Why I Think Sewing Is Like Going on a Road Trip 🚗🧵

I’ve recently come to the conclusion that sewing is a lot like going on a road trip.

Not a carefully planned, sat-nav-following, everything-goes-perfectly kind of road trip.

I mean the sort where you set off thinking, “This will be lovely and relaxing,” and a few hours later you’re wondering how on earth you ended up here, why there’s a tractor in front of you and whether you really need to turn around… 😂

Some days, sewing is pure motorway driving.

You’ve got a nice long straight seam ahead of you, the machine is happily humming away and you can just keep going.

Straight lines.

No drama.

No decisions.

Just pedal down and stitch, stitch, stitch.

It’s actually incredibly calming. There’s something very therapeutic about watching metres of fabric glide underneath the presser foot while your brain gets a little bit of peace and quiet.

Then suddenly…

BANG.

You’re off the motorway.

Now you’re in a tiny country village with roads barely wide enough for the car.

This is where the sewing gets interesting.

You’ve got tight corners to navigate.

A little turning here.

A little manoeuvring there.

Perhaps a bit of reversing because, actually, that seam wasn’t quite where it was supposed to be.

And yes… sometimes you have to back up.

Backstitching.

Obviously. 😂

Then there are the roundabouts.

You know the ones.

You approach confidently thinking, “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

And then halfway around you suddenly think…

“Wait. Which exit am I taking?”

Pretty much every sewist has experienced that moment.

And then we come to piping.

Piping is definitely one of those narrow country lanes where you’re concentrating so hard on staying on the road that you’ve forgotten to breathe.

You’re trying to get the fabric, cord, seam allowance and stitching all lined up perfectly while negotiating a curve.

Slowly.

Carefully.

No sudden movements.

And then there’s the ultimate sewing road trip challenge…

The zip.

Putting a zip into something is the sewing equivalent of Spaghetti Junction.

Multiple lanes.

Multiple directions.

Absolutely no idea which one you’re supposed to be in.

You approach with confidence.

You’ve watched the tutorial.

You’ve got your zipper foot ready.

You know what you’re doing.

Probably.

Then suddenly there are pieces of fabric going in different directions, the zip is somehow upside down, you’re trying to remember which side should be where and you’re questioning every decision that brought you to this particular junction.

And just when you think you’ve completely lost the plot…

You make it through.

The zip is in.

It actually works.

And you sit back thinking:

“Look at me. I’m basically Lewis Hamilton.” 😂

Of course, not every sewing journey goes smoothly.

Sometimes you take a wrong turn.

Sometimes you have to unpick several miles of stitching.

Sometimes you realise you’ve sewn something together that was very definitely supposed to be somewhere else.

And occasionally you arrive at your destination only to discover…

you've forgotten to put petrol in the car.

Or, in sewing terms, you’ve forgotten to put the label in.

Or the magnetic snap.

Or the lining.

Or, most annoyingly of all, you’ve sewn the whole thing beautifully…

inside out.

Back to the beginning we go.

But perhaps that’s actually what I love about sewing.

There are the long, peaceful motorway stretches.

The winding country lanes.

The unexpected diversions.

The wrong turns.

The moments where you have to reverse.

The bits that require complete concentration.

And those wonderful moments when you finally arrive at your destination and look at what you’ve made and think:

“I made that.”

And just like a good road trip, sometimes the journey is every bit as enjoyable as getting there.

Even if you do get stuck at Spaghetti Junction along the way. 🧵🚗😂

So if you’re having one of those sewing days where nothing seems to be going right, just remember…

You’re not doing it wrong.

You’re simply taking the scenic route.