The term, "self-care" emerged in the mid-20th century. It came out from the Civil Rights movement, and the Black Panthers, specifically, are credited with mainstreaming the concept. Today it remains a popular description of activities we are encouraged to engage in - or refrain from - in support of our own emotional, mental, physical and spiritual health. For crafters and fiber artists, self-care will always include some aspect of creating.
The excitement of the holidays is long past, and we are mid-way through January and headed for February which is sometimes the longest month in terms of cold, winter days. In my corner of the world, that means it's time to double down on the self-care activities!
Self-care is defined as "...taking the time to do things that help you live well and improve both your physical health and mental health." by the National Institute of Mental Health and as "...an active decision-making process that enables people to effectively engage in their care" by the National Institutes of Health, while VeryWellHealth describes it as "... the practice of taking care of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of your life to promote health and wellness."
Let's look past the formal definitions and examine some of the foundational concepts of self-care, and see how they relate to fiber arts. I refer to these as the "3-C's of Self-Care for Fiber Artists".
Compassion (for self)
In our world, putting ourselves FIRST is often seen as a selfish move, but we cannot give to ANYONE if we are running on empty. We can't give kindness, help, love, or anything else if we have none to give, and the BEST way to have some of those - and other - gifts to share is to make sure we are giving all of those things to ourselves. Some examples include saying "No" when we want or need to, prioritizing our own mental, physical and emotional health, and taking the time we need for REST or RELAXATION without feeling guilty. Giving ourselves a "break" is also an important piece of this, as is working on acceptance of ourselves as we are, and radical self-love.
Self compassion includes forgiving ourselves when we stumble. Examples include buying yarn or fabric when we have some in our stash after we've committed to "shop our stash". (it's going to happen, and that's OK).
Self-compassion goes hand in hand with radical self-forgiveness.
Connection
I've written a few times about self-care in the fiber community needing to include some sort of socialization, such as in this post "Practicing Self-Care with Yarn". Taking the time to build and nurture our connections with others is such an important piece of our overall health and well-being that researchers are beginning to correlate it as a factor in longevity. We are by nature social creatures, and just as taking our vitamins, exercising, and eating vegetables are important; maintaining social connections is ALSO a foundational component to a healthy life.
I'll be heading over to the gathering of crafters in Carnegie after I post this blog. If I haven't mentioned it already, local public libraries are the very best thing next to fabric and yarn!!!
be sure you show your local library some love on a regular basis - they do some serious heavy lifting in the area of the public good!
Creativity
There is no self-care in my world without yarn, fabric, and if I'm being honest, some glitter and glue at times, too. I can eat right, exercise, and maintain social connections, but if I don't engage on a regular basis with creative projects, my overall well-being is negatively impacted. This past week I was on a sewing bender. Keeping to my goals of not shopping when I felt the need to be entertained, or perked up, I dug into my stash and found the pattern at the top of this post that I purchased last Summer when my sister and I were fabric shop crawling, along with a roll of fabric cork - also purchased at that time. I had a lot of fun making the Corky Wallet by Sassafras Lane Designs, and will be making a couple more! I'll be looking for some interesting additional fabric types at the Center for Creative Reuse later this weekend.
This past week I also enjoyed making my first Triangle Coin Purse (pictured below). There are a number of tutorials out there, including this one. I especially like that this pattern uses such a small amount of fabric that I can utilize fabric scraps from projects that I loved. It was this project that introduced me to the use of plastic finger snaps. On that same fabric adventure with my sister, we picked up an assortment of colorful plastic finger snaps, and I had not yet used them. They were SIMPLE, EASY, and I think the PERFECT addition to this little accessory. I can see this being a part of my gifting activities this year!
I also added fusible interfacing to one side of this to provide stability. I used a light-medium weight.
There's a LOT going on in the world right now, and a lot of it isn't all that positive. I invite, and even ENCOURAGE my brothers and sisters in the fiber arts corner of things to double down on self-care as we move fully into 2025. Practice RADICAL self-compassion, create and maintain those fiber and other connections, and let's nurture our creativity to grow and express all year long!
However it is that you engage in caring for yourself, here's to a 2025 filled with compassion (for yourself AND for others), connection and creativity!
(C) 2025 Stitch 'n Dish
p.s. if you sew, don't miss Tim Totten on YouTube! (here's the link) His channel alone can keep us busy with great projects for as long as we choose! Enjoy!!
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