Sewing – a useful skill and a hobby that promotes wellbeing
Being able to sew is an activity that opens up a whole range of possibilities!
Repairing clothes becomes easier because you’ll be likely to open your sewing kit quicker and so benefit from that old saying ‘a stitch in time saves nine’. It’s possible to do lots of repairs using just hand-sewing – for example as shown in How to Hand Sew an Invisible Stitch (2min 9sec) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbE5hXt27uU.
This Quick Tips for Sewing Playlist https://bit.ly/sewing-quick-tips helps you consider what to include in your sewing kit, as well as providing lots of other short ‘how to’ videos.
Using a sewing machine enables you to take on bigger projects. If you haven’t used a sewing machine much and would like to, do consider watching this free Sewing Machine Course https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGITrkYdjJs. As you benefit from the tips given in its 5 videos, you’ll more than save the 2 hours you’ll have spent watching them, and your enjoyment of sewing is likely to be all the greater from not making avoidable mistakes.
There are some lovely contemporary designs for embroidery and cross stitch. As our chosen videos show, Adam and Mr X Stitch demonstrate the many different stitches for these hobbies that can be enjoyed by all:
Embroidery Basics Playlist https://bit.ly/embroidery-basics and Learn how to Cross Stitch (5min 45sec) https://bit.ly/cross-stitch-starter.
In considering the wellbeing benefits of sewing, the following link is to an interesting article that describes the therapeutic effects embroidery has played for men returning from war, people in prison and those who face anxiety and depression in their day-to-day life: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/feb/23/the-calming-effects-of-sewing-can-help-people-express-and-calm-themselves
And lastly, here’s a ‘video made for entertainment purposes’ that applies some imaginative thinking to mending: Sewing Tricks that will Save your clothes (13min 25sec) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAt6_4WYqLU