Picture an apple. What do you see? While some people can vividly see an apple, others can’t see anything (for more details, see this great article). The condition of not being able to visualise, aphantasia, is something that many people have without realising it; personally I didn’t realise I had it till I was 26. Having aphantasia doesn’t affect the way I go about my life, but it has affected some of the choices I’ve made, whether it be my career choice or sewing.
Lacking the ability to visualise, my mind has compensated by being a very analytical thinker. I mean, I am a scientist by profession! I learnt to sew as a child and it was one of the few creative pursuits I was good at. As an adult I started sewing again in earnest as a creative outlet from my stressful PhD and fell in love with it. But not being able to visualise anything and having a very analytical mind has certainly impacted my sewing habits.
Not being able to visualise the next step, or how a given step in the sewing instructions works has some advantages. Because I can’t visualise how a step is going to end up, I follow instructions like a recipe, even if at first glance the instructions don’t appear to make sense. Although sometimes this leaves me with a long date with my unpicker, mostly the instructions are written well enough that following them gives the desired outcome.
But not being able to visualise what clothes I already have in my wardrobe, how a new piece of clothing or style will go with everything else in my wardrobe, or even how a patterned fabric might look in a garment is always a challenge. To compensate for this, I have a defined style and colour scheme so that most of my clothes go together. I tend to buy fabric and clothes that are part of a safe colour scheme, patterns, and style, unless I have someone shopping with me. I remember one day many years ago I looked in my wardrobe and realised every jumper I owned was blue! I do have to say that it isn’t that bad these days…
The thing I struggle with the most while sewing is going off-script. I’m good at following instructions (whether it is in sewing or otherwise). However, I really struggle with breaking the rules, whether this is hacking a pattern, choosing a not suggested fabric, or even imagining how a fabric will look differently to that used on the pattern envelope. I have found online communities like Instagram and Pattern Review very helpful in this respect. If I am thinking of sewing a new pattern I will look at other people’s makes for inspiration. However, I still struggle to go beyond the pattern envelope and hack a pattern. I mean, I like to shorten or lengthen patterns and add pockets, but when I purchase patterns I look for those with multiple views so that I get lots of options without having to hack the pattern.
I am still trying to work out how I can make my sewing better despite my aphantasia and use it to my advantage. I have been sewing again for nearly 4 years and for about half of that time I have known I have aphantasia. If anyone has any suggestions of what they do to help themselves or others, I am all ears!
Tanita has been sewing since she was a child before starting sewing clothes again in earnest nearly 4 years ago. She grew up in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia but now lives in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia, and can be found on Instagram at @sewtanita.
I am astounded that this is a condition….. and that I have it also! I may not be completely ‘blind’ in my minds eye, I can see glimpses of memories, but try and visualise something new and that is not possible. It explains a lot though as I too have similar issues with thinking about a different material/pattern etc and have learnt to look at others makes and reviews for inspiration also. I find some instructions need to be ‘tried out’ before I accept it as I cannot visualise what is meant, so will mock it up and manipulate the components and then a wee lightbulb will go on 🙂 Many thanks for writing about this and enlightening me, will be looking into this now and very glad to know.
I hope this article helps to understand why!
I don’t think I have this condition but I cannot jump ahead with a pattern and understand what’s happening. I’ve always just assumed I had bad spatial reasoning. I’m an incredibly process-driven analytical person (in my job and my crafting). I can imagine the impact of a certain fabric on a finished object (the drape and hand are quite knowable for me), but to have any understanding of the full pattern before I get through each step (and make the thing twice), is not likely for me. And Lord help me with pictures and drawings. I learn through language/reading. Infographics take me 10 minutes to suss out. It’s strange how brains work so naturally in some domains and so unnaturally in others. But hey, hasn’t stopped me from sewing and loving what I make.
Exactly, I love the fact that there are so many different ways of doing sewing and all can help different people.
Wow, thanks for sharing about this. I am a reading therapist and I have worked with students with similar visualization issues who struggle with reading comprehension because they can’t visualize what they are reading. I never knew before that this was a condition with a name. I would be fascinated to hear about your experiences with learning to read, if you’d be willing to share, either here or via email. aschertle at yahoo dot com. I love your comfy jumpsuit!
Thanks, as a kid I was a pretty good reader, was ahead of the class and loved to read but as an adult as my time has gotten shorter I had stopped. Now prefer non-fiction (and just trying short stories) where it doesn’t matter where I leave it.
I don’t have this condition, in fact I can visualise in colour 3D and manipulate the object – so quite enjoy things like bagged linings where it all turns out at the end. My sense of scale isn’t always accurate though so not necessarily great for room planning for example!
However reading about your point of view is very helpful as it helps me understand that this visualisation is not the case for everyone, and is perhaps why when planning sewing for others they can’t imagine what I’m describing for them, because its a picture in my head but not in theirs (sadly my drawing skills are not great).
Its good to appreciate the differences and therefore find ways to communicate. Thank you!
I’m glad you have found it helpful. A Drawing certainly helps!
I never knew this had a name. I have this too. I remember things in the past as though I am talking to myself explaining what happened but I can’t picture it in my head and I often get very confused with instructions as we but now I just tend to trust in the process and hope for the best. I usually stick to the fabrics in the pattern and just keep practising in the hope I will understand things if I have done them a few times. Thanks for the explanation 🙂
Mich
Thats how I feel too 🙂
This is totally me as well! I often rely on my memory for what other things look like to help me when pattern hacking but it’s not a visual memory… it’s just a knowledge of the facts of that item of clothing, if that makes sense?
So great to read about another sewist who has the same thing! Also great to see another Tassie girl who sews!
That makes sense, it is definitely a skill I want to try to expand. definitely!
I also have aphantasia. I’ve known almost all of my life (I realized early on that my siblings could visualize details). I’ve actually gone in a completely different direction with it though. I have a decently scientific/analytic mind, but I became a designer. I think as a kid, I compensated by drawing what I couldn’t see (something I’m also somehow good at???). I’ve been sewing for almost 12 years now and have very rarely used patterns. I often use clothing that fits me well as a guide and then modify (similarly to how you modify your patterns). I also have a dress form and use tissue paper (like the kind for wrapping presents) to mock up my patterns on the dress form and on myself before doing any cutting, so that I know that the pattern will come together and fit how I want it to. I often have to think about things for a while before starting in order to figure out the order of how things should be sewn together or what direction the grain should go in, etc. It’s like I deduce/figure things out in my head and store them so I can put all that together logically, not visually. For patterns/colors sometimes I’ll sketch them out to see if they’ll go together or bring a small scrap with me to the fabric store. Hope this helps! 🙂
That’s so fascinating! Thanks for sharing!
Very fascinating! Thanks for this insight.