How do you sew?

I’m trying to start sewing seriously…and for me that means hunkering down in the sewing room and being able to have at least a couple hours at a time to sew. (I can’t buy any fabric if I’m busy sewing!) Now I know that it is a luxury, but I do have my own sewing room. In that room I have a small tv with a VCR (!) and a DVD player. I pretty much have that tv on the whole time that I am in the room because I like having the voices. I also think that it is good for me because it forces me to look up every once in a while to relieve my eyes.

In the past week, I have gotten some work done on the pink quilt that I am making for niece. It’s pretty large and has a lot of small pieces (do I sew any other way?!) so it’s a little slow going…but steadily it is coming together. It’s up on my new design wall (I’ll show pictures of that soon!) so it stays organized and well ironed. Love it!

But I have to admit that I was waiting for a couple of tv series on DVD to come in the mail before seriously sewing because I kind of need the double motivation of the tv series and the prospect of finishing a quilt to get me going. I rarely sew with just music…I like to have something that I can stop and look at.

So how do you all sew? In silence? In chaos? With music? With a tv going? Is sewing your only time of peace or is it always full of this and that?

 

43 thoughts on “How do you sew?”

  1. I sew while listening to an audiobook….sometimes music (Taylor Swift!) I will completely ignore the TV if it's on because I can only focus my eyes on one thing at a time. Every now and then I'll sew in silence–this ususally follows a day where the kids have been particularly loud.

  2. I tend to sew between two rooms – my dining/craft room which is where my sewing machine is and the living room where I like to cut and select fabrics and do fiddly stuff. If I'm alone in the house and doing a lot of work at the machine – like quilting – I like to have music on. Otherwise I have the TV on. I tried to watch The Kite Runner Saturday night while sewing – but it didn't work as most of the film was subtitled I missed the whole point lol

  3. I need silence when I need to concentrate, like on how to lay out and cut a particularly complicated pattern.. but when I do chain piecing, music in the background is quite nice. I like having the radio on. Sadly no tv or dvd in my sewing room so it is radio or nothing!

  4. I tend to listen to podcasts. But when I'm all caught up on those, I turn the tv on. I like to pop in old movies that I've seen a million times before so I don't have to watch it, but just listen and know what's going on.

  5. I have a teeny windowless sewing room that I love. The only chances I have to sew really are very early in the mornings before everyone else gets up, or when Cooper is sleeping. I don't listen to music because of that. Although I probably should give it a try!

    When my husband is out of town (which is rare thank goodness), I have brought my sewing machine upstairs to our dining table and sewed late at night while watching tv.

  6. I sew jut like you.
    I need to have voices around so the tv is always on. But I prefer to have it on tv series, cause the characters are known and I don't need to concentrate on the movie which needs more of an effort to follow.

  7. With the radio on. I will sometimes get out some audio books – but havnet done that since I set up a table for my machine in the guest room. There is no CD player in there- just an alarm clock radio.

  8. I work full time so as a rule, the only time I get to sew is after G's bedtime and during her naps on weekends. My sewing space is open to the rest of our open-plan townhouse and while she sleeps heavily (THANK GOODNESS), I don't want to tempt fate by adding music to the mix. So I sew in silence; it's not that bad, actually. And if it happens that I'm sewing while she's out (at preschool or out with Daddy), I listen to music.

  9. It just depends on my mood. The other day I had the TV on for company. Today I am listening to music…and sometimes I sit in silence…but the silence makes my mind wander and then I get distracted.

  10. My sewing moods change. Sometime I get so busy I sew all day in silence.. I have to get up and take breaks so that is when I get my computer time in.. like right now! I can't have the tv on to listen to then I keep getting up to go SEE…
    mostly. silence… 😉 happy sewing!

  11. i can't sew with music. it strongly affects my mood and after less than half an hour i'm too nervous to do anything …(if i had to work surrounded by music i'd surely have gone crazy after the first day). but listening to the tv is always okay…i don't even have to look at the tv, just need the company. even better if i can listen to an audiobook (but it's hard to find a good one).
    silence…horrible!

  12. I sew with the tv on, but my machine is such a noisy old clunker that I usually put on movies that I've watched a gazillion times before, so I don't feel like I've missed anything if I don't catch all the dialogue. Plus, my sewing room is upstairs, my cutting board is downstairs, and my iron is in the basement so I'm constantly moving throughout the house to get projects done. It's a pain in the butt, but hey I'm getting a workout doing all those stairs! 🙂

  13. My sewing machine faces out the window because I always like to have a connection to the outdoors. Most of the time I have silence but I sometimes have the radio on a talk station and occasionally put the TV on.

  14. it's usually quiet when I sew… I like it quiet. 🙂 Oftentimes, Jay is next to me on the computer, so Ill have a little computer noise… sometimes he has the TV on in the other room. 🙂

  15. I mostly sew in silence or sometimes with music on in the background. When hand sewing I generally sit in front of the tv and watch movies, but I find that if the movie is any good, I want to watch it again, sans sewing, so that I can actually see what is going on. I have tried audio books in the past and enjoyed them. I think I'll try them again. But you're right – when you are sewing you can't be buying fabric!

  16. Mostly silence. If I remember, I'll turn the stereo on to the 'mommy's music' playlist, but usually I forget and am too lazy to walk to the other room to get it going! I fear I'd make so many mistakes if I tried to watch TV at the same time….I do embroider in front of the TV, tho.

  17. I watch dvds/or listen to music. Generally if I'm watching dvds it has to be something I have seen before. I can't sew in silence though like you I need voices! I tend to plan in silence though… anything that requires thinking through needs quiet lol!

  18. I've been experimenting. I have a sewing room but I don't always like it so quiet. My husband was out of town last night so I put my machine in our bedroom with the tv and I enjoyed that. I've checked out an audiobook from the library but I haven't put it on the computer & iPhone yet. Sometimes I put Pandora on but I end up getting bored with it after a while.

  19. I prefer to sew with a movie on. At the moment I'm set up not near anything with sound and I have the kids with me pretty much 24/7 so I sew any moment they are occupied and I have the energy which isn't often.

  20. I'm with you… I have the tv on when I am sewing. If I am really getting into a project then I turn on a movie or put in a DVD from the Friends tv show series. I have even been know to sew through football games and Ancient Aliens. Hope you are able to jump right in and enjoy the process!

  21. Great subject! I sew, usually with my 5 kids around me asking about this or that, fighting, playing, etc.. But my mind is 95% on what I am sewing and I love it. Multitasking right?

  22. Even though CD's are "antiques" now, I put a CD in the player and listen as I sew. When it reaches the end of the CD, I get up and walk around, go get some water or stretch. I've got the ironing board lowered next to the table, so when something needs to be pressed, I just turn sideways in the chair to press and don't even have to stand up and walk to the ironing board. Having that CD player going, and knowing once it gets to the end of the CD I need to get up – that's JUST the hint I need to stretch and rest my eyes from all the tedious work.

  23. Typically I have on trash tv or a movie I've seen a million times, so it's a minimal distraction. But when I'm on a deadline it's tv off and either silence or iPod.

  24. I dont watch much TV, but I do have the radio on when I sew. Sometimes audiobooks. Depends on how much I need to concentrate. I have my own sewing room too. I actually have a 4 bedroom house so I am very blessed….although I am only renting it 🙂

  25. If I want to be productive, I put on music. If I put on TV, I make horrible time because I simply look up more than I look down! Sometimes I need absolute silence to get through a challenging aspect of my sewing – like zippers or turning things inside out. 🙂

  26. I usually stream movies or tv on my computer through Netflix. Usually something I've already seen, so I don't have to pay too close attention to it, but I agree, it's good to look up occasionally. If I can't find anything I want to watch on Netflix, I'll pop a video in my computer. By using my computer, I don't have to have a permanent place for the tv to sit, and I can move my computer easily to accommodate whatever I'm doing on my sewing table!

  27. What a great question. I have always been wondering what other people do while sewing… I used to "watch" TV, but now we moved into another flat and I have a sewing room under the roof (very cozy, but a lot of head bumping going on)… and I found myself listening to socker on the radio. The weird thing is that I would almost never watch socker, but listening to it on the radio is great fun to me! Only when I try a new pattern or have to calculate, I switch the radio off.

  28. I usually sew in the mornings while the little guy is at Kindy and the big kids at School. I have either morning TV or the radio on. That way I'm aware of the time passing, otherwise I might get to engrossed in what I'm working on and forget about pick-up time. I use the kitchen timer too, to remind myself. I do like to sew to loud music 🙂

  29. This is so interesting! I usually do most of my sewing during the daytime when the kids are at school so then I sew in silence. Sometimes I might do some sewing in the evening when everyone else is about (we have an open plan space and I sew at the dining table) and I don't mind there being stuff in the background then, just as long as it's not anything that I actually want to watch/listen too – otherwise I just can't concentrate! I'm the same when it comes to blogging too!

  30. I sew all over my house, but if I'm in the 'studio', I usually always have the radio going. That's where I do the mid-arm quilting, cutting, and ironing.
    If I'm in the living room, sitting at the coffee table where I do fiddly bits like tracing appliques or pinning, I've usually got the TV on, and it's usually CSI or NCIS reruns. If I'm doing piecing on the regular sewing machine, which is to one side of the living room, it's a toss up whether I've got anything on or not. Sometimes I have to concentrate so I don't mess up the piecing and then it's just me and my machine whirring along.

  31. I usually sew in silence because I do not have a tv in my sewing room.

    Recently we installed a wood stove..mmmmmm… and so I have pulled my sewing gear down to the basement and I enjoy having the tv on and talking with the husband lol

  32. It depends what I'm doing, if I'm cutting, basting or arranging, then I will usually have a DVD playing or something.

    If I'm actually sewing, then I usually have music or an audiobook playing. I just depends what I'm doing….

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