From every other craft project, I struggled with embroidery the most. Embroidery is one thing I never learned from anyone, nor did I ever seek to teach myself using YouTube videos or online tutorials. It is strange that I never thought to prioritize learning sewing or embroidery because I value sewing and mending clothes and other functional fabric objects, which reflects how I generally feel about objects that are crafted for daily use. In recent pandemic times with the institution of mask wearing, I attempted to learn how to thread and use a sewing machine again for mask making, but still have no creations to show for it so far. A few years ago, there was one time I did design and sew (very poorly) a few tunics for myself to wear when I was in a pinch, using a mini handheld sewing machine. I remember feeling a unique sense of satisfaction. I must admit, I honestly still do not know how to correctly don a thimble. Due to my lack of experience with needle craft, embroidery would be the last thing I would try with clients at this point, but with some practice and the right skills and tools available to me, I could absolutely imagine it. After absorbing readings and class discussions, my sense of embroidery has transformed from a valuable, stereotypically women’s craft, into an empowering artistic tool, creating independence from male oppressors, uniquely bridging the gap between the traditional and the contemporary, and offering a vehicle for social justice.
I would use embroidery with a group of adult women with major depressive disorder or other depressive disorders in order to help the clients develop a sense of autonomy and independence as well as social validation and support in the group. For the group of Bedouin women living in the south desert of Israel, embroidery was already an essential and deeply meaningful part of their social and cultural reality (Leone, 2020, p. 144). For a treatment group of women in the United States, I might find that the level of prior involvement with embroidery varies between clients. As a group leader I would acknowledge that the women may be starting with varying levels of embroidery experience and skill, but that it is important for everyone to learn the basic skills in order to begin. Trust and rapport could develop between group members as more experienced women demonstrate basic skills and assist in teaching the less experienced group members. Since safety is paramount, it is important to note that this kind of group might be most effective in a community-based or out-patient setting, or with clients who are fairly stable, have the support of a treatment team, and are not actively exhibiting suicidal tendencies.
For the Bedouin women, embroidery is used for non-verbal expression and communication about many things, for decoration, for protection, and the embroidered items are sold which help the women gain some financial independence from their husbands (Leone, 2020). In the United States, women experience many different cultural realities, but all exist within a white patriarchal society that has traditionally oppressed and undervalued women. Through embroidering a powerful statement or image onto cloth face masks, the adult women treatment group could begin to learn a valuable skill that translates to other areas of life, have the essential social experience of community-building as a part of the group, safely and non-verbally express a powerful message, and increase self-efficacy upon completion of this small project. Hopefully, if these goals are met, the women would be interested in continuing with more projects.
I was lucky enough to travel to Israel last year with a group of fifty other young Jewish people. In Jerusalem, I haggled for and bought a gorgeous embroidered tapestry created by Bedouin women. The beautiful work truly is balanced in a pleasing way and arranged to “challenge the eye with puzzles” providing a “mystical sense of infinity” (Leone, 2020, p.146-147). Every time I look at the tapestry I discover new relationships between realistic and symbolic imagery. I do not imagine creating such a large and intricate quilt-like work in a treatment group, at least not at first. While my treatment goals are inspired by what the group of twelve Bedouin women were able to accomplish, the therapeutic intervention I’m suggesting is inspired by embroidered facemasks curated by Diana Weymar for the Tiny Pricks Project (2020). On one of the pieces the statement “our unity is our strength & diversity is our power”, a quote by Kamala Harris, is embroidered (Tiny Pricks Project, 2020). The clients would be tasked with embroidering a statement that needs to be heard, in words or simple imagery that holds importance on an individual, group, cultural, or societal level. The group members with more prior knowledge and skill could embellish and develop their work at the level appropriate for them. The suggestion of this project is also informed by my level of experience with this particular craft, as well as the current context in which we find ourselves, often wearing face masks, bombarded with attention grabbing polarizing messages, and challenged to hear each other’s voices clearly.
References
Leone, L. (2020). Craft in art therapy: Diverse approaches to the transformative power of craft materials and methods. Routledge
Tiny Pricks Project [@tinypricksproject]. (2020, November 6). Right Here, Right Now @kamalaharris by @50days out #tinypricksproject [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CHQN-BxnM0_/
