This month, we wanted to shine the spotlight on some of the brilliant women working for The Social Element, taking a look at what side-hustles and passion projects members of our team are involved in.
Today, Alysha Jones, Junior Content Manager tells us all about her passion for sewing.
Alysha Jones / @awildflowersews
Alysha has always been into crafts.
“I’ve always been a crafty person, but I never found my thing until I started embroidery as a calming hobby in my final year of university in 2019 and completely fell in love with it! I spent most of my free time crafting and after uni, I moved into my flat with my husband which meant I finally had space for a sewing machine. That same year, I bought myself everything I needed to make my first ever item of clothing for my birthday and made myself a pinafore dress and I haven’t stopped making since!”
Alysha’s found that sewing and embroidery have been mindful, positive hobbies that have brought her joy and helped make her more confident.
“Having a skill that you can hone and continuously improve on is so exciting and it’s amazing when you can look back and see your progress. When I first started sewing, I could just about sew a straight seam, but I kept making new things and growing my skills until last year, I made my wedding dress!”
It’s also a way to continue the traditions of her family.
“Lots of my family are seamstresses, and being able to continue that and share that part of my heritage with them is really important to me.”
For Alysha, passions and hobbies are an excellent form of self-care.
“I think having a passion or a hobby is important, and a brilliant form of self-care! For me, sewing and embroidery have helped me be more creative and improved my attention to detail which is important in my job, but it’s also been massive for improving my mental health! Especially during covid, it was a really hard time as my husband was quite unwell so was very vulnerable and crafting gave me something positive to focus on and kept me going – I still use it as a way to help me manage stress! I think having a passion can help us not just to better ourselves but to take better care of ourselves too and helps us to become better people in the long run!”
