So here I am, all fired up to get going on my wool coat, and I will be leaving town for one week on Saturday. Which means I will only have a few hours tonight and Thursday night to commit to sewing. So no major coat progress until the end of the month.
Knitters and crocheters have it good. They can pack up a couple skeins of yarn, needles, and a pattern in their handbag and work on their garments just about anywhere. Unfortunately, sewing projects are not quite so portable.
I suppose I’ll pack a few sewing reference books to read during the flight and during down-time when I’m at my in-laws for Thanksgiving next week. I never tire of Couture Sewing Techniques. This would also be a great time to really dive into Just Pockets. I recently ordered used copies of Couture: The Art of Fine Sewing and Sensational Silk; I’ll cross my fingers that at least one of them arrives before the weekend.
Before I head to the airport on Saturday, I am going to drop off my sewing machine at the Pfaff dealer for regular maintenance. These tune-ups usually last a week, which is an unbearably long period of time to be sans machine. But getting this done while I am out of town means I won’t even miss it.
How do you keep up with sewing while traveling?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
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17 comments:
Hmm, I understand your frustration, I live away from home 3 nights a week for work. I catch myself thinking through projects during the week, sort of doing them in my head when something is stumping me, and it helps. Sewing visualization, LOL. And here's some food for thought, are your inlaws in SF? There's a bay area PR meetup next Saturday, check the boards for info if you'll be around.
I'm actually a knitter first, so I don't really have that problem. Except for when I went to the meeting for my quilter's guild, and I was knitting while everyone around me was sewing. I guess cute patches of embroider to work into larger pieces later would travel well?
Leslie - Yes, my inlaws live in the East Bay area, but I am returning to Seattle on Friday 11/23! Darn. Let me know how it goes.
that is the good thing about knitting. I have a few projects for when I got to my family homes during the holiday season.
and I recently bought 3 sewing books also.... I think I'm in a learning mood right now.
I can totally relate to being without a machine, it's torture! It's definitely best to schedule the machine "spa" treatment while you're out of town. Enjoy your visit and enjoy some sunny weather for me! :-)
I, like you, read. But I'm also a crocheter.
I've been meeting to write a rant about how it's hard to sew on the road. Have a great trip!
But knitting doesn't help when you're feening for some sewing action on the plane! ;)
Hand sewing bores me to tears, so I always save the annoying handsewing stuff (hems, buttons, hook & eyes, etc) for my social sewing nights, like my monthly crafty club and the meetup.com group.
Though there are times when my timing isn't quite right and I'm rushed. Like tomorrow, when I'm pretty sure I'm going to be hemming my LBD over my lunch hour so I can wear it to a cocktail party tomorrow night! I just need to find a lunch spot with clean tables...
I think the most I do is make notes for future projects and ideas. I even ordered some fabric while we were in Spain because I had a lightening bolt about the next set of handbags I want to make.
I do knit so I have taken projects with me in the past but that's definitely decreased since I started sewing.
I started crocheting and knitting, so it as you said in your blog there is no problem taking those projects with you on your trip. I haven't figured out a way of sewing on the go unless you want to do hand sewing, and that's not easy to do while in a moving vehicle (lol).
I mentally prepare myself that it just aint gonna happen. I try to find a fabric store or two to visit while I'm on vacation but that's it. For me it is very hard to put aside something that I think about each and every day! :)
My machine needs a service, but I can't part with it for even a few days, because I always seem to need it for something. On holidays, I buy fabric, or patterns, sometimes cut-out projects or beg / borrow an old machine from somebody's cupboard to stich up a quick little something. One holiday I bought a bundle of gorgeous evening remnants grouped together and spent a whole fortnight re-arranging them into potential handbags and a paneled skirt. My partner wondered how I could fill in so many hours just staring at bits of cloth.
I am a knitter and crocheter as well as a sewer or sewist (sounds better), however, if I am going to be away from home for more than a couple of nights my portable machine (Brother 400D) goes with me. It's a great way to pass time in a hotel room.
Haha, I don't. ;)
I definitely understand the frustration of not being able to sew while traveling, since I don't crochet or knit at all! As far as airplane travel goes, I usually just use books and music to occupy myself-- it's not like you can carry needles and scissors on planes these days. And on the road, I'm the one driving, so obviously not sewing then! Fortunately for me, a lot of the friends I visit on an overnight basis (who are all within driving distance) are crafty themselves. So we'll do things like watch movies and craft at the same time. I generally limit myself to hand-sewing hems and things of that nature though, since machines are noisy and hard to carry. Either that, or I'll work on my scrapbook or make a necklace instead.
Those are great books, and it is a good idea to take them with to get some reading done. You may even get more great project ideas! I travel with my sketchbook, and when I get ideas I always (try!) to get them scribbled down. I hope some others have good tips about working on projects while being away from home. My biggest frustration is not being able to do handwork like sewing on buttons or hemming on airplanes, because I can't have scissors. And the plane ride is often the most down time I have on trips!
Well, I knit, I crochet and I read! I always have to keep my hands busy!
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