Weekend Plans: Try This Meditative Craft That's Extra Great For Yogis

Like any good millennial, I am guilty of seeking out embroidery photos on Instagram. Hand-stitched bears and succulent arrangements have long graced my Discover feed, but I'd never tried out the craft myself—assuming it'd take too much time, money, and dedication to get into. Earlier this month I learned just how wrong I was.

I finally bit the bullet and signed up for an embroidery 101 class at CraftJam, a crafting education space (the best kind of space, if you ask me) in Manhattan. Gathered around a table draped in fabric swatches with a dozen other embroidery-curious folks, I listened to our instructor Robin inform the group that most great embroiderers are self-taught—and some of them only know two or three straightforward stitches. The craft's low barrier to entry could be part of its renewed appeal: There are 103,000-plus Instagram images tagged with the #embroidery hashtag, many of which are posted by "sewists"—a now-recognized term to describe crafters who sew as their medium.

The sewists are on to something. Beyond being easy to learn, embroidery can also be incredibly soothing. It gets people off of their phones and into a relaxed head space, Robin explained, and it's great for the wrists. (She said yogis, in particular, could benefit from the practice, since it balances out all those downward dogs.)

These days, there are plenty of opportunities to teach yourself the simple craft, from YouTube tutorials to in-person lessons like these. There are also places where more advanced students can go to push the needle on their skills.

While I can't say I've dedicated too many long nights to embroidery since that initial lesson, I have been inspired to keep up with the hobby. I like that it's an incredibly forgiving craft, similar to pencil drawing but much easier to erase, and the end product is really fun and share-worthy. Plus, you can make so many different things with only a few stitches: My first project was a circle embroidery for my apartment, but next I want to try to adorn tote bags, old clothes, and stained fabrics (upcycling, FTW).

The process is just the right blend of artistry and monotony, and while my wrists don't feel much different afterward, I do find it to be relaxing and borderline meditative. In the age of overwhelm and information overload, there's something to be said for sitting down with a needle and thread and just creating for creating's sake.

Here's how to get started with a simple embroidered wall-hanging: