If you haven’t heard by now, people are calling 2026 the year of “analogue” and offline living. It’s no secret that hours of doomscrolling and AI overwhelm is doing nothing for our collective mental health and now it seems that people are joining together to create a movement that gets us off our phones and into the present. You’ll find many lists of possible analogue activities to keep your mind occupied and your anxiety at bay. Lots of them will include a whole host of different crafts, but I’d like to make the case for hand embroidery being one of the best.

Friends, family and customers have reached out with heartwarming stories about how embroidery and crafting got them through difficult moments in their life, and helped them care for themselves when daily life gets a little tough. You don’t have to just take my word for it; turns out there’s some science behind the mental wellbeing benefits of crafting.

A recent paper (Le Lagadec et al., 2024), reviewed 25 studies on needlecraft. They found a significant improvement in mental well-being across studies, finding therapeutic benefits by relieving stress, distracting from stresses and worries, and providing a sense of comfort. This is something I also relate to! I started embroidery as a way to manage stress from my PhD studies, hoping to find an activity which allowed me to switch off and chill out. I found this with embroidery, but it ended up giving me a lot more too!

So without further ado, here’s how I think embroidery should become your new favourite craft activity to help reduce anxiety and support mental wellbeing.

Embroidery is a mindful craft

If you’re someone who never stops moving and whose mind is always running with 100 tabs open, this could be your moment to slow right down. From reading the instructions and threading the needle, to following the pattern and carefully positioning your stitches, everything about hand embroidery requires a mindful presence if you want to get the desired end result.

Allow your mind to wander and you might soon find that you’re pulling out a misplaced stitch or two! Which, of course, isn’t the end of the world - we all make mistakes and they can be a super important part of the learning process - but staying present during your crafting session will undoubtedly lead to less time with a stitch ripper! It’s a moment for you to turn the anxious thoughts off and switch your creative brain fully on. Needlecraft engages the brain in a gentle focus and rhythm, stopping it from wandering when you’re in the stitching flow! (Lagadec et al., 2024).

Screen-free from start to finish

If your screentime is adding to your anxiety, then embroidery could definitely be the activity for you. OK, you might have to be online quickly just to order your supplies (top tip: kits take away the work of figuring which ones you’ll need to get started), but once you have all your materials ready, there’s no need to look at a screen again. In our kits, for example, we’ve made sure to include carefully written instructions with photos. They talk you through everything: how to set up your embroidery hoop and backing fabric; how to thread your needle; how to position the water soluble pattern guide; how to do different embroidery stitches. All being well, you’ll hopefully never need to take a cheeky peek online to figure something out!

 You also quite literally can’t be scrolling while you’re stitching! With one hand holding the hoop and the other holding your needle, your mitts will be well and truly occupied. 

Embroidery is an embodied craft experience

The physical aspect of embroidery work is yet another reason why I feel that it can be great for reducing anxiety. There is something undeniably satisfying about making something with your own two hands. Crafting in this way feels human and embodied. You might even feel it waking up muscles in your hands that don’t get used much in your other day to day activities! Holding a hoop for an extended period while you stitch is definitely not something most hands do everyday. 

You might, for example, also feel the need to find different ways to sit to feel more comfortable and accommodate your stitching style. Noticing these feelings in your body is another brilliant way to turn your embroidery into a moment of mindfulness that should hopefully help with your mental health. 

Embroidery offers a moment of calm on-the-go

Hand embroidery is such an easy craft to keep in your bag with you when you’re out and about. Hoops come in all different sizes, so you’ll definitely be able to find something that suits your situation. We have mini 3” hoops and tiny keyring kits that you could even just pop in your pocket! The beauty of this is that it makes your new favourite relaxing craft accessible at all times - long commutes on public transport or lunch breaks at work are ideal times to get a few stitches in.

Sure, it’s even nicer to get cosy on your sofa and settle in for an evening of sewing, but anxiety can strike whenever it wants to sometimes. You might see things like making collages or doing a jigsaw on some of the analogue activity lists and, while I love both of those, I don’t think I’d be whipping either of them out on the bus to the studio! Having a compact and calming craft like embroidery on hand for when you might need it most could make the world of difference. Think of your embroidery as part of your on-the-go toolkit for tackling your anxious thoughts. 

A finished piece to treasure

The lovely thing about sewing an embroidery design in a hoop is that you have an item that you can display as soon as you’re finished -  no framing or extra work necessary. You can just hang your beautiful final piece right up. Not only can the colours and patterns serve as a soothing image to ease an anxious mind in and of themselves, but seeing your work on the wall can act as an excellent visual reminder of what you can achieve when you put some time aside to create something with your hands. That sense of satisfaction can do wonders for an anxious mind that feels like it’s never getting anything done and will hopefully inspire you to keep going. 

I found the ability to unwind with embroidery, but even more than that it gave me a sense of achievement outside of studying. I remember looking at my first finished hoop and being so proud that I had created it with my own hands! That’s part of the reason I love embroidery kits: it makes creating that sense of pride more accessible! The same review paper found that even new crafters get that achievement and self-esteem boost, when they finish a project and get to show it off or even after learning a new skill! (If you’ve mastered french knots, I hope you’re showing them off!)

Identity, connecting with yourself and others

Le Lagadec et al., (2024) looked at how needlecraft develops your sense of identity by allowing you to express yourself. Being creative gives you a voice, even when you’re not sure what you want to say. Much like writing in a journal or doing mindful colouring, when you sit down and dedicate yourself to a task without any big expectations, your mind can run free and you end up with something wonderful, and uniquely you!

As much as I love the Paraffle designs, my favourite thing to see is when you add your own touches to your finished piece, whether that’s switching up the colours, embellishing with added details or even adding beads! When you stitch, design, and create, you put a little piece of you into the world. Growing belief in your abilities is a great way to boost confidence and self-esteem, crafting lets you connect with yourself without overthinking it!

This self-expression gives a feeling of accomplishment, and if you share your creativity with others it can open the door to new connections. When Paraffle started taking off, it was mid-pandemic and everything was feeling pretty blue and lonely. The building of this community started to fill the void left by lockdowns and isolations. Meeting loads of people who already loved crafting, or wanted to get into it, or just wanted to be a part of something, gave me hope that the world would begin to reconnect soon. This is something discussed in the review paper too; that crafting communities give a sense of social support in a time of heightened loneliness and disconnect, and that being a part of a community like this gives feelings of being supported, and a sense of purpose and belonging.

If your anxious thoughts feel overwhelming and unmanageable, the number one best thing to do is reach out for support, be it from friends, family or a healthcare professional. I do hope you’ll consider giving hand embroidery a try, though. Through my years of sewing I’ve seen how, in its own small way, it can be truly life-changing.

Le Lagadec, D., Kornhaber, R., Johnston-Devin, C., & Cleary, M. (2024). Healing Stitches: A Scoping Review on the Impact of Needlecraft on Mental Health and Well-Being. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 45(10), 1097–1110. https://doi-org.eux.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/01612840.2024.2364228