Thread Talk is a blog for all those curious about sewing and fiber arts, providing tips and ideas from experienced instructors, as well as exploring the fun and often surprising ways sewing and crafting make their way into our current trends and daily lives. 

Picking up a new hobby like sewing or crochet can be more than just a fun new experience--it could also help improve your cognitive health and happiness. 

Studies show there are multiple benefits to engaging in a new learning activity as an adult, even in later years. It all starts with the building of new neural pathways as we repeat actions and behaviors to learn a new skill. As Dr. Kimberly Johnson Hatchett, MD, a board-certified neurologist, told Health Magazine in a 2023 article, “The key is doing something you enjoy and doing it consistently, especially new hobbies because you’re creating new neural connections by learning something new.”

When we challenge ourselves with a fun, new activity, our brains reward us with increased levels of dopamine, which only encourages us to engage in the behavior more. For example, once we get the hang of the chain stitch, we’re excited to practice crochet more and move on to more challenging stitches. This is how new pathways are formed, which helps keep our brains more agile and less susceptible to cognitive decline. 

In particular, hobbies that require the use of hand-eye coordination can help maintain cognitive function, as the combined effort of both physical and mental activities helps strengthen our mind-body connection. Practicing an embroidery design or training your hands to pin fabric effectively causes your brain to utilize your hands in ways it may not be used to, and that builds up our mental resilience--it’s like strength training for those neural pathways. 

Sewing also serves as an ideal passtime for cognitive health, because hobbies that require you to do a variety of activities stimulate the most brain function. According to a study from Nature Magazine in 2017, activities that make people switch between tasks and try new things stimulate the hippocampus, an important part of the brain that is responsible for long-term memory formation and memory retrieval. Switching as we do from cutting, to pinning, to sewing, to pressing is not only the best way to make a beautiful finished product, it’s also apparently helping us the most with maintaining a healthy mind. 

The social factor of engaging in a new hobby has also been shown to have a huge influence on mental health and happiness, particularly in later years, according to a 2024 study in Harvard Health Letter. Research shows that older adults are less likely to develop cognitive diseases like dementia when they participate in activities that require them to be socially active. 

“Hobbies can help with socialization and protect against loneliness, which has been associated with a higher risk of dementia,” Breyanna Grays, MD, a board-certified neurologist, told Health Magazine. “Along with socialization, hobbies can improve one’s mental health and provide various cognitive benefits.” 

StitchSpaceLA classes and events offer fun and relaxed opportunities to learn new skills, meet new friends, and build new neural connections that help keep your mind and body strong for a long and healthy life. Find a hobby that sparks your inspiration on our class list page here.

The ancient Japanese style of hand sewing known as Sashiko has long been admired for its simple elegance and functionality, but there is much to appreciate about its history as well. Traditionally, Sashiko embroidery, literally translated as “little stabs,”  is a technique that uses only the running stitch to create repeating and interlocking geometric designs and patterns, most often on deep blue indigo-dyed fabrics. Sashiko can be used to create beautifully intricate and sophisticated works of art, but because of the simplicity of these stitches, it’s easy enough for anyone to learn. Join us at Stitchspace LA on Thursday, September 19th for our Sashiko Embroidery Sip N’ Stitch and start to discover the meditative practice and historical legacy of this elegant art form. 

Sashiko was first developed in Japan during the Edo period, from 1603 to 1867. It was a time of strict feudal hierarchies, and separation of social classes was required by law. Most fabrics and colors of clothing were restricted to the ruling and merchant classes, meaning working class people wore clothes primarily made from hemp, which they would dye rich shades of blue with indigo ink. Fiber and clothing were valuable commodities, and nothing was ever left to waste. The concept of reusing older materials for patching and mending garments, known as boro, was practiced by peasants all across Japan. Small fabric pieces could be sewn into other clothing for extra warmth or to cover holes and worn spots using the simple but secure running stitch, stitched with thread often made from recovered garment fibers as well. 

While the sustainable practice of reuse was both practical and necessary, it wasn’t long before it developed into a means of beautifying the humble woven garments worn by farmers and fisherman throughout the country. Regions developed their own styles and signature stitches, with patterns and combinations becoming ways of storytelling about the stitchers' lives. Stitches like the Nowaki Grass and Seigeiha Waves repeat patterns reminiscent of fields of rice or rolling seas. Over time, the art form established standards of practice, with rules of methods and design that became a sacred part of the work. 

Today, this artform can still be used to visibly mend clothing, add additional embellishment to garments, or to create functional tapestries and home decor items. Getting started is easy, using stencils or printed templates to follow some of the most iconic embroidery patterns. Sashiko is not only a fun way to personalize your wardrobe and connect to history, but the meditative and relaxing process of using each “little stab” to create something beautiful is wonderfully rewarding. 

You can get started on your own discovery of Sashiko embroidery at Stitchspace LA’s next Sip N’ Stitch, Thursday September 19 2024 from 7-9 p.m. While we create a sampler we will learn basic sashiko stitches. You will leave with an in-process sampler that can easily be turned into a scarf, tote or even a pillow. The $65 class includes all materials, and no experience is necessary. Book here now! 

Do you always remember to take your tote bags with you to the grocery store? How many plastic grocery store bags do you collect at home before you get overwhelmed and toss them all in the bin? Starting next year, it will be even more necessary for Californian’s to keep those cloth bags handy when picking up dinner. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill which provides a solution to a damaging loophole in the state’s 2014 plastic shopping bag ban. What was intended as a way to reduce the amount of single-use plastic bags that were ending up in landfills, the original law actually resulted in an alarming 47% increase in plastic waste tonnage in the decade since it was passed, according to consumer advocacy group CALPIRG. How did this happen? 

Instead of the lightweight plastic bags you may recall grocery stores using before the 2014 law, retailers have since been selling to customers higher density polyethylene bags that were technically “reusable.” However, the heavier plastic bags were just as frequently discarded as the lightweight plastic bags they were meant to replace, and the result is that the solution actually created a much bigger problem. 

Bill 1053 will eliminate plastic bags as an option at checkout, starting in January 2026. Bags made from recycled paper will still be available, and if regions such as New Jersey and Canada, who have already passed similar bans, are any indication, we might start seeing woven plastic bags that feel more clothlike offered as well. 

While woven plastic fiber bags may be on the horizon, the biggest downside to these products currently in use in other places is that they’re not recyclable. The most cost effective and least wasteful option is to bring cloth totes to carry your groceries, that can be washed and reused indefinitely. Tote bags are an easy to make solution that can double as a thoughtful gift. So many of our StitchSpace students use their tote bags for anything they need to carry, because the reversible double strap bag is well-structured and securely made.

The new ban “at grocery store checkouts solidifies California as a leader in tackling the global plastic pollution crisis,” said Christy Leavitt, Oceana’s plastics campaign director.

She said plastic bags are “one of the deadliest types of plastic to ocean wildlife,” and have an equally dangerous effect on the larger environment because of the way the materials break down into microplastics that contaminate our air, water, food and soil. 

You can have an even greater impact on the reduction of plastic waste in our environment by investing in yourself, and learning to sew your own tote bags! You can join us for any machine sewing class at StitchSpace LA and we will get you on track to making your own tote that will be handy no matter where you go, and will make you feel better about your impact on the planet.