Textile crafting, as a hobby, is today an authentic booming trend. In this blog post I will provide you with a short description of the textile crafting techniques, as well as the benefits of engaging in this type of hobby.
Textile crafting provides for the means to use decorative elements, made by hand or with recycled materials, to personalize garments and show originality.
The world of textile crafting is very complete and rich in possibilities. There are many techniques and finishes. Here I summarize some of the most interesting and widely used:
Sewing
While this used to be something done for practical purposes, the fact is that in sewing the possibilities are endless. The sewing machines have evolved to be one of the most used in homes. Lower prices and the adaptability of the machine to the most demanding daily tasks have managed to turn the old ones into one of the most versatile pieces of equipment around the house.
Machine or hand sewing requires a certain level of skill, but it should not frighten anyone because, in the end, it is like a form of therapy. Despite living in a consumer society that provides clothing for business purposes or home, the hobby of making our own creations has only grown with the years.
It is an extraordinary and rewarding feeling to be able to wear our own exclusive creations.
Examples of Other Kinds of Textile Crafting
Patchwork
It is one of the most demanded sewing techniques. The patchwork consists of joining pieces of cloth of different colors to form different ones in the form of bedspreads, cushions, tablecloths, and tapestries (as examples).
Tricot
It is a very broad technique that has been practiced for a lot of years. The tricot has been used from the most basic models to ones that are more complicated to form different shapes. Often used as a lining material, tricot fabric is a material that can be made from natural or synthetic fibers.
It has a unique weave that allows it to be sleek on one aspect whereas sporting texture on the opposite. Here are some basic facts about tricot fabric and how the material is used.
Basically a visible warp knit material, tricot fabric can be created with an array of fibers and fiber blends. It is common for numerous forms of knitted fabric to be factory-made with the employment of cotton, wool, silk, rayon, or nylon, or any combination of fibers.
The pattern for {tricot|knit|knitted material} fabric could be a closely knit style with the fibers running lengthwise. On the other hand, using a different yarn pattern, the texture of tricot is a little different from some other types of material.
One aspect can feature fine ribs running in an exceedingly lengthwise pattern, while the other side will feature ribs that run in a crosswise direction. The finished look of the knitted fabric is that of a durable nonetheless soft material which will be ideal for a variety of applications.
Crochet
Crochet could be a methodology of constructing cloth from yarn or thread, very similar to knitting. In each sort of textile art, loops of yarn ar force through different loops to form cloth.
Crochet makes use of a hook, whereas knitters use knitting needles and, in most cases, solely one thread loop is active at a given time during a project. This craft became very fashionable in Europe and America throughout the nineteenth century.
This was partially attributable to the more and more economical production of cotton thread in America. Crochet uses additional threads and different fabric-making techniques. By nature, it is especially suited to cotton.
The technique emerged as a comparatively low-cost and easy methodology of constructing lace. Because of this feature, it has been adopted by women to earn a living in creating pieces of clothing.
For example, during the Irish Famine, women in Eire made large quantities of lace for export. Young girls of the higher categories additionally crocheted as a hobby.
Six Benefits of Textile Crafting
Besides being a hobby, textile crafting has many benefits regardless of age. It undoubtedly acts as therapy, becoming the new yoga of the 21st century. Here are some of the benefits:
1. Stimulate Creativity
Textile crafting is an activity that allows you to create your own projects and capture the ideas you’ve always wanted to turn into reality. Yes, it is true that at the beginning your projects will be simple or copies of others that you have seen.
However, with time, practice and, of course, a lot of love, you will see how each time you will be able to take on more complex jobs. On a personal level, you will also develop your creativity since you will develop the need to create different things.
This will feed your desire to explore, try different things and, above all, have a healthy, useful and beneficial time.
Developing creativity can be part of your learning process. However, this will only happen if you make an effort to get out of your comfort zone and work on modifying certain habits. I invite you to read our blog post “15 Strategies to Help You Develop Creativity”. The information provided in it will help you consider other areas of personal creativity growth.
2. Help Develop Patience and Control
Learning the basic principles of textile crafting takes time and technique. Like other activities, some people will take more time than others to develop proficiency.
Remember to just be patient and enjoy the journey.
3. Stops Mental Deterioration
Over the years, the brain loses faculties such as memory loss, mental agility or the ability to concentrate. Getting involved in textile crafting can give us an opportunity to delay these losses and maintain mental agility.
The reason for this is that all forms of textile crafting involve a certain level of concentration, as well as some application of measurement, calculation, and mathematics.
For more ideas to help you maintain your mental health and slow down mental deterioration, please check out my blog post “Maintain Mental Health With These 11 Ideas”.
4. Fight Stress and Anxiety
Keeping your head busy allows you to spend less time worrying about problems or things that you can’t control. The fact is that engaging in textile crafting can be a relaxing and stress-free activity that reduces anxiety in an amazing way.
What do you think? Are stress and anxiety the same thing? Learn about the stress triggers, common sources, symptoms, how it works, and its relationship to anxiety in our blog post titled: “Stress and Anxiety: Understanding The Basics.”
5. Improvement of Self-Esteem
Creating your own projects increases your self-esteem. Consider that you will be starting from zero and eventually will be seeing the finished work.
This will be useful since it will make you feel proud meeting or even exceeding your own goals. It is proven science that by overcoming any type of challenge self-esteem improves.
6. Strengthen Social Ties
Textile crafting is a world of rewarding experiences. With the advent of the Internet, the things that we create can be shared more easily by reaching out to a truly broad knowledge network.
Also, since people of all ages can engage in textile crafting, it can reinforce the link between generations.
Please, enjoy this video of the Ladies at Halifax’s Fabbadashery (www.thefabbadashery.com), discuss the benefits of crafting as a group activity:
Conclusion
In this blog post I described some examples of textile crafting. They included sewing, patchwork, tricot, and crochet. I also shared with you some of the benefits of textile crafting.
These benefits included the stimulation of creativity, development of patience and control, slowing mental deterioration, fighting stress and anxiety, improved self-esteem, and strengthening of social ties.
I recommend that you take the first step and energize your creativity utilizing the different type of textile crafting techniques I described in the blog post. I encourage to utilize them to develop your ideas so that the whole family can enjoy them.
Which one of these techniques have you used or plan to use? Are there any other techniques that proved to be effective for you? Have you experience any of the benefits I mentioned?
I plan to write other post about the topic and expand on some of the techniques. In the meantime, I would like to get your perspective on textile crafting. For some more information check out my blog post about the 10 Benefits of Crafting for Adults.
I liked it when you mentioned that crafting is one way to avoid yourself from thinking about the problems that make you stressed. My sister is currently going through a tough time since her ex-husband managed to score the child custody of their only son. I will suggest her to start crafting so she can ease her mind and divert herself from thinking about the problem.
Taylor, thanks for taking the time to comment on our post about the benefits of crafting. More importantly, I would like to express my most sincere appreciation for sharing your sister’s experience. I am glad that our blog post provided some beneficial ideas. While life does present us with challenging situations, it is comforting for us to find solace and support within the family structure to cope with a particular situation. Crafting, at the very core, can provide the means to bring a breath of fresh air into what otherwise could be a stagnating or suffocating emotional environment. While we concentrate on rather structure forms of crafting, your sister can pick anything to exercise her creativity thus finding relief from the stress and a much welcome distraction. We will be keeping you and your sister in our prayers and, please do not hesitate to reach out to us for ideas, thoughts, or any other assistance that you feel we can provide.