Updated June 08, 2015.
Simple tasks become a challenge with joint pain, joint stiffness, and other physical limitations caused by osteoarthritis. The disease can affect nearly all activities of daily living -- cooking, cleaning, shopping, working, and more. Your ability to participate in leisure activities and hobbies may even be affected.
Take sewing for example. Manipulating material, scissors, and sewing needles may be difficult if you have hand osteoarthritis.
Sitting for long periods of time, to either hand sew or use a sewing machine, may bother you if you have neck osteoarthritis, hip osteoarthritis, knee osteoarthritis, or spine osteoarthritis. Your passion may become a pain, literally.
As the old joke goes:
Patient: Doctor, it hurts when I do this.
Doctor: Don't do that.
But don't be so quick to give up something you enjoy. Here are some sewing tips to help you overcome the difficulties:
Be aware of proper posture. Make sure your chair height and table height are aligned to keep you in a comfortable position. Consider a lumbar cushion to support your back.
Keep preparedness and organization in mind. Before starting a project, gather everything you think you will need. Organize sewing materials so that they are within your reach. Have a reacher handy for things that are out of reach by necessity.
Adapt and adjust your environment to how you feel. Adjustable tables make great cutting tables. Some sewers have used ironing boards modified with a large, flat surface.
Look for easy-to-use, ergonomic equipment. Examples: Fiskars Razor-Edged Softouch Scissors; straight pins with large, easy-to-grab heads; self-threading needles; auto-retractable tape measure; bent-handle dressmaker shears; rotary cutters.
Tackle projects at a reasonable pace. Take your disease into account when setting goals for the completion of a project. If you have to miss a few sewing sessions, don't worry. Just pick up where you left off the next time you can sew.
Take breaks. Remember to get up, move around, and stretch. If you try to sew without taking breaks, it becomes drudgery.
Clearly, you know yourself best. You know how repetitive motion or maintaining one position affects your arthritis. Be aware of body signals that indicate you are overdoing. But don't misinterpret those signals as meaning never do!
Simple tasks become a challenge with joint pain, joint stiffness, and other physical limitations caused by osteoarthritis. The disease can affect nearly all activities of daily living -- cooking, cleaning, shopping, working, and more. Your ability to participate in leisure activities and hobbies may even be affected.
Take sewing for example. Manipulating material, scissors, and sewing needles may be difficult if you have hand osteoarthritis.
Sitting for long periods of time, to either hand sew or use a sewing machine, may bother you if you have neck osteoarthritis, hip osteoarthritis, knee osteoarthritis, or spine osteoarthritis. Your passion may become a pain, literally.
As the old joke goes:
Patient: Doctor, it hurts when I do this.
Doctor: Don't do that.
But don't be so quick to give up something you enjoy. Here are some sewing tips to help you overcome the difficulties:
Be aware of proper posture. Make sure your chair height and table height are aligned to keep you in a comfortable position. Consider a lumbar cushion to support your back.
Keep preparedness and organization in mind. Before starting a project, gather everything you think you will need. Organize sewing materials so that they are within your reach. Have a reacher handy for things that are out of reach by necessity.
Adapt and adjust your environment to how you feel. Adjustable tables make great cutting tables. Some sewers have used ironing boards modified with a large, flat surface.
Look for easy-to-use, ergonomic equipment. Examples: Fiskars Razor-Edged Softouch Scissors; straight pins with large, easy-to-grab heads; self-threading needles; auto-retractable tape measure; bent-handle dressmaker shears; rotary cutters.
Tackle projects at a reasonable pace. Take your disease into account when setting goals for the completion of a project. If you have to miss a few sewing sessions, don't worry. Just pick up where you left off the next time you can sew.
Take breaks. Remember to get up, move around, and stretch. If you try to sew without taking breaks, it becomes drudgery.
Clearly, you know yourself best. You know how repetitive motion or maintaining one position affects your arthritis. Be aware of body signals that indicate you are overdoing. But don't misinterpret those signals as meaning never do!
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