Crafting comfort: Constructing connection during a pandemic

While the world has been in varying forms of lockdown due to a global pandemic, people have turned to fabric. This article explores how material crafts have provided individuals with tactile intimacy during a pandemic defined by isolation, drawing on ideas of touch and sewing as forming both metaphorical and literal connections. The act of crafting provides relief and comfort to the maker, through simple, repetitive actions defined by laws set by the desired product as well as the materials used. It also creates connection through gifting, solidifying bonds between people even when they are a minimum of 2 m apart. People, however, do not only share their crafts as gifts, but also as social media posts, generating online communities providing positive feedback. This phenomenon became so ubiquitous during lockdown that it became evident that people craved productivity during a time where all non-essential work was paused or confined to the home. Whereas crafts as hobbies are usually a separation from feelings of productivity, during the pandemic they became many people’s only means of feeling useful, providing another dimension of comfort and security in a time of instability and isolation. While the popularity of craft making may ebb and flow, this article demonstrates how its benefits are fundamental to human creativity and connectedness.