New Year’s Resolutions: Making Time to Make

New Year’s resolutions are curious things. Each January brings a sense of possibility — a pause in the year that invites reflection and a little recalibration. Often, resolutions are framed around restraint or removal: less of this, none of that. But when intentions are shaped primarily by limits, they can feel oddly out of step with the lives we hope to inhabit. What if, instead, the new year became an invitation to add something in — to make space for curiosity, creativity and the pleasure of learning something new?

From the Selvedge online project, "How to Visibly Darn Your Socks with Katrina Rodabaugh"

Learning a craft is one of the few resolutions that offers immediate pleasure as well as long-term reward. It doesn’t require willpower so much as curiosity and a little bit of free time. It asks for hands-on attention, patience and presence, and in return gives us something tangible: a scarf, a length of cloth, a repaired seam. Unlike more outcome-driven resolutions, making encourages process over perfection. You see progress. You feel absorbed. You want to return to it.

From the Selvedge online project "How to Bind a Book with Rachel Hazell"

This year, many are choosing resolutions rooted in making, mending and more mindful ways of living. Some might begin a visual diary or a slow stitching project; others may experiment with spinning or natural dyeing, set themselves a sewing challenge inspired by a much-loved pattern book, or rediscover long-neglected tools tucked away in a sewing box. These intentions are often small, personal and most importantly, achievable!

From the Selvedge 'Talks' series: Colour with Keith Recker, Amy Butler Greenfield, Jantiene van Elk from TextielMuseum, Carole Waller and Margo Selby

Alongside this, there is growing interest in approaching consumption with greater care: buying less fast fashion, seeking out second-hand or independent makers, and paying closer attention to where garments come from and how they are made. Just two generations ago, clothing required saving, waiting and consideration. Reintroducing that sense of value can be a quiet but powerful shift.

These intentions can be as small or as ambitious as you like — from tackling the mending pile one sock at a time, to finally investing in a loom and beginning a long-held, quietly nurtured dream.

The Selvedge Textile Tour, India, 2026

If you’re looking for inspiration, consider setting aside regular time to read — perhaps one of the many textile titles available through the Selvedge shop — or committing to one of our free making projects that you can return to again and again. You might also choose to engage more deeply with our community by joining a workshop, taking out a subscription, or making a more immersive leap with us on the Selvedge Textile Tour of India — all ways of deepening your connection to cloth, culture and craft. For those ready to share their work more publicly, London Textile Month and our fairs offer opportunities to connect with a wider community of artisans and makers. Whatever form it takes, however big or small, we hope you enjoy the process of exploring your curiosity and trying something new.

Thank you for reading, supporting and sharing Selvedge. Wishing all of our community a very happy last day of 2025 — and wherever your resolutions may take you in 2026, we look forward to hearing from you through our shared interests in textiles and making.

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Image Credits:

Lead: Illustration by @clover_robin

All images as credited in photo captions.