Crafting self-care practices: learning textile craft in time and space

Fisher, Tamsin Emelene

Abstract

This research has been designed to understand how people are crafting time and space to engage with self-care activities through textile crafts. Craft research focuses heavily on the importance of the community and much less on the individuals’ experience of the activity, specifically, the pathway of learning the skill. Self-care is often seen as a still activity, one which involves taking time out to passively engage in an activity. I begin to challenge this and argue that self-care is an active and ongoing process, one which requires an investment of time to learn. I aim to explore the idea that there is a distinction between the practice and the learning process.
Through participation and observation of a series of workshops run in collaboration with a Students’ Union, I begin to develop an understanding of the role of organisations, such as universities, in supporting and developing spaces for accessible self-care practices, supporting individuals through the learning process, and most importantly, supporting individuals through the challenges that learning a new skill often brings.
By conducting a scoping review of 14 publications and repurposing the data, I have been able to identify the values of craft for its practitioners (intrinsic and extrinsic) and begin to unpack the value of communities in practice.
Self-care practices involve a process of learning and well-being is a benefit for some individuals and, as I found out, not a direct or guaranteed outcome of crafting for all. I will challenge some of the normative perceptions of how people achieve well-being through self-care practices and how activities are marketed for self-care.

Citation

Fisher, T. E. (2024). Crafting self-care practices: learning textile craft in time and space. (Thesis). Keele University. Retrieved from https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/849887

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jun 13, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 20, 2024
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/849887
• Award Date: 2024-06