Happy Mondays
Leading life and happiness coach
READERS of a certain age will remember junior school sewing classes. A little tin of pins, a thimble, a fold of gingham or a rectangle of sampler fabric and a sweet contented hush as needles pushed through fabric, pale sunlight dappling the bent heads and desks. Both boys and girls learned to tack, cross-stitch and hem and create small embroidered designs to take home on a doily for mum.
Recalling these slow and silent afternoons and the simple delight of handicrafts seems so far removed from the harsh realities of hardware, gaming and mind-blowing technology.
There is real magic to be found in the meditative process of sewing – as I discovered on a chance meeting with the lovely Sarah Perceval. Chatting as guests at a recent book launch it transpires Sarah has found meaning and healing in sewing after a period of feeling burned out in her career as a classical actress.
Anxiety and stage fright had risen to “terrifying levels” and by taking a break and signing up to a mindfulness course she learned to unwind and find peace.
At this time her mother was cleaning out her loft and Sarah saw textiles from her childhood – clothes and curtains from all the houses they had lived in – ready for the tip. There was only one thing for it: Sarah signed up for a patchwork and quilting course.
“There is something so therapeutic about pulling needle and thread through fabric,” she explains. “You can be still with your sewing and your mind detaches from stress and what worries you. The mind-hand co-ordination and repetitiveness are very calming. I add in my mindfulness techniques and breathe into the stitch. I literally sew my breath.”
A professional storyteller too, Sarah’s quilts recall many personal tales. She is creating a special one-off quilt for her stepson to take to boarding school using bits of shirts from her father, grandfather, cousins and friends – a tangible hug.
From her Mary Poppins’s bag of textile treats Sarah takes out tiny felt “stitch meditations” saying “breathe” or “wish”, a necklace made of Suffolk puffs – tiny fabric rosettes finished with buttons – and she talks me through the influences on her sewing styles from Wales, Northumberland and the US.
Her sunflower quilt is stunning. She used real sunflower petals and a method called “flower hammering” to add subtle colour to a tactile piece that looks and feels beautiful.
It includes the Helen Keller quote, “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows; it’s what sunflowers do”, embroidered into the design. I feel strangely moved by it.
It is homely, it is made with love and it is comforting to touch. It is an oasis of calm and consideration in a ever-crazier world.
“I include positive intentions in what I create,” says Sarah, who is also creating stitch and stillness classes for beginners.
What she creates are heirloom pieces which heal the giver as well as those wrapped in them. Happiness is but a stitch away.
To find out more about Sarah Perceval visit mindfulcreativity.co.uk