 of Simply Sewing about slow fashion and mindful making.  

She makes some really lovely points about sometimes using your sewing projects to slow down, relax and get immersed in details.  I recommend this article and also the episode 9 of the Love to Sew podcast where Ms. Lawrie talks a bit about mindfulness in sewing and a lot of other inspirational things.

2016 - Let's Do This!

Whoo!  Well one thing about ALL OF THIS SNOW - it's giving me time to catch up on some of my New Year to-do's and now also - to do a bit of blogging!

I try to pick a word every year to keep me focused and this year the word is Mindfulness.  I have been trying to incorporate meditation and various methods of mindfulness into my life for the past couple of years and I'm really going to try and kick it up a notch this year.  

While doing some reading about mindful living I realized that a lot of the crafting I do can really be a mindfulness exercise.  I've found a few articles that I think are pretty interesting on that topic so I thought I'd share some things here over the year in case anyone else is interested.  

This Mind Body Green article reports that neuroscience studies have found that knitting and crafting is the new yoga and that knitters are calmer and happier people.  Scientific affirmation!  I definitely find that the groove I get into with knitting or crocheting, once I've got the pattern established, lets me check out a little and just relax.  

(Pretty Cute Knitting Print from VisualizeUs)

Sewing on the other hand...I still do not find it relaxing although I do find it fun.  On that note, my other big goal for the year is to combine a few different techniques I want to learn into one or two big sewing projects for the year.  I'm anxious to learn to do some fashion sketching to plan out some patterns of my own.  I also want to sew a few things myself and try some couture techniques - we'll see how this plays out.  I'll post my efforts here and share any good resources I come across.

I hope everyone else's New Year is starting off well and that your crafting is well under way!