Folk embroidery and eye health
The wonderful art of folk embroidery offers many benefits, from creative expression to improving hand-eye coordination to overall wellness, and it is an activity that can be enjoyed life-long. However, the intricate detail work involved in stitching and embroidery can place strain on our eye health, so maintaining optimal vision is vital for any of us who embroider or craft. Let’s look at some practical tips that will allow us to enjoy the relaxation and creativity that embroidery provides while keeping our eyes strong and healthy.
Tip #1 Know Thy Optometrist
If you wear prescription glasses, it’s time to have a heart-to-heart with your optometrist! At your next eye appointment, take an embroidery project with you and show your optometrist how far you hold your hoop away from your eyes. Many optometrists will prescribe “computer” or reading glasses for those of us who do handcrafts, but the standard focal depth for this type of lens is 20 inches, which is often too far away for embroidery work. Most of us hold our embroidery about 12-16 inches away from our eyes and it’s important for our optometrist to set a correct focal depth when prescribing eyeglasses for embroidery work. For example, my everyday prescription lenses are set with a standard 20-inch focal depth for when I work at my laptop. However, my embroidery glasses are set with a focal depth of 14 inches because this is how far away from my eyes I hold my embroidery when I am stitching.
If you wear prescription glasses (reading, progressive, etc), I highly recommend having your optometrist give you a separate prescription for “embroidery” glasses with a shorter focal depth and stronger magnification (I always write “daily” and “embroidery” on the respective prescriptions so I don’t get them mixed up!).
About a decade ago, I had a wonderful optometrist who suggested I have dedicated “embroidery glasses” with extra magnification and a shorter focal depth and these glasses have kept me stitching comfortably with minimal eye strain for years now. To make them more budget-friendly, my optometrist prescribes these as single vision lenses so I only have to buy an inexpensive pair for embroidery. They live in my embroidery basket (or in my BitKit Blue Poppy drawstring bag when I travel) and I only change the prescription every 3-4 years, so it’s a minimal investment with huge returns.
Tip #2 Lighting
Having proper lighting in your stitching area helps prevent eye strain so choose a light that provides ample light directly over where you are stitching. This can be as simple as putting a floor lamp near where you sit to stitch or clamping an inexpensive LED light to your workstand or table. I use a clip-on LED light bar with an adjustable Kelvin setting that attaches to my Lowery workstand. I find that the adjustable Kelvin setting also helps prevent eye strain as I can set it at the “warm white” (2700-3000K) setting and it provides a nice, soft glow on my stitching. If you don’t have room for a floor lamp or a table or workstand to clamp a light to, try using “around the neck”-type book lights. I often take these with me when I travel so I can be sure of having good light wherever I stitch.
Tip #3 The 20-20-20 rule
To reduce eye strain, there’s a rule called the “20/20/20 rule” that optometrists recommend and it’s really easy to remember: every 20 minutes, look 20 feet out for 20 seconds. This gives your eye muscles a little break. For those of us who embroider, the natural time to do this is every time we thread our needle with a new length of floss. Floss change? Time to look out 20 feet for 20 seconds.
Tip #4 Blink and you won’t miss it!
It is very easy when we are caught up in the wonder of embroidery to get so focused that we can forget to blink regularly, especially as we’re concentrating on a particularly intricate detail or section. As you are embroidering, notice if you’re forgetting to blink and if you are, try and blink every few stitches. This helps prevent eye strain and dry eyes.
Tip #5 Eye health for the long haul
To maintain our eye health so we can embroider comfortably well into our golden years, it’s important to have an annual eye appt in which your optometrist will check your macula and your eye pressure to prevent macular degeneration and glaucoma.
It just takes a few simple steps such as the 20/20/20 rule, talking to your optometrist, and having good lighting that will allow you to embroider comfortably, ensuring that you can practice this beautiful art for years!
