Fabric Therapy

 

Good morning to you!

Before the pandemic, a few of my friends and I used to visit our local fabric store.  It was sort of an event.  We would have lunch together and make our way to the Mennonite farm where our fabric store was located.

Upon entering the shop, I always began our excursion by saying (rather dramatically), "see the fabric, feel the fabric, pet the fabric!"  And sure enough the tactile journey would begin with one or two of our friends stroking the fabric.  

Now most of us have heard that petting an animal can help reduce stress.  According to John Hopkins, petting a dog can reduce the stress hormone cortisol.  The hospital also reported that 84% of people with PTSD who are paired with a service dog often have less symptoms and often can reduce their medications.  You can read the article here.

The week before last, we had a lot of rain and I spent the week pulling all of my fabric off the shelves and refolded, reevaluated, and reorganized all the material.  

There are times when I know I shouldn't sew.  If I am distracted, stressed, or anxious, I am sure to make a mistake at the machine or reading the pattern.  It's a wiser choice to just stick with a task that I can't mess up too much.

But then I got to thinking about what I was doing...

That rubbing fabric between your fabrics has been scientifically proven to be beneficial to your mental health?  According to this article, it can reduce heart rate and blood pressure.  The action can often produce a sense of calm, relief, and comfort.

In fact, one of the first articles I found was a number of people that expressed that they love rubbing fabric between their fingers.  The relief that folks expressed about finding similar folks on this site was amazing.  Some folks even mentioned that this one action takes them back to early childhood and their blankies (or woobies as our family called them).

So next time you are feeling stressed, reach for some fabric to help calm you down! 

Do you find touching fabric helps you?

Have a safe and happy day!