Sophie of Wallflower Weavings Shares The Mental Health Benefits of Weaving

"When you get into a rhythm, you don’t notice the hours passing and that your many thoughts are accompanying the growth of your design, your anxieties have been released into something beautiful."

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This article originally appeared on the PsychCentral blog Crafting to Heal which I wrote in 2019. Since the blog has since been archived, I have some posts related to craft as therapy from that archive that I want to share here on Substack, including this interview with Sophie Cotterill of Wallflower Weavings. Although I’m mostly a crocheter, I do some other fiber arts as well, including a little bit of frame loom weaving. Sophie’s rich texture, color choices, and the detail in her weavings always appealed to me; just looking at them sometimes felt a bit therapeutic. Therefore, I was thrilled when I saw a post mentioning that she finds weaving to be healing. I asked if she would be willing to do an interview, and she generously shared her thoughts on the mental health benefits of weaving. She hasn’t posted recently on Instagram but her words here are timeless.

When and how did you learn to weave?

I learned to weave in 2014 during a year abroad in The Netherlands. It was an instant source of confidence and mental wellbeing.

Weaving came to me during a time where I was in limbo, finding it difficult to get work in my new, foreign town. My confidence and motivation were at such a low. I was experiencing a great deal of loneliness and worry, which turned into tiredness and struggling to carry out simple tasks like just leaving the apartment.

The moment I began to weave, it gave me a purpose. I was excited to go out and source materials and equipment on a budget. I was eager to dedicate my days to learning and improving my techniques. Within the space of a fortnight, my time in the apartment became something I looked forward to. I was soon spending the majority of my hours weaving.

Yet you were still alone in your apartment right?

Yes, but no. With weaving, came purpose, interest, and inspiration! This was only further enhanced when I decided to document what I was learning on Instagram alongside others. At this point, there wasn’t a huge market or interest in modern weaving, but what was there was a goldmine.

Individuals from around the world were coming together to provide knowledge, inspiration, and encouragement about this newly-popular craft that had us absolutely hooked. I still speak to these makers to this day, nearly five years on. We have shared our work with each other, engaged in art and material swaps, and have helped each other get noticed.

So, though to an outsider I was sitting in that little rooftop apartment on my own, I was actually a part of a craft movement that was taking place across continents.

Then what happened?

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