Why Learn a Handicraft with Fabric of Society?

Many scientific studies have shown what those who practice handicrafts already know - handicrafts make us happier! In fact, new research shows that crafts and handicrafts can have a bigger impact on our life satisfaction than our work. (Click here to read the article.) As handicrafts have been shown to boost mood, provide stress relief and relaxation, and improve our overall mental health, more and more experts are looking to handicrafts as a tool to improve public health. Handicrafts are good for everyone!

Handicrafts are good for our hands and our brains.

Handicrafts are excellent for our cognitive health and our fine motor skills. They can help improve memory, planning, concentration, hand-eye coordination, and problem solving. Consistently engaging in handicrafts can help us maintain these cognitive and physical functions over time.

Handicrafts allow us to express our creativity.

Creative expression is an essential part of being human - but it’s not always something we prioritize! Expressing ourselves creatively has so many benefits for our lives, like decreasing stress, stimulating our minds, fostering joy and childlike play, and deepening our relationships to ourselves, among many others. Handicrafts, in particular, can afford a unique way to express creativity, as it offers us the opportunity to create things that are often both beautiful and functional. Making room for even a little creativity in our lives can have a huge impact.

Creating as part of a community improves our lives in countless ways.

Learning a handicraft on our own can be challenging. It’s not always easy to find the right information or help when we have a question. Anyone who has desperately googled and scrolled YouTube to figure out why their sewing machine stitches don’t look right knows exactly how tough it can be to learn on their own.

Learning as part of a community can offer the support you need to be successful in learning and practicing handicrafts. You get the practical benefit of learning from the experience of others, and you get the emotional benefit of creating with others who share the same interests.

Not only is it easier to learn and practice a handicraft as part of a community, but participating in a community can improve our lives all on its own. Recent research has shown that the US is in a loneliness epidemic. And loneliness can have real, damaging consequences for our mental, emotional, and physical health. At the same time, finding a sense of community can boost our mental, emotional, and physical health in many ways.

Creating that sense of community is one of our main intentions for Fabric of Society. Whether you join a class, attend a handicraft club meeting, or rent time in the Maker-Space Studio, you are joining a community where you can learn, laugh, and share with people who care about you and your creativity.