Weaving as Art Therapy for Beginners - A Self- Care Workbook
Weaving as Art Therapy for Beginners is a self-care workbook to help ease anxiety, stress and depression. Relax and find inner peace through learning to weave, following simple, low-cost therapeutic weaving activities.
This book has been designed to make the mindful craft of weaving as accessible as possible to as many people as possible, teaching both traditional frame weaving and off-loom weaving techniques.
Suitable for complete beginners, it will teach you everything you need to know to get set up and weaving, from sourcing or making your own materials and equipment, to multiple weaving techniques.
The chapter of therapeutic weaving activities, written in collaboration with an art therapist, will guide you through weaving activities to help ease anxiety, stress, depression and burn-out, along with activities for self-love, happiness, gratitude, relaxation, letting go and hope.
Please note that if you order the e-Book you will be sent a link to access a downloadable PDF in Google Drive.
If you would like to purchase the Kindle version, or you have an Amazon Prime account that will give you free shipping on the paperback you can do so HERE.
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As an artist and creative facilitator I’ve been really looking forward to reading through this book and I’m not disappointed.
It gives a great overview of the equipment and materials you’ll need, including low cost options and how to make your own loom. It covers instructions on how to dress / warp the loom and the set-by-step photos are really useful and easy to understand.
The Useful Techniques chapter was really helpful, giving tips and how-to instructions on things like yarn butterflies and figure of eight shuttle wrap.
As someone who uses the arts in a therapeutic way with the young people and adults I work with, I enjoyed the Off-Loom Weaving chapter as I’m passionate about combing creativity and nature for increased wellbeing. This chapter talks through off-loom techniques that could easily be done when out in nature.
The Therapeutic Weaving activities were also of particular interest to me. They are thoughtfully written and include ways to make the activities accessible and flexible, something that in my own work is essential. It’s full of mindful ideas, such as the Weaving a Doodle, Sensory Weaving and Weaving Hope for the Future activities that I particularly liked and can see myself using within my work.
I’m really impressed with this book and can’t wait to delve more deeply into it with the the people I support and within my own practice.
What a wonderful book! I agree that weaving is a therapeutic craft - I came to it as I had enjoyed macrame & knotting crafts, but crikey - they're hard on the hands! Weaving, for me, is similar in its repetitive nature and I was looking for a book to inspire my weaving practice.
Ellie's book is fantastic & helped me understand how much more there is to explore. The instructions are superbly written & the accompanying photographs are a great resource. This is an excellent guide for trying out weaving, even if you aren't looking for therapeutic benefits.
The tips on recycled yarns and making your own looms make weaving accessible, even for beginners who don't want to invest too much in a craft they haven't tried yet.
I really like section 9 of the book, which is full of ideas for small projects to focus the mind. I also really want to try the idea of weaving on the door from section 7 - that would be so fun!
Overall, highly recommended. :)
The title attracted me immediately.
Going through a massive life change, I am currently struggling to find purpose and peace of mind to re-invent myself...one more time. "Weaving as art therapy for beginners “ is exactly what I need to weave the bits and pieces of my current life into a new patchwork of “something else, of something new”.
I am a true beginner at this weaving thing and I truly loved the time and care Ellie Fisher spent on her chapter 1 and 2 to ease us into discovery this new land of self confidence and learning curve.
All the pictures are extremely helpful to follow along the descriptions and gentle directions. I truly enjoy that we could use what we have at first to give it a go. It’s fantastic for a visual learner like me. Nature weaving will be my first project as I love the combination of sticks and yarn.
I think this is brilliant how Ellie Fischer intertwined art and ways to calm our nervous system, let go anxiety and worry we experience during a life transition through the very symbolic act of weaving. It’s a must read for women, moms and anyone navigating bumpy roads in their life, or trying to disentangle your past and present selves. In this regard, I think it is also a beautiful book for anyone wanting to celebrate specifics milestones.
Weaving strips of fabrics just like a new path into a new chapter of life.
I have worked in all aspects of textiles but weaving is one technique I have yet to explore. In the past I have found 'dressing' the loom to be quite daunting...not any more ...Ellie gives clear step by step instructions with clear photographs. I now feel more confident in tackling this aspect so that I can have fun with my yarn.
It's so important in our busy lives to take time out to be creative and work with our hands ...I loved this book especially the therapeutic weaving activities and the positive affirmations accompanying this section of the book ...I can't wait to try stone weaving ...thoroughly recommend this book, with Ellie's help anyone can have a go and you won't need expensive equipment.
This book is clearly written, and it is an excellent resource to learn weaving. Besides explaining the materials and how to build a loom, the author guides the reader in all the technical aspects of tapestry weaving, using clear step-by-step photographs. Alternatives to using a frame loom are proposed, and how to use different types of materials, there comprised recycling materials. Finally some guided projects are proposed, and the benefits of weaving for our wellbeing are also highlighted. I like the way the book is organized, the honesty of the author, who is an expert weaver who also suggests the benefits of weaving on health, giving the resources to contact art-therapists in the well organized bibliography. A pleasant read, and a resource I'll return to many times in the future.