The Slow Cloth Movement

When I look at the date of my last blog posting, I realize that I need some "slow" in my life. There needs to be more time in my day to create ...and enjoy the feel of fibre in my hands.

This seemed to be the theme of my reading this month. Both Handwoven, (Nov./Dec. 2010) by Interweave, and the Wheel, (Issue 22) by Ashford, had articles about the "Slow Cloth" movement. This posting borrows heavily from these magazines.

The slow cloth idea was developed by Elaine Lipson with the philosophy that, "It's all about the process." As she watched crafting gain popularity, often with little attention given to quality or skill, she offered an alternative to that mindset.

She identified several basic principles important to her philosophy:

• We should experience joy in the process.
• We should have moments of peace while we work, moments of contemplation.
• We should honour skill, not instant gratification.
• We should honour diversity and the multicultural history of our textiles.
• We should honour teachers and our long lineage of creativity.
• We should encourage sustainability and the wise use of our resources.
• We should celebrate quality, beauty, community and personal expression.

I think I'll hurry up and slow down. This afternoon, I will take time to enjoy creating with fibre. I will work for the love of it, for the soothing benefits and take advantage of this time to be creative. I hope that you can, too.

You can read more about slow cloth ideas at Elaine's blog:

http://lainie.typepad.com/makinggood