8 BENEFITS OF SEWING AND KNITTING OUR CLOTHES

Sewing, knitting, and other crafts, have lots of benefits. There are many scientific researches that demonstrated them. But I love customizing, and think by myself. Also, I can't write about anything that I haven't experienced and assimilated before. So now I can say that, for me, there are 8 clear benefits of sewing and knitting our own clothes. But first, I would like to explain a bit more the purpose of this blog.

According to my mother, every woman should know how to sew. For that reason I attended to sewing classes in the summer when I was 16. Many years later, I decided to make one of those gorgeous lace shawls. But first, I needed to learn to knit, so that I got some knitting classes. There were two clear needs and two clear solutions. Many of us behave in that way, don't we? I mean, we tend to focus more on the skill or object we want to get that in the subject itself. This point of view is very common and I can't see anything wrong in it.

However, as long as I get older, I understand better that paying more attention to the experience itself is more simple, natural and human. Mindfulness has also influenced over me on that way. An activity itself can be healthy, relaxing, exciting, stressful, boring or even disgusting, apart from the result you may get. The more conscious you are meanwhile, the more capable you will be to enjoy it more, make some adjustments or just quit it.

This is my point of view and how I understand sewing and knitting now. And this is how I'm going to focus this blog, and also the video tutorials on my YouTube channel. We are not going to produce our clothes. We are going to make them, with our hands, our brain, our entire body. We are going to experience our clothes from the very beginning until the end, not just in the end.

Thinking in benefits is kind of result philosophy, I know. If you knit or sew your clothes, you'd feel better. But you can experience all these benefits along the whole process. It's a way of paying more attention in it and an easier method to explain my point of view. If you have knitted or sewed before, you may have checked them as well. Or you may not. Anyway, here you have the 8 benefits of sewing and knitting our own clothes.

1. REDUCE ANXIETY AND STRESS

   The most popular benefit. Knitting, sewing, and other crafts can relax our brain, in a very similar way that meditation or yoga. As long as you focus on a single and repetitive action, your mind can rest from ruminating about the past or worrying about the future. That is absolutely true, especially once you get the basics skills or when you are in the funny parts of a pattern. But, what happen when you have to knit 30 centimeters of 149 stitches in stockinette? Are you always in a meditative state? Yes, in the first 2 rows! Then you need to make some adjustments. At least in my case. Some music, good company or an interesting documentary on TV ;) can work well. You can use it to strengthen your attention, too. On the contrary, the whole sewing process takes all my concentration.

2. ENHANCE SELF-ESTEEM

   You can be proud of your masterpiece, no doubt. Enjoy the feeling. Yes, you made it, you achieve it. You get in your hands what you have been working on for a long time. Your energy and your time have a cute baby. You can be proud of yourself and feel free to show off your new hand knitted cardigan or sewed skirt.
   Besides, I consider that finding time for our hobbies, in spite of having and endless to-do list, is another sign of healthy self-esteem.

3. FEED YOUR CREATIVITY

   If you are a beginner or have very little free time, you will probably prefer to sew or knit by following patterns. That sounds like little creative activity, because you are basically reproducing the creative work of a designer. However, I consider that we couldn't design our own clothes unless we had some skills under control. Patterns are useful for that matter. We can also alterate the pattern, use different materials and tools than recommended, play with colors, etc. If we'd like to be more creative, we should feed our creativity. Everybody as a creator inside.

4. TEACH LIFE LESSONS

   In my opinion, this is the most personal benefit of knitting and sewing our clothes. In a world mainly fast, easy, and shallow, we can forget how to live honestly. For me living honestly means with patience, perseverance, humility, respect, humanity, etc. Sewing and knitting can help us to understand and practice all these attitudes. And get a real way of life.

5. A HANDMADE WARDROBE

   This benefit is deeper than it looks like. Because wherever I put my hands, I put my heart. And I know that there are many knitters and sewers that believe the same. If you sew and knit your clothes, you'll have a heartmade wardrobe.

6. CUSTOM CLOTHES

   I prefer stylish clothes rather than trendy ones. I love timeless, comfortable, sweet and elegant clothes. Love colors. I can't classify my style in any category. I don't even think that I have an unique style. Most of the time I'm happy in a pair of jeans and a pullover. But I know that many people have a very clear style in clothing and many difficulties to make it real.
   Sizes separated from the standards, is another battle for lots of people. Making your own clothes can solve this problem, too. Nobody understand your body better than you do.

7. JOIN A BIG COMMUNITY

   This is one of my favorite benefits. Last year, when I started posting pictures about my knitting progress on Instagram, I felt kind of support that make me keep on knitting passionately. You know, sometimes we need somebody that can really appreciate things as we do. If you sew and knit, social media are a great way to show your masterpieces, enhance your self-esteem and make friends with the same hobby. There are many nice people over there!
   Besides, you can just join a knitting group, or create a new one. Many people talk about them as one of the most important aspects in their hobby. I can't see that point, because I mainly knit alone. But I'd like to experience a knitting group. Sewing groups are less common apart from classes. It's difficult to carry your sewing machine from one place to another.

8. MAKE A BETTER WORLD

   First of all, we don't really need too much clothes to live. So we don't need that nobody in poor working conditions, especially if she or he is a girl or a boy, make our clothes. We don't need to spend very little money in clothing just to get more than needed. We don't also need petrochemical fibers whose production hurts the planet. If we need to reduce anxiety, enhance our self-esteem, feed our creativity and live more honestly, we should pay more attention in the rest of the world. When you make your own clothes your list of priorities changes. Your hobby ends up in a real way of life, and you became a better person than you already were. This is THE BENEFIT, in capitals.

There you have: 8 beautiful benefits to take into consideration while you are still deciding whether to make or not your own clothes. For me there is no doubt. From now on, I'm going to make them by myself, and be more aware of what I buy in the future. If I really need and from where it comes.

I'd like to write more about some of these benefits in the following weeks. Also, it would be great if you could share with me and other readers your own experience.

I’ll see you on Thursday.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!