The Mindful Wardrobe: Creating Space For Our Creative Makes

Creating A Home With Awareness.

Welcome to 'The Mindful Wardrobe’ series. It's been rummaging around my mind for a while. As I share it with you I hope it will create a space where we can open our wardrobe doors, take a breath, and enjoy some reflection whilst we look at our knitting and sewing projects. The series is a gentle focus on our knitting and sewing projects, mood boards, and where we source our materials, to a rounded chat about sustainable fashion and how we care for our world.

The aim is not simply on what we can gain from our daily meditative knitting and stitching sessions, but how we can powerfully harness a mindful process of creating to help engage with change.

‘Mindfulness’ is a term that was bandied around a lot when I was in the wellbeing and physical rehab world. In all honesty, I got to the point where I became a little disillusioned with it all; someone was always selling something to enable people to slow down and make space. I started to talk about it less and less when I treated my clients as I didn’t want them to think it was yet another thing that they had to put their money into. The concept of pausing, talking a breath, and allowing our mind and body to connect and slow down in harmony is something I feel should be a basic, instinctual, human state - we have a right to be at peace. 

It is with this caveat that I rather hesitatingly start this new blog series; I can assure you that I am not about to try and sell something to you. 

What Is Mindfulness?

Taking time to breathe.

Mindfulness is a practice of reflection in our bodies, our minds, and our hearts. I used to term it the ‘pause-and-breathe’ moments in the day; those times when you are in a grocery queue where you can pause, breathe, and check in with body and mind to align yourself. Mindfulness is nothing more, or less, than being aware of your present state. 

You can broaden this practice out in ways that make sense for you. Personally, I make a point of creating time to breathe with intention each day, and journaling is a powerful tool in my arsenal to help me reflect on the past so that I can focus on positive movement towards my future. Many of my therapy clients used yoga as a useful tool for their own healing, as well as walking and structured meditation. But you get the idea… find some time, be with yourself, gently reflect and enjoy a little peace. You do you, and you don’t have to spend a fortune doing it. 

In this blog series, we are taking mindfulness one step further to see if we can offer breath and peace to the wider world around us.

The Economics Of Mindless Fashion

Fashion and Mindfulness.

We will get to our wardrobes in a moment, but I want to set out the two concepts that we will be returning to, before we begin this series. Consider this our compass setting as we roll out the map before us.

It is worth noting that ‘Mindfulness’ on its own is set to become a billion dollar business by 2027, in a wellness industry that is with trillions. (Yes - that’s Trillions with a T.) 

The fast fashion industry is worth billions also, with Shein alone worth between $66-$100 billion in 2023 according to Mackinsey. If we add every other form of fast fashion, we get another ‘Big T’ heading up the numbers.

Both of these industries, fashion and wellbeing, arguably take advantage of our basic needs for health and clothing on an industrial scale, but we can get into those topics at a later date. Waste, over consumption, debt, slave labour, water pollution… The list is endless. But my point here is that to presume that our wardrobes and our peace of mind are not linked is to be blind to the economic structures of the world that we live in; leggings for a yoga class is the easiest example I can think of.

Inner Development

Taking Time To Stop, Think, And Create.

The term ‘Inner Development’ may seem a little heavy handed for a knitting and sewing blog, but it is the name given to a process that can be used when thinking about human development, or in our case, mindful making. It’s a framework backed by the UN, and if you are keen to learn more, I would encourage you to follow the link below. I learned about this during a masterclass for Sustainable Fashion at Falmouth University, and I thank them for offering this to everyone! 

Inner Development Framework

When we are knitting and sewing at home, embracing Inner Development is a great way of seeing how we can start to turn the tide towards a more sustainable way of life in our own homes, and how that can enable change in our communities: 

1. Being - Our relationship to ourselves

2. Thinking - Our cognitive skills

3. Relating - Caring for those in our world

4. Collaborating - Our social networks 

5. Acting - Enabling Change

(As I look back at my work in rehab for physical trauma, I also think the World Health Organisation’s ICF framework could also be applied to this subject, but that is a whole other tangent!)

We shall be using Inner Development for our series, referring back to it time and again as we grow in our understanding of how we can mindfully create and embrace change for the better. So, let’s start! 

Mindfully Opening The Door

Opening The Wardrobe Door.

Our wardrobes are an eclectic array of rainbows. Different colours, textures, styles, and designers are reflected there. Every time we get dressed in the morning we choose to dress in a way that reflects how we feel and where we are going. Fashion can also be seen as showing off our economic and political stances to those we meet or pass in the streets. Our wardrobes are never ‘just clothes’.

Before we delve into the series, I want to encourage you to download the pdf and take it to where you house your clothes; your bedroom, dressing room, laundry room, and just sit in that space. 

Opening My Wardrobe Door pdf.

David Hockney was once asked when he knew his paintings were finished, and he said that it was when he could sit with them for an hour and not fiddle with something on the canvas. As you sit there with your clothes, what makes you want to get up and ‘sort it out’? What irritates you? What makes you happy? Is it a colour, a texture, a style? Also, what do you feel is missing?! Is there a red dress that needs to be added, or a sweater that you’ve always hankered after? Is there a spot where a lightweight cardigan could go? What colours do you want to see added to your sock draw?

Other questions could be:

• What does a ‘core closet’ look like for you? 

• What does colour mean for your wardrobe?

• How can you plan our projects in a mindful and meaningful way? 

• Is there a community of makers and creators near you that you can join to help you make your wardrobe? 

All of this gives you data and information to build on later. Take note, write it down, and then just close the door. Allow these note-ings to settle in you for a while; let them be and then see how they evolve. Take note of thoughts that occur later on when you are out for a walk, and embrace time; there is no rush to the next thing we need to do.

The only thing I would encourage you to do is pause, take a deep breathe, and offer thanks for the clothes that you do have, and for the space that they are in.

Let’s Travel Together!

Let's Enjoy Our Mindful Wardrobe.

We have set our compass, and the map has been laid out in front of us, and one thing I am sure of is that we will probably get a little lost in the middle of the series. At the end of this trip together, and what I wish is for, is that these blogs to help us define our wardrobes in ways that reflect our true selves.

“Align Your Wardrobe With Your Values” is the call from Sew Liberated, and I believe this to be a rallying call that we can start to get behind. Even though it will mean different things to each of us, our making and creating can build communities that can help nurture our world in a better way.