The Impatient Sewist

As I unpacked my rotary cutters and rummaged through my fabrics, I insisted to my boyfriend that I was, in fact, packing for Greece.

As much I love holidays abroad, I’m always sad to leave my sewing behind. I keep promising myself to do more staycations, but after a long British winter you just want to travel south. This time I was determined to bring my sewing with me in whatever way I could.

Knitting and crochet are great for travel because they don’t involve tiny, sharp needles that can get lost and stab unsuspecting strangers. They also have a much smaller footprint than sewing. However, about 30 minutes before I was due to leave the house, I realised that with just a few accessories and pre-cut pieces, my sewing could go on tour.

…easier than I thought

I chose a pattern that I had tested before, so that I didn’t have to worry about fitting issues. Hand-sewing is a slow process so I wanted to make sure it would fit! The project I chose is a low-back, princess seam bodice, which I started making into a dress last September:

My sewing kit consisted of the following:

• Pre-cut pieces for outer fabric, lining, and non-fusible interfacing
• Hand needles
• 3 colours of thread
• Small pair of nail scissors
• Clips (instead of pins)
• Seam ripper
• Tailors chalk

Honestly, I was pretty chuffed with myself bringing that all onto a plane without any problems, in particular the scissors. I’ve sewn buttons on a plane before using seam rippers to cut the thread, but you can end up tugging on your workpiece as well if the seam ripper is blunt.

Mindful hand-stitching

I’m a speed sewist, not by design but due to a lack of patience. There will be a few projects a year that I will force myself to do properly though and this was one of them. I never regret these slow projects, I learn so much and the result is always better.

I hand-stitched everything that week so there was no way I was getting a whole garment done on a 5 day holiday. Accepting I wouldn’t finish the project freed my find to focus on the process instead of the end result. In fact, I didn’t want to “run out” of sewing mid-holiday so the activity became slow, deliberate, and mindful. The craft was about the journey in the literal and figurative sense.

I basted and back-stitched and top-stitched, even doing some embroidery on the flight back. I also realised that doing princess seams by hand is so much easier that trying to ease it through the machine.

This holiday project gave me so much joy and calmness. I love how it is progressing so far, and I think it’s only fitting I do the rest by hand as well.

How to sew on a plane

Finally, here are my tips for sewing on a plane:

• Take a small project, where each piece is no much bigger than a piece of paper
• Keep your pieces in a plastic wallet to store them folded and flat. Stuffing your project in a bag can distort the pieces over time
• Only take out one needle at a time, so you know if you’ve dropped it!
• Use clips instead of pins to attach the pieces. They hold on much better than pins and can’t stab anyone if they get lost
• Use chalk to draw your stitching lines, as this will make your stitching a lot more even and accurate