When the Going Gets Tough…

In February, 2021, I was interviewing craft shop owners about the ups and downs of running their businesses during a pandemic when I noticed something interesting. Almost every person I spoke with described how creating things with fibre and textiles had helped them cope, not just with pandemic stress, but with grief, health issues, and loneliness. That made me wonder: what is it about working with fibre that is so good for our brains?

It turns out that occupational therapy, education, and cognitive neuroscience researchers are asking the same question, and they’re developing ways to measure and confirm what we crafters have known all along: Making things with fibres and textiles can help us manage stress, fend off depression, delay age-related cognitive decline, learn, grow, fail, and even build communities.