A Profound Addiction

[kerravonsen]

I have just realized another reason why I have fallen so fast and so hard for crochet. Unlike most of my other crafts, I am enjoying the process just as much as the end result. There is something soothing and relaxing about the interaction of fingers, hook and yarn. One doesn't have to concentrate hard while doing it, one doesn't have to peer at tiny beads looking for the holes, or worry about not poking one's fingers with sharp pointed objects. Even Getting Things Wrong is less stressful with crochet, because it's quite easy to undo one's work back to before the mistake; no undoing of impossible knots, or dropping beads on the floor, or getting out the seam ripper. Just pull gently.

With beading, I do enjoy the designing part, but the stringing-the-beads-on is fussy.
With sewing... I hate the process of sewing. I love the end result, but the process is fiddly and time-consuming and tiring.
Macramé is nice, but crochet is nicer.

This makes me wonder whether I should just toss out my cloth stash and give away my sewing machine, but I balk at the idea.
Anybody got some good ideas about how to make sewing less fussy and more fun?

Comments

[vilakins]

Ni ideas--I hate sewing and only do it when I have to--but what you say about crochet holds true for knitting too. The process is so relaxing; getting there is the real fun. This is why I have to find a way of selling all the stuff I make.

[kerravonsen]

I make stuff to give as presents; with fifteen-odd people for Christmas dinner, that's a lot of people to give stuff to.

[vilakins]

Well, I've given my sister a scarf and beret. Greg lost the beautiful striped one I gave him so he'll be lucky to get socks.

[kerravonsen]

Oh that is beautiful! I love the colours.

[afuna]

It's possible to use your cloth stash to line things, e.g., bags, scratchy hats -- but I don't know enough about sewing to say whether that would be better (because it's smaller compared to a full-sewing project?) or fiddlier (because it's smaller compared to a full-sewing project!).

Crochet and knitting to the exact same thing for me ♥ I love how, once you've started, you can drop them into a bag and then pick them up again any time, without having to set up tools, etc.

[kerravonsen]

It's possible to use your cloth stash to line things, e.g., bags, scratchy hats -- but I don't know enough about sewing to say whether that would be better (because it's smaller compared to a full-sewing project?) or fiddlier (because it's smaller compared to a full-sewing project!).

I'm not sure either! Presumably lining bags would require a cylindrical or rectangular pattern, depending on the shape of the bag in question. I'm not sure how to make such a pattern, though. So it would be fiddlier not because it was smaller, but because it's more difficult because I'd have to devise a new pattern for each new bag.

I love how, once you've started, you can drop them into a bag and then pick them up again any time, without having to set up tools, etc.

Exactly!
Though my fluffy wrap is getting a bit big to shove into a bag. It's living on the sofa at the moment, ready to take up the next time I'm watching a video.

[afuna]

So it would be fiddlier not because it was smaller, but because it's more difficult because I'd have to devise a new pattern for each new bag.


Ah, yeah I didn't even think of that! (Best wishes for your fabric stash no matter where it ends up *g*)

[dreamflower]

I think what you said is one reason I've been on a knitting/crocheting jag for a while now, though I can't totally give up my other crafts. It's so easy to just do it and veg out at the same time. And I don't have to be stuck in my sewing/craft room, because knitting/crocheting are so portable. I can even do them when I ride in the car.

Make sewing less fussy? Hmmm...well, my favorite things I've done lately have been things I can kind of make up as I go along. I mean, I know I'm making a vest or a purse or whatever, but other than the basics of putting it together I enjoy kind of embellishing as I go. A purse is a bag with a flap. I can do all sorts of fun stuff to it.

And altering ready-to-wear is fun too. My latest project is to make a wearable art vest out of a second-hand men's denim workshirt. No worries about seam finishing and such!

Also, for myself, I find the fiddliest part of sewing is altering the pattern and cutting out the pieces, so doing that ahead of time and stashing them until I'm ready to do the project helps.

And I'm getting excited about fis_bom's Block of the Month project. I've never made an actual quilt before, just made small quilted projects like purses or potholders. And I have NEVER paper-pieced before.

I find the best way to keep interested in keeping on with something like sewing or knitting or crocheting (or any other craft for that matter) is to stretch myself by occasionally trying something I've never done before.

[kerravonsen]

It's so easy to just do it and veg out at the same time. And I don't have to be stuck in my sewing/craft room, because knitting/crocheting are so portable. I can even do them when I ride in the car.
Exactly! One can do it in the bus. One can do it while visiting relatives and still carry on a conversation. One can do it while waiting for stuff.

Also, for myself, I find the fiddliest part of sewing is altering the pattern and cutting out the pieces, so doing that ahead of time and stashing them until I'm ready to do the project helps.
True, but one still needs to set aside a certain amount of time and space to do even that, so it doesn't really help.

I find the best way to keep interested in keeping on with something like sewing or knitting or crocheting (or any other craft for that matter) is to stretch myself by occasionally trying something I've never done before.

It's been interesting to notice the way I've been entering into crochet, because it highlights how I tend to approach craft in general (though some crafts frustrate me because I'm unable to use this approach).

Step 1: Read how-to books (and other how-to documents) and teach myself the basics.
Step 2: Practice the techniques by following patterns.
Step 3: Throw away the patterns and make up my own. Never do the same thing twice.
Step 4: Continue to research new techniques and add them to my repertoire.

Sewing frustrates me because I don't know how to make up patterns. Origami frustrates me because I haven't managed to master the basic techniques. Beading doesn't frustrate me because I never have the same beads twice, so every necklace I make is unique.

[dreamflower]

Sewing frustrates me because I don't know how to make up patterns.

Aha! I see. You know until I started figuring out how to do that, I was like the person who commented above-- just thinking of it as something useful, but not necessarily creative, other than that I could pick out the colors and designs of the fabric.

But gradually I got a little more creative with commercial patterns by combining different parts: sleeves from one pattern, bodice from another, collar from a third. This helped me get a bit more sure of my own abilities and also my understanding of what a pattern entailed.

Then I joined the SCA, and began to realize that the commercial patterns for historical garb were either inaccurate or prohibitively expensive for me at the time. But I soon found that there were lots of sites online that have FREE patterns I could make myself-- and learned that mostly early garments were simple geometric shapes. And not only that, but they could be adapted to make modern garments as well! (This pattern can easily be adapted to make a dress for modern streetware.)

I also learned how to make my own dress dummy out of duct tape, which meant I could make up patterns directly on the dummy.

Now I find sewing a much more creative process than I used to.

Your four steps sound rather like my four steps, LOL! Except I'm not sure how deliberate the "never do the same thing twice" is for me, as I may occasionally want to repeat something and never quite seem to be able to. (It may also explain my difficulty with knitting socks in pairs...)

[kerravonsen]

Oh thank you for those links! (bookmarks)

Except I'm not sure how deliberate the "never do the same thing twice" is for me, as I may occasionally want to repeat something and never quite seem to be able to.

Which is really what patterns are for: to be able to repeat something.
But I think one of the reasons why I like to be able to make my own patterns - or "make things up as I go along" is that it makes me feel more in control of the process, and less worried about making mistakes, and that makes it more fun.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

One of the things I love about crochet is the tactility of it. I'm a rather tactile person, and so the feel of the yarn between my fingers it part of the pleasure. It's also why I tend to handle skeins as I'm deciding what I want to use.

I don't really know of a way to make sewing less fussy. I like sewing okay, but it's not something I do "for fun." If I have a costuming project for theater or something, then yes, I can do that. But I don't use my sewing machine for crafts, per se. My sewing machine is more of a useful tool than a way to unwind.

[kerravonsen]

If I have a costuming project for theater or something, then yes, I can do that.

Costuming for SF conventions is what got me interested in sewing in the first place. There was a period when I was making one costume a year, for whatever SF convention I was going to that year.

[jthijsen.livejournal.com]

I like to knit and occasionally I like crocheting. I'd love to be able to sew, but unfortunately never learned that particular craft. Too bad, it would probably be a lot cheaper if I could make and alter my own clothes.

[kerravonsen]

I'm not sure that home-made clothes are always cheaper, but they're usually better quality, yes.

(stares fascinated at cat-haiku icon)