How Do You Express Yourself Through Your Craft?

When LoveCrafts asked how I express myself through my craft, I really couldn’t wait to write a post about it. However, I am introverted & have always been timid when it comes to expressing myself. I over-analyzed, over-planned and engineered a nightmare. Cue in: procrastination.

This post may contain affiliate links. This means that when certain links are clicked on and a purchase is made, we may earn a small commission. Please read our disclosure policy for more information.

Pin It Now, Read It Later!

Let’s Start From The Beginning.

My main form of crafting is crochet. I do a bit of sewing & knitting but crochet and I have always jelled.

For as long as I can remember, crochet has always been part of my life. My mother taught me the craft when I was around 8 years old and from then on I was hooked (pun intended).

During the years that followed, through my primary and secondary education, I would occasionally pick up my hook and just make a dishcloth or a scrap piece of fabric. There  was always a feeling of such peace and accomplishment that came from these simple makes. I cannot deny that it took a very long time to realize that every piece I made was a form of self expression.

After I had completed my studies, my sisters encouraged me to try out bigger projects. I jumped at the idea and even now as I look at my “first” crochet project, I see how much colour and creativity came into play even when it wasn’t a conscious effort.

Somewhere Just After The Beginning.

Looking back, I’ve always used colour as a form of self expression. Even in school where the rules didn’t allow for much flexibility I would still find a way by using different coloured pens to add life to my notes. Funny thing is I still do it to this day!

Discovering the power of colours is what led me to express myself further and add creativity to the mix. During the years that followed, after making my granny square blanket, I taught myself other crochet techniques. Further, I started making children’s clothes, booties, flowers & practically anything I could experiment with.

Creative thinking is not about generating something new from a blank slate, but rather about taking what is already present & combining those bits & pieces in a way that has not been done previously. 

 ~James Clear, author of Atomic Habits.

So it was only a natural step for me to think about joining Instagram, to find like-minded people. A place where I didn’t have to say so many words, just post a picture and people would get what you’re talking about & trying to convey.

In 2018, I joined Instagram. Like the good over-thinker I am, I downloaded workbooks and all that jazz about how to make it work. It was a bit overwhelming at first. Still, I stuck with it. Though I wasn’t as adventurous as I wanted to be. I fell into the comparison hole. Let’s just say it took a while and some help to get me out.

The reason why we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind the scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.

~Steven Furtick, author of Crush the Chatterbox.

The Middle.

Fast forward to November 2018. I shared my granny square blanket photo (the one up there) and the comments were so encouraging. I started posting more of my “wild” makes and ideas. That’s when I started really coming into myself creatively. The more passion, excitement and pride I showed in my makes, the more confidence I gained! Which in turn fed my creativity. I started experimenting with adding not only colour, but fabric, embellishments such as beads and even embroidery to my crochet makes.

A few of my friends tell me that nowadays they can recognize my picture on their feed even before they see my name or read my caption!  One of them went ahead to dab it The Morine Flair. It caught on… I kept the name to describe my use of colour & creativity to express myself in my makes.

How Do You Express Yourself?

How you express yourself through your craft will be unique to you. For me, it’s through the Morine Flair (gosh, that will never stop sounding narcissistic). Which is how I use colour & creativity.

It is important for me to take ideas into my space, reflect on them & synthesize materials out of the ideas I’m taking in.

One form of originality is creation. another form is synthesis.

People often focus so much on creating new ideas that they overlook the value of synthesizing ideas from different sources.

Innovation usually means connecting previously unconnected concepts.

~James Clear, author of Atomic Habits.

Over time, I’ve learnt to nurture my talent and not spend so much time worrying about what others think. If there’s to be a theme in your work, it should be authentic. An expression of who you are. There is only ever going to be one of you in all time!

You May Also Like: