We are coming into a time of year where lots of people go into overdrive forcing yourself to get ready for the festivities:  parties, extra shopping, work overloads, money worries etc. This is a time of year we should be doing the opposite – going with the seasons and slowing down. The weather is cat, days are short and often dark and dreary. It’s hard people!!

I drafted this blog coming up to the Halloween mid term break and I was feeling very worn out. Early starts (for me) to get boy 1 out to the school bus, probably a bit of extra anxiety about him starting secondary school  and all the regular life stuff had me sleeping badly and wrecked. I booked a yoga workshop on a Sunday Morning at the end of the Halloween break as I knew I needed some time out. It was just 2.5 hours of Yin Yoga – no interaction with anyone only me and my body. I left the centre feeling very sleepy and sluggish but after an amazing sleep that night woke up the Monday morning with a clear head and felt wide awake. Self care & mindfulness are words we have been bombarded with in recent years. Mindfulness is the basic human need to be fully present where we are and what we are doing and not to be overly reactive or overwhelmed by whats going on around us You don’t have to go to a yoga retreat to get this mindfulness, all it is is  a break from the hamster wheel of our lives and that is usually slowing down and working on one thing.  Practicing mindfulness helps train our brain not to overreact (like jumping to answer the phone, shout at your kids etc). Self care empowers people to manage important elements of their own and their loved ones. It involves taking action to improve their health and well-being to prevent and decrease the likelihood of disease and restore health after illness or injury.      

     

How does sewing come into the whole self care / mindfulness arena??

We sew cos we love it, it brings a sense of peace, using our creative brain cells bring on those endorphins. Most humans have the need to create and use our imagination; it can be music, painting, drawing, mosaics, sculpture, carving wood, building a wood stack, welding,  gardening, knitting, crochet, sewing etc… the list is endless. Earlier in our existence it was out of necessity – we had to create our homes with our own hands etc. That’s all been replaced by machines and we go to the shop to buy it (maybe shopping for stuff is tapping into that part of our brains too).  This human need is still there and we are all artists (listen to this episode on Love to Sew Podcast)

Sewist = Sewing Artist!!

When you are sewing you are (usually) thinking about what you are doing right there at the machine,  not your to do list or finishing that work report – I mean how many times have you looked at the clock to realise hours had gone by?? I often have to set an alarm if I am sewing before school pick up. Sewing for yourself is often referred to as selfless sewing – I find this a bit derogatory as I started out sewing for myself. Its just adding to this guilt we like to put on ourselves so I would like to banish this phrase from my lingo and read it less on social media. We can sew for whoever we like – if that’s for yourself then good for you. If you prefer making kids clothes – lucky kids in your life, if its to sell – great. I think the main reason I sew for my family is because we can’t get good fitting clothes while they are growing like mad (lanky boys). I much prefer when I am sewing something for myself. Don’t feel guilty about doing something that gives you a break from the madness of our lives. So there you have it – keep sewing or learn how to if you’ve been wanting to. I will be launching a beginners sewing course during the festive break and if that’s something you’d like to subscribe to keep an eye on our posts here or on our social media. Time to put that sewing machine on your santa list!!  

Join our sewing community

We have a great active Facebook group where the members post photos of finished projects they have made from our fabrics to inspire your creativity, you can ask questions and someone else out there will have the answer if I don’t. Its a lovely safe environment to chat about sewing, patterns and fabric recommendations even what sewing machine to buy or where to get it serviced.

Other resources:

Building a Local Sewing Community

Positive Body Image:  Why we make our own clothes

Making Clothes for my pre-teen and teen boys.

Have a lovely week – mind yourself now I hope you get some sewing done Maeve