Mary Carson: How hand stitch can heal

2015 was very tough for Mary Carson. Early in the year, her beloved brother died from brain cancer and in December her mother passed away after suffering from Parkinson’s and dementia. Mary’s world was turned upside down and she struggled to escape her sad thoughts. That’s when she found sanctuary in stitching.

Mary had always been, in her own words, ‘a maker of sorts’ but hadn’t stitched in any dedicated fashion for nearly 40 years.

As a child, growing up in Milwaukee, Mary inherited a love of fabric from her seamstress grandmother. Then as a young woman in the 60s and 70s, Mary started sewing out of necessity; she is tall and at the time stores didn’t stock garments to fit her frame. But she started to resent having to make her own clothes and as soon as designs became available in her size, she walked away from sewing.

After a four-decade break, hand-stitching helped Mary find a sense of peace; the challenge of turning fabric and thread into visual stories provided a welcome distraction from her grief.