5 Ways Embroidery Improves Mental Health
I created Pochoir.NYC as a response to working in the fast-paced fashion industry. I first hatched the idea for the company during (when else) the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. I had taken some embroidery classes before but I didn’t start embroidering in earnest until my husband got me a beautiful kit for our first wedding anniversary. At the same time that I got hooked, I was planning an escape route from only doing fashion design since I had been laid off so often. I was hoping I could find a more stable part of the industry. I took some online courses in sustainable design and materials. Part of the certificate was to create a sustainable company. I combined my new interest in embroidery with my realization that so much hard work was just wasting away in landfills and Pochoir.NYC was born.
I had been working in the fashion industry for over a decade—in design, product development, production, materials R&D, you name it–and just never felt like I ever fit in or could succeed at most tasks. I knew that in many ways I was good at my job–I always had positive performance reviews–but I could never handle the pace of change in an industry where everything is urgent and there’s no time or money to ask for, or get, help.
Once the lockdowns ended, I tried to develop Pochoir.NYC in tandem with my full time job, but it just wasn’t working. I developed physical anxiety issues, my mind was constantly racing, I was constantly checking work email day and night…unless I sat down and did some embroidery in the evening. I quit my final fashion industry job in November 2023 once my symptoms became too serious to ignore. I decided that no job was worth my health. Once the dust settled and I stopped feeling sorry for myself for failing in a system where it is almost impossible to succeed, I realized I still had my embroidery practice to ground me.
It turns out that crafting in general, and embroidery in particular, has a lot of mental health benefits. While I was escaping my fear and anxiety about work, embroidery was actually soothing my brain, rewiring it to appreciate patience, slowness, and imperfection. Through my healing period I found several ways that embroidery benefits mental health:
1) A Way to Practice Mindfulness
Quite simply, mindfulness is the practice of being aware of the present moment and allowing any overwhelming thoughts and ideas to glide through your mind like a cloud on a windy day. Given the societal disruptions of the last decade it’s no wonder that mindfulness has become an object of pop culture fascination. Some people practice mindfulness through meditation and guided breathing but any activity that helps you focus on simple, repetitive movements can help you achieve a state of “flow.” Defined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (link opens in new window) flow is that state when an individual is so engrossed in a project that they do not sense anything else.
And why is the flow state so important? “When we are involved in [creativity], we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life,” Csikszentmihalyi said (link opens in new window) during a TED talk in 2004. “You know that what you need to do is possible to do, even though difficult, and sense of time disappears. You forget yourself. You feel part of something larger.”
As I stitched, I found that my mind and my hands were busy working on small tasks that I could accomplish on my own schedule. I would relax and let anything unrelated to the project fall away. The only things that mattered were myself and my embroidery project.
2) A Way to Create Confidence
Entering flow often and learning new skills is also a surefire way to boost confidence. In a lovely article for The Crewel Work Company (link opens in new window), psychologist Emma Kenny says, “Embroidery is brilliant for depression because it allows you to have something to show for your time. So even though it could be small, when you hold something in your hand that you have made it is a symbol of value. It says ‘you have value’. It says ‘this is something I have made’. The thing about depression is that motivation is the enemy. In a western world when we don’t often see the fruits of our labor unless we’ve got a big house, for example, creating something is a momentary miracle, enough to start motivating you.” In other words, your internalized definition of success begins to change and you associate success with projects that you can achieve on your own schedule and are mostly important to you, not society.
Another way to boost confidence is to get compliments, and there’s nothing like someone praising the finished piece that hangs over your mantle, or a loved one being absolutely delighted by a homemade gift. As I wrote about during the holidays (link opens in new window), handmade gifts are always heartfelt and completely one of a kind.
I have definitely witnessed myself becoming more handy since I started embroidering. I’m definitely not the most mechanically minded person but I am now more willing to assemble furniture or pick up a tool to fix something instead of waiting for someone else to do it. I’m not afraid of breaking things as much as I used to be; instead I’m more curious about how things work and I’m confident that I can solve problems.
3) A Way to Build Community
Many marginalized groups have used embroidery to form community and build culture. One example is The Disabled Soldiers’ Embroidery Industry (link opens in new window), formed to help veterans after World War I regain motor skills, process their experiences in the designs they embroidered, and have well paying jobs. The initiative was so successful that it lasted until 1955, well after World War II ended. Other examples include UNRWA’s embroidery program (link opens in new window) in Palestinian refugee camps after their forced displacement from their ancestral lands in 1948. This program not only gave hundreds of Palestinian women an income, it also created an opportunity for Palestinian culture to be preserved and thrive within the diaspora.
Finally, something that affects all of us is the loneliness epidemic (link opens in new window) that is exacerbated by societal changes and social media. Many adults are entering retirement and old age without a partner or a family to support them. People of all ages are addicted to social media which can cause isolation, anxiety, and resentment thanks to algorithms that select only the most sensational posts to appear before us. People who are angry stay on their apps longer, further withdrawing from in-person discourse and community building. Hobbies like embroidery, on the other hand, are great for building a community. Materials are relatively inexpensive, don’t take up much space, and are easy to transport.
I’ve been lucky to join several different groups of stitchers: the EGA (Embroiderers’ Guild of America), an informal group called Metrostitchers, and the folks at Rita’s Needlepoint, where I currently work as a sales associate. I’ve found my people and it has made me feel less afraid of throwing the corporate world behind and living a life where only I can define success.
4) Boost Cognitive Skills
Neuroscientists are starting to study the effects of crafting on our brains and they’ve been pleasantly surprised with the results; one study (link opens in new window) found that people who were depressed and started a craft project felt positive emotions as soon as they started working and were able to sustain these emotions–namely feelings of engagement, inclusion, and social connection–as they slowly worked on the project each succeeding day. A little bit of creativity, a little bit of stepping out of one’s comfort zone, helped people feel better about themselves. Crafting allowed them to take time for themselves and to express that which is uniquely human: the desire to create and experiment.
Crafting also seems to help stave off aging (link opens in new window). As we grow older, our brains become capable of adapting to our surroundings, even after adolescence, and if we are constantly feeding our brains new information–whether that’s learning a new language or taking on a new project–our brains grow and adapt, creating new neural pathways, forming connections between different parts of our mind to understand all of the new information it is receiving. Continue to stimulate the brain, continue to be motivated and interested in life.
5) Break Addictions (and Form “Healthier” Ones)
Increasingly, therapists are prescribing learning a new craft to patients in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. As Emma Kenny said in The Crewelwork Company article, “It’s about filling an empty space. It’s about finding a new talent. The thing about finding a talent and being able to cultivate that talent is first of all, it surprises you. Most people who are taking drugs or drinking too much booze are seeking something – a feeling. Something like embroidery creates a healthy habit. It shows that you can turn your addiction around. All the negative feelings you get after drinking or doing drugs – you get the opposite when you are creating. You get the same cycle but at the end of it you feel uplifted and valuable and powerful.”
Personally speaking, an embroidery addiction is maybe not the healthiest for my wallet but, as the owner of Rita’s Needlepoint says, “It keeps me out of jail.
In addition, crafting also affects emotions positively: doing the repetitive actions required of embroidery decreases cortisol, a stress hormone, and releases dopamine, a pleasure hormone, (link opens in new window), calming both body and mind as you stitch.
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I can attest to the fact that embroidery has changed my life in profound ways. I was desperately seeking some form of “success” in an industry that was making me unhappy. I kept telling myself that if only I could do something different, be “better” at some things, and suppress other parts of me that I could finally find some economic stability, and that economic stability would be an indication of my success. As I stitched, and as I struggled to keep a full time job while working on my creative company idea, I realized that I wasn’t the only one who had to change to keep this relationship going.
I had been working for more than a decade to try and fit a round peg (me) in a square hole. I was talented, but I just couldn’t work under all the pressure that would just go away if only these companies were run by people who were organized. The constant churn of clothes also meant a constant churn of employees and I was just one of many smart, talented, creative people who flamed out of the industry. If I couldn’t find the type of environment that would support my talent and my mental health then I would have to make my own. I always had so much anxiety when I was working for someone else because I was worried about making some sort of catastrophic error but it weirdly all went away once I had the opportunity to rest and work for myself. I had to find a way to be confident without needing a supervisor’s go-ahead; I needed a way to build calm in my worklife; I needed community; I needed something where I was always learning and making at my own paste instead of doomscrolling through work emails. Thanks to my embroidery practice, I no longer needed financial success to create work I was proud of: all I needed was a hoop, a needle, some fabric, some thread, and my imagination.
Are you ready to start your own embroidery practice, one that will leave you feeling more confident, more capable, and more connected to the world around you? Check out our beginner embroidery kits (link opens in new window) and start stitching today.