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Transcript:

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello, and welcome to Love To Sew. I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: And I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co.

Caroline: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Helen: Join us for today’s topic: Sewing and Travel.

Caroline: Hi, Helen.

Helen: Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: How are you?

Helen: I’m doing well, thanks. How are you?

Caroline: I’m so good. This past week we had some gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous weather, and it’s just putting me in the best mood.

Helen: Oh, I know. Same. I actually went for my first swim of the season yesterday.

Caroline: Oh, my gosh. Yes!

Helen: Hoo! The water’s still very cold.

Caroline: It was a cold plunge.

Helen: It was a cold plunge. Yes!

Caroline: Oh, good for you though. Oh, my gosh. The weather was perfect for that because you probably came out and you got to just bask in the sunshine, and…

Helen: Oh, yeah. Once we got out it was fine, but when I was in there I was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

Caroline: Was it a very brief swim?

Helen: Yes. It was a very brief swim, but I did put my head under. We got fully in.

Caroline: Oh, my gosh.

Helen: And so did Sam, and so did Sam’s mom, Laurie. We all jumped in the icy lake and then, jumped right back out again.

Caroline: Oh, I love it.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Congrats on the first one of the year.

Helen: Thank you!

Caroline: Cheers to many more.

Helen: Oh, yes. I’m so excited. It’s always a nice way to mark the beginning of the summer season.

Caroline: Ugh. Love this weather. Love this episode ‘cause we both love sewing and travel. So I’m excited to talk about what we’re gonna talk about today.

Helen: I know I love both those things separately. I will say I don’t have a ton of experience bringing sewing projects on my travel trips, but we’re gonna go over some tips for that today and talk about our personal experiences travelling with projects and things like that. It’s gonna be fun.

Caroline: And we’re also gonna talk about sewing retreats, which we do have some experience with.

Helen: That’s true. Love a good retreat, but we’re starting this episode with a question. We have a question here from Ruth: “I live in York, England where we have great fabric and sewing shops. Shout out for Boyes where I’ve bought fabric my entire sewing life. I still have a seersucker tablecloth I made on a hand sewing machine at primary school. I’m now retired so there’s more time to sew and travel.

“When travelling, one of my favourite things to do is to seek out fabric and haberdashery shops. I’ve just been to Oslo, Norway, and the only souvenir I bought, due to a very limited hand luggage only trip, was six buttons for a jacket I had just finished making. The jacket was made from linen I bought at Gala Fabrics in Victoria, BC.”

Caroline: Ooh.

Helen: Oh, my gosh. I love Gala Fabrics.

“On a trip I take swatches of fabric in case I need any buttons or other trim, and I have all my favourite patterns in a photo album on my phone for inspiration just in case I happen upon some must-have fabric. One of my best sewing travel experiences was a guided tour of the New York garment district where we visited some amazing places, and I’ve made several well-loved garments from the material I bought that day.

My eldest daughter lives in Pemberton, BC, and we often stay in Vancouver on trips to visit her. I’ve bought some fabric in small shops on Granville Island, but I’d be really interested to know all the great places to shop for fabric in Vancouver if you know of a good list?”

Caroline: Ooh.

Helen: Sure do!

Caroline: Hi, Ruth. Ooh. I love these questions, and I love your message. Fabric and notions are amazing souvenirs, and we love that you’ve collected and used unique things from all the places that you’ve been. And I bet that every time you wear a garment you made with your souvenirs, you remember the trip, which is so cool. Helen, I know that when you travel, you love fabric shopping.

Helen: Oh, I do. I always try to leave a little room in my suitcase to pick up some textiles. One of the most memorable fabric shopping adventures I went on was in Thailand and actually used Meg from Cookin’ and Craftin’ had written a blog article because she used to live in Thailand. And she wrote a blog article about fabric shopping there, so I basically followed her guide.

And I went to some of the shops that she mentioned, the area that she mentioned. And there were so many shops, and it was so busy, like, everywhere in Bangkok is pretty busy, so it was very intense. And I tried to learn a little bit of Thai before I went so I could actually ask, you know, how much for this many metres when I was looking at fabric.

And of course, a lot of the people there are catering to tourists, so they just answered me in English and, kind of, laughed, laughed off my attempt at speaking the language. But it’s always nice to try. And I’ve definitely gotten some beautiful fabrics there. One of my absolute favourites is this kind of tropical linen print. I have a Reynolds Dress and an Ashton Top made out of, and I just cherish every little scrap of that fabric. We’ll have to dig up some pictures for the show notes, but it’s absolutely gorgeous. Like, royal blue and red and yellow and white, and it’s just stunning.

Caroline: Was that your first Reynolds Dress, like, prototype that you made in that fabric?

Helen: Yes! The prototype and everyone was like, I need this dress in my life. And I was like, okay. Pattern coming your way.

Caroline: I remember. That is such a striking, beautiful fabric.

Helen: Oh, yes! It’s absolutely gorgeous. And I’ll be honest, I bought probably, like, six or seven different cuts of fabric on that trip because there were so many beautiful things. And I think I’ve used about half of them. But I have a tendency to hang on to the fabrics that I get when I’m travelling because they feel that much more precious…

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: …and I really wanna make something out of them that I’m gonna cherish and love. And it puts a little bit more pressure on sometimes. So some of them are still sitting in my stash, unfortunately, but I do still love them.

Caroline: They’re waiting for you for when you’re ready.

Helen: Exactly. So that was really fun. And then you and I also went to the garment district in New York, Caroline. We’ve been a few times, three times now I wanna say…

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: …when we go to Camp Workroom Social, we always stop by Mood Fabrics. B&J is another one that we really liked.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: And Gray Line[s] Linen, Ugh, just a store full of linen. What more could you ask for?

Caroline: Oh, my gosh. I know I have such great memories of shopping in the garment district in New York, and Mood is the, is the experience.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: Mood is one of my favourite places to go, just to see all of the fabrics that they have and, kind of, explore the different floors and, ugh, yeah. Just so fun.

Helen: Yeah. And then when you leave, you can go, thank you, Mood.

Caroline: Yeah, exactly. And then you’re always on the hunt for Tim Gunn. Is he there? Is he not?

Helen: I’m more on the hunt for the dog.

Caroline: Yes. Watch. Oh.

Helen: I’m like, where is the dog? I need to pet it.

Caroline: Oh, my gosh. Yes. Lovely, lovely, lovely fabric shopping options in New York if you’re ever there, everyone.

Helen: I think when you’re shopping for fabric while travelling, you have to be a little bit more decisive because it’s so easy to be overwhelmed. There’s so many shops. You’re already overwhelmed ‘cause you’re in a different location. You’re trying to find your way. You’re trying to interact with people you don’t know, maybe in a language you don’t speak.

And so if you see something you like, you, kind of, just have to go for it. Be a little bit more impulsive. Obviously, stick to your budget, but don’t wiffle waffle on things. If you really love something, I think when you’re travelling, you just gotta like, go for it.

Caroline: Yeah, I really love Ruth’s idea of having all of their favourite patterns in an album on the phone…

Helen: Yes!

Caroline: …because I feel like we always have, like, complicated ideas for how to, like, log your patterns, but it’s such an easy way to just have your patterns on hand and be able to just go through them really quickly. If you’re the kind of person that needs to know what sort of project you’re gonna make with a fabric before you buy it, have those favourite patterns on your phone, and it’s just always accessible.

Helen: Yeah, exactly. And make sure you have, like, the cover image, but also the fabric requirements so…

Caroline: Exactly. Yeah.

Helen: …you can get what you need.

Caroline: Yeah, I know that you probably get this question a lot, Helen, but when you’re shopping for fabric, how many metres do you get, like, as a default if you don’t have a project in mind?

Helen: Three is, kind of, my default. If I really think I’m gonna make a dress, I might get three and a half or four, but I think this is really dependent on your size.

Caroline: True.

Helen: Like, I’m around a size 16/18, so three to three and a half is good for me. But if you’re a size, like, zero to six, you could probably get away with two or two and a half. And if you’re on the larger end of the size range, you might wanna get four or four and a half. So, I don’t know, it really depends on your personal size, your sewing preferences, what kind of stuff you like to make. But yeah, it is, kind of, nice to have an idea of a default amount that you can get. So if you’re just shopping, kind of, randomly and you’re not planning on making any projects, you can have that number in mind for when you get to the cutting table.

Caroline: Totally. And you also want to remember to note the width of the fabric because something that’s narrower you’re gonna need more of, obviously, and something that’s wider, like sometimes denims can come in, like, 70 inch wide, in that case, you probably don’t need that much.

Helen: That’s true. Yeah. And I like to buy lighter weight fabrics when I’m travelling for obvious reasons. They pack up a lot smaller. Buying wool coating and denims and things like that when you’re travelling, it just becomes a hassle when it comes time to pack up your suitcase or even just walking around with the fabric the rest of your shopping day. I mean, think about all these things before you buy, for sure. Because you don’t wanna be hauling around a big heavy bag while you’re going to the rest of the shops.

Caroline: No fleece when you’re travelling ‘cause then you’ll be carrying around a garbage bag.

Helen: That’s true. But it’s a light garbage bag at least.

Caroline: I still remember in New York when you bought some wool fabrics for Pona Jackets

Helen: Yes. I know I did not heed my own advice.

Caroline: Or you learned from it, and now, you’re giving me advice.

Helen: It’s true. Yeah. But that wool, I could not, I could not resist. I had to have it.

Caroline: It was beautiful. Okay, let’s move on. We wanna answer Ruth’s question about Vancouver. So here are our favourite sewing destinations in Van. So Dressew is one of them. Spool of Thread, Atex Designer Fabrics that’s right across the street from Dressew. Button Button is also right around the corner from Dressew.

So that’s a really great little spot to visit ‘cause you can do a three in one. If you’re into yarn, Baaad Anna’s is amazing, and there are lots of yummy restaurants and good bookstores and other shopping near all of these places, as well. So check these out. Those are our favourite spots to hit up in Vancouver if you’re a little crafty or if you’re a sewist.

Helen: Dresssew is not to be missed. It’s such a fun store. Two levels. The lower half is all notions. It is incredible down there.

Caroline: More zippers than you’ll ever see.

Helen: Yeah, every zipper you can imagine, every, like, buttons galore. There’s a great little clearance section down there, too. And they have good prices on those fabrics, so, yeah, not to be missed. I love Dressew. I used to go there all the time on my lunch breaks when I lived in Vancouver. It was the best.

Caroline: And so many buttons, too. And they pick up a lot of deadstock from local designers and manufacturers. So there are always treasures to be had at Dressew.

Helen: I know. It’s, like, it’s, people always wanna go to Blackbird, I know, when they travel to Vancouver. And then, they’re like, oh, it’s not open to the public, but it’s okay. We have Dressew. It’s a good close second, you guys.

Caroline: Yes. Okay, so we also got an email from the fabric store Das Blaue Tuch. I’m not a hundred percent sure that I’m pronouncing that correctly. They are in Munich, Germany, and they told us about their huge online database of international sewing patterns. So we wanted to tell all of our listeners about it.

Their website says they have 9,500 patterns from 37 countries. You can filter by garment type, sewing level, plus or petite sewing, and more. You don’t buy the patterns on the site though. It links you to the pattern company website. I think this is such a cool way to find patterns you’ve never seen before. There’s even a lot of patterns in English that I hadn’t seen.

I think any fairly experienced sewist would do just fine sewing a pattern in a language if you don’t speak that language. But you can follow the diagrams and use the knowledge that you already have. So don’t be intimidated by that. But if you speak another language, even better. I speak French, so this is a great way for me to find some French patterns that I don’t see on English-speaking Instagram.

And yeah, it’s just such a cool tool. We’re gonna link Das Blaue Tuch in our show notes. Everyone should definitely check it out. I know the Foldline also has a great pattern database that I use all the time, but I love having options because sometimes you’re just looking for a specific type of pattern, and you wanna see all of the versions of it before you make a decision.

Helen: Yeah, I do this actually when I’m designing sometimes. I’ll be like, I wonder what else is out there in this ura, kind of, the style that I’m thinking of doing for a pattern. And I’ll go and have a look at what’s available. And it’s amazing that even after all these years and all these patterns, there’s still holes in the market. Sometimes you just can’t find the exact thing that you’re looking for.

Caroline: Yeah. We recently ran into that with swimsuit patterns ‘cause we were looking for swimsuit patterns to sew up some samples, and yeah, I mean there’s not as many swimsuit patterns out there as I thought there would be, especially if you’re looking for a specific style or specific size. A lot of swimsuit pattern size ranges are, kind of, limited. So if anyone out there wants to design a swimsuit in a good size range, have at it, there are holes in the market.

Helen: Oh, my gosh. Amazing. Yeah, this site seems really cool. It’s nice to have an international focused database of patterns, so definitely gonna link this one up, and people should go check it out.

Caroline: Alright. Should we get to the rest of the show, Helen?

Helen: Yes. Today’s episode is all about sewing and travel, so we’re going to chat about adding sewing time to your trips, the tools and types of projects to bring, do’s and don’ts for sewing on the go, and sewing activities that you can plan while you’re travelling.

Caroline: We’re also gonna talk about sewing retreats and conventions, how to find them, and what to expect while you’re there.

Helen: We’ll give ideas for planning your own sewing trip. Ooh, I like the sound of that.

Caroline: And finally, we’ll give some ideas for how to make your me-mades look presentable while you’re travelling.

Helen: Ooh, okay. Let’s talk about sewing away from home. There’s often downtime on trips, for both family and work, and you can fill those times with sewing. And I think especially if you really love sewing and it’s a big part of how you calm yourself down, or how you bring focus back into your life, or how you spend a little bit of me time, it can be important to bring something like that on your travels so that you can have that time with yourself.

Caroline: Oh, a hundred percent. I did this last summer when Shea and I went on a little weekend getaway to one of the Gulf Islands here in BC. And I brought my sewing machine, and I brought some projects that I had cut out, and I sewed, like, two things, and it was amazing. And I absolutely loved sewing while I was travelling ‘cause I knew I was gonna have a lot of downtime, and yeah. And then, I had two new Orchard Dresses to wear on my trip, so…

Helen: Oh, that’s so cool. I remember when you did this, and I was pretty jealous ‘cause you guys also had this beautiful Airbnb…

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: …and you were sewing in, like, a puddle of sunshine, and I was like, oh my gosh. So cool.

Caroline: Yeah. It was so nice. Okay, so you might be thinking, what should I bring with me if I’m gonna be sewing on a trip? So obviously, the first thing is that you can travel with your machine. There are rolling totes and cases that you can put your machine and other supplies in, and some sewing machines come with these, but for others you’ll have to buy a separate one.

Helen: It’s a good idea to bring an extension cord along with your machine. You’re not gonna know exactly what the table and outlet situation is gonna be like where you’re going. So make sure you bring that extra cord.

Caroline: Yeah, that’s a really good tip. And if you plan to check your sewing machine case or bag when you’re flying, you may wanna pad out the bag with clothes, towels, or other soft items so that your machine is snug inside. Of course, wrapping your machine in bubble wrap or foam is always a good way to protect it without adding extra weight.

Make sure to turn the hand wheel to put the needle all the way down. This protects it from damage, and that’s not just if you’re checking a bag. Literally, any time you’re transporting your sewing machine, try to have that needle down into the machine. Let the staff know that your bag is fragile and consider getting insurance.

Personally, I don’t think I would check a sewing machine because baggage handling can be pretty rough, and I just wouldn’t wanna risk the damage on my precious machine. I’d probably carry it on and put some of my clothing and toiletries in the bag. You do you. And I think that you can probably do it and still be successful if you do a really good job of padding it out.

Helen: Yeah. I do think it could probably be done, but I would be so nervous about it.

Caroline: I know.

Helen: And people bring, like, pretty huge carry-ons on the plane these days. Let’s be real. So I think you can probably swing it, bringing it as a carry-on.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: You could also put your sewing machine a regular suitcase. Again, padding it out so it doesn’t bump against the sides as you move it. You just have to find kind of the right sized suitcase.

Caroline: And some sewists travel with smaller or lighter weight machines. Just be careful with mini machines ‘cause they don’t usually work that well. It would suck to spend a trip fighting with a crappy machine. Plus, they’re not that much cheaper than a basic machine that’s on the lighter side. A lot of basic machines are between 11 and 13 pounds, which isn’t that bad. Suzy Quilts recommends the brother CS5055, which only weighs 10 and a half pounds, and it has full functionality, tons of stitches, and even buttonholes.

Helen: Whoa. That’s awesome.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: I remember Jasika Nicole was on the podcast early days, Episode 18 I believe, and she was talking about travelling with her sewing machine…

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: …‘cause she travels for work a lot as an actor. And it was, it feels like so long ago, but I can still remember her telling us about padding it out. And I think it was a Janome Jem that she was travelling with.

Caroline: I love that you remember that.

Helen: 200 episodes later. Still got it.

Caroline: Seriously.

Helen: Okay. You can check it out if you wanna hear us talk to her about it.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: I mean, listening to her talk about anything is delightful. So Episode 18.

Caroline: Yeah! Check it out. Okay, so if you don’t want to travel with your machine, which is totally understandable, you can still bring a sewing project. Hand sewing supplies take up a lot less room than a sewing machine. So we have some hand sewing project ideas for you.

Helen: Yes, you can do hand finishing steps on otherwise machine sew projects like stitching a lining onto a jacket, or hand binding a quilt, or doing a nice little rolled hem. I mean, this is a great way to finish those WIPs that we’ve been talking about.

Caroline: Oh, yeah! You can handwork a button, even…

Helen: Ooh!

Caroline: …like, add some hand sewing techniques to a project that maybe otherwise wouldn’t have them. You can also hand stitch a whole garment. Fibr and Cloth Studio has an ebook about hand sewing stitches that you can look at. If you’re not sure how to do it, a small project like an Ashton Top would be perfect. Have you ever hand sewed a whole garment, Helen?

Helen: I have not, but I’m feeling really inspired by this. I think I’m gonna cut out an Ashton top for my next little vacation and see what happens.

Caroline: Yes. I feel like Meg from Sew Liberated has done this and shared about it, so if you’re looking for some inspiration, maybe check that out. Yeah, that would be so crazy.

Helen: You would feel, like, really accomplished by the end.

Caroline: I know. I feel like it would be, like, that feeling when you first start sewing, like, all over again…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …where you’d wanna show everybody the thing you made, but you’ll be like, I actually did this with my hands.

Helen: Right? Another thing you can do while travelling that’s really fun is embroidery. This is an amazing time to stitch some embroidered embellishment onto a garment you already have.

And here’s another idea. You know how some people do embroidery journaling? They embroider a bunch of images related to events in their lives over, say, an entire year. But you could do the same for a trip. Like, every time you had some downtime, you could embroider little doodles based on the experiences you had on that trip. And at the end of the trip, you could have, like, a little embroidered piece that just, like, shows your whole trip. You could put it on your wall.

Caroline: Yeah. I love, love, love this idea. It’d be so fun. I love any kind of, like, improv embroidery or quilting or ‘cause you can just, it’ll be, like, a reflection of how you were feeling in that moment. I don’t know, so cool.

Helen: Exactly. Just go for it. Free.

Caroline: Be free. You can also do hand patchwork, like paper piecing hexes. Ooh. Or Helen. what if you did, like, the Playful Placemats, but then, saved the actual quilting for a trip and hand quilted them?

Helen: Oh, totally. That’s a great idea. You piece it all. You can sandwich it all together, get it all ready to go. And then on your trip all you have to do is the hand quilting. It’s a nice small project. And then you could even bring a pair of scissors. You can trim it down at the end and do the hand binding, too.

Caroline: Oh, my gosh. This is so cool. I feel like that would be a really fun travel project…

Helen: Totally.

Caroline: …‘cause you could also, I don’t know, you could do it while you’re sitting outside basking in the sunlight or…

Helen: Oh, I’m definitely sitting outside in this scenario.

Caroline: …in front of a fire, I guess. If the lighting is good enough.

Helen: Bring a little headlamp…

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: …or, like, one of those task lights with you. Yeah.

Caroline: Okay. So you probably won’t wanna bring all of your sewing tools with you when you travel. So what would the essentials be?

Helen: I think you definitely need scissors. I would probably bring a pair of dress shears and a pair of embroidery scissors for snipping and a couple of hand sewing needles, maybe an extra machine needle if you’re bringing your machine. You can take a small piece of felt and stick your needles into it. Or even better, you could make or buy a little needle book to travel with.

Caroline: Yeah, you’re gonna want pins and a pin cushion, as well. Obviously, a seam ripper. We always need to have that seam ripper just in case. But actually the embroidery scissors might also work in a pinch.

Helen: That’s true. Yeah. And you can get tiny versions of a lot of tools. Like, I have a little teeny tiny seam ripper in my toolkit, so I don’t know if it matters, but if you’re, like, really tight for space, you can get all the tiny versions of things.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: You’re gonna want some kind of marking tool and a, maybe a small retractable tape measure is a good idea. Hem gauge could be handy, too, and it won’t take up too much room. It could double as a ruler if you need one, as well.

Caroline: I think those are the bare essentials. Of course, you might need other things depending on what you’re working on. So I would definitely recommend reading through the steps on your pattern and making a list of what tools you’ll need to use. And then, if you’re making a drawstring, you can bring a loop turner. Or if you’re sewing a collar, you can bring a chopstick for the points. Preparing in advance is gonna really pay off because I don’t think it would be fun if you brought a bunch of stuff on a trip and then, you realise you forgot, like, the matching thread.

Helen: Yeah, the thread. That’s what I was thinking of, too. Oh, my gosh. That would be such a bummer.

Okay. Let’s talk a little bit about what stuff you can bring onto a plane because it narrows it down a little bit, and it obviously depends on the country you’re going from and what country you’re going to. Don’t take anything with you that you wouldn’t be okay replacing, even if you’re sure it meets the regulations because sometimes they just take things away from you, even though you’re allowed to have them

Caroline: Totally.

Helen: And you don’t know what they might ask you to leave behind. So don’t bring grandma’s special thread snips with you on your carry-on.

Caroline: Yeah. Okay. So the USA’s TSA says that the following things are okay to bring on the plane: scissors under four inches from the pivot point. So embroidery scissors should be okay, but shears won’t be. You’re gonna wanna check those shears in a bag. Sewing machines, sewing needles, nail clippers, 7ou can use these to cut threads, knitting needles, and crochet hooks. We threw those last two in there because we know there’s some crafty crossover among our listeners.

Helen: Oh, yes. So you see a lot of people, I mean not, maybe not a lot of people, but there’s always at least one person knitting on the plane.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Me and one other person. So the TSA will not allow scissors with blades over four inches. Rotary cutters definitely not. Or circular thread cutters. Other items with blades like that. They don’t want blades, basically. I’m, kind of, surprised by the four inch thing because scissors with four inches from the pivot point, like, that’s still like a pretty big pair of scissors.

Caroline: Yeah. Well, I think that’s why it’s, if you are checking a bag, things like scissors, it’s probably best to just put that in there just so that you’re sure they’re not taken away ‘cause you never know, right?

Helen: That’s true. Okay. What about irons? Because we want to be able to press our projects when we’re working on them. And hotel irons are not always super reliable. We’ve definitely had bad experiences with irons spitting water everywhere. You have a few options here for travelling. You could bring your regular iron. Obviously, this is gonna work best if you’re travelling by car, but if you have room in your checked baggage, you could shove it in there.

Caroline: You can also bring a travel iron. Oliso’s mini project iron is absolutely adorable, and you know it’s gonna work well. There’s also the Dritz Petite Press Mini Iron, which comes at a lower price point but doesn’t have any steam. And you can also just not bring an iron at all. Finger pressing or steamrolling might be enough for what you’re making.

I also had a thought, like, if you want to use an iron in your hotel room, you can buy an iron cover. We used to have these in school. It’s just like this piece of metal, the size of an iron plate. And it has, like, a metal coil that you wrap around the back of the iron, so it just attaches to the front of the iron just in case that iron is, like, gunky or something.

So you have, like, a fresh surface, and then, you could use, maybe, a little spray bottle. Instead of risking using the steam and having that iron spitting weird water on your stuff, you could just use a little spray bottle to get that dampness that you might need and use the iron that’s available to you.

Helen: That’s smart.

Caroline: So that’s, kind of, a good alternative to seam rolling or finger pressing ‘cause that might not work for your project.

Helen: Yeah, it depends how involved a sewing project you’re doing. I mean, if you’re just hand sewing an entire project, maybe you just plan to give it a good press when you get home.

Caroline: True. Yeah.

Helen: If you wanna have a full ironing kit with you, you could bring a mini ironing board. IKEA sells one that’s pretty great. However, you could also just bring a foldable ironing mat or a wool mat. All you need is a flat surface to lay it on. You’re ready to go. A towel on the bed or the floor can also work in a pinch. I guess it depends on how minimalist or maximalist you wanna be with your packing. And it also depends on where you’re going, what you’re making. I mean, if there’s a shadow of a chance of someone having an ironing board where I’m going, I’m probably not gonna bring an iron ‘cause it’s just quite heavy and bulky, so…

Caroline: Yeah, totally. One last thing, it’s not on the essentials list, but maybe it should be: task lighting. So Helen mentioned this earlier, but a headlamp or wraparound neck light could make the difference between you sewing and you not sewing on your trip. So that’s always something to keep in mind. And obviously, for me, like, if I’m flying, I’m gonna bring way less. But if I’m bringing my car, like, I’m packing that ironing board and the iron, I’m I, anything that can fit, I will bring, just in case I need it.

Helen: Oh, my gosh. I love it. Are you planning to bring sewing stuff on your honeymoon, Caroline?

Caroline: I don’t know, maybe.

Helen: You should. I wanna see some pictures of you sewing on the beach.

Caroline: Oh, my gosh. Yes. Okay. At least hand sewing. I’ll bring some hand sewing. I feel like one of those embroidery journal projects…

Helen: Aw.

Caroline: …would be so lovely to do on our honeymoon…

Helen: That would be so nice.

Caroline: …‘cause that would just be so memorable.

Helen: Okay. We have a few more tips on how to sew when travelling. Here’s a great one. Cut out your project in advance. It’s tricky to find a good place to cut things out while you’re travelling, so finding a good place to sew things together is a lot easier than cutting them out. Just prep and cut everything ahead of time. You’ll be good to go.

Caroline: And if you really wanna cut out your fabric while you’re at your destination, you can make a portable cutting table and ironing board combo. Take two small folding tables, a foldable cardboard cutting mat, and an ironing mat. Lay the cardboard cutting mat over the folding tables for cutting. Put the ironing mat on top of them for pressing. Obviously, this idea is more practical for car travel than plane travel, but you know, sewists, we gotta do what we gotta do to make it work.

Helen: Yeah. Exactly. Oh, this sounds great. I mean, imagine having, like, that giant surface when you’re travelling. That would be awesome.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: You can also do some of the steps like interfacing and things like that ahead of time.

Caroline: Yes!

Helen: So they’re, you’re just ready to get right to your sewing machine. You’re gonna wanna make yourself a little kit with everything that you need, put your tools and notions in a little bag to contain them, and then, put it and your fabric pieces in a larger bag. Having everything in one bag makes it easy to grab whenever you’re ready to work.

And this is also, I think, a really fun pre-trip project. You can make yourself a travel sewing bag, so something that can hold everything that you need, maybe has some fun pockets or even a set of bags, so you have one for your notions and one for your projects, and then, you put it all together. So fun.

Caroline: This is making me think of having, like, a sewing go bag.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Like, imagine, like, when you’re pregnant and you need to have, like, a hospital go bag, but, like, a sewist, you have a sewing go bag. Like, just in case you gotta run out the door and you need a sewing project, you just grab it and go. It’s always ready to go.

Helen: I keep my knitting project in a little bag by the couch for whenever I wanna work on it, and I always throw it into my travel bag so I have something to do while I’m travelling.

Caroline: Love it. If you travel often and you wanna make packing your sewing stuff easier, you can make a packing list of your essentials. Make a printable one and print it four to a page, or make one in the notes app on your phone and reuse it. This is a great tip because I feel like there’s so many little things and you might have your favourite tools that you wanna make sure you remember, and if you have a list, you’re just gonna know that you will have all the things you need, and you won’t be stressing about it.

Helen: I don’t need a list because I have a sewing go bag. I’m already packed.

Caroline: That’s actually the perfect, perfect solution.

Helen: You can look for resources at your destination, as well. You could call sewing shops and ask if you could use their space and sew while you’re there. They might even have a machine you could use. Some places offer this as a service for a small fee. You can come in and use their space. Shops or community spaces that have sewing classes and open sewing hours are especially likely to have this option.

And if all you need is a room with an outlet and a bit of elbow room, you can check with the hotel to see if they have a conference room. Or community centres nearby might have something, libraries, colleges, even parks, a lot of them have community spaces that you can use. So you could look into that.

Caroline: I love the idea of going to a sewing shop or, like, a creative space where they might have rentable sewing machines or rentable space to use because you might meet other sewists…

Helen: It’s true.

Caroline: …and be able to make new friends in a new city. And some of the time that can be, like, a situation where you make, like, a lifelong friend. And it’s just, I don’t know. It’d just be so cool to meet someone that also sews when you’re on your trip.

Helen: Yeah, it’d be, it might be a fun little meetup that you could plan with somebody that you know in that destination. You could go to a local sewing shop together and do a little bit of sewing. That would be so fun. And if you’re planning ahead, incorporating those sewing adventures into your trip can really make things memorable.

You can look for sewing meetups in the city that you’re travelling to. Google and Meetup.com and the websites of local fabric and craft shops are great places to check to see if there’s any meetups happening. I think a lot of sewing groups would be delighted to meet a new person from a different place. And you could even bring your hand sewing to a knit or crochet meetup. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind. They’d be delighted to have you.

Caroline: Yeah. And then, you can tell them all about how great sewing is and just inspire them to start sewing, too. It’s a gateway. You can also check for sewing classes in the city you’re travelling to. You’re gonna learn new skills and meet new sewing people. This sounds so fun. I wanna do this more often ‘cause I feel like taking a little class and meeting new people in a place I’m travelling to would be just the best.

Helen: Oh, so fun. I really like taking cooking classes when I travel…

Caroline: Yes!

Helen: …because I get to learn how to make local cuisine. And yeah, you get to meet lots of fun people. It’s really great. You can also check the city sews hashtag, for example, #VancouverSews or #ChicagoSews, for the place that you’re travelling to. They might have a sewing hashtag and you might be able to find some sewing people, maybe get some travel advice, make some new friends. Obviously, be respectful of people’s space and time, but you never know who you might meet out there.

Caroline: And of course, you could also meet people at a place that has open sewing time, like we mentioned, and work on your project at the same time.

Helen: Another thing that I think would be incredible is to plan your trip around a Frocktails event. A lot of major cities have Frocktails events, and if you’re planning to go somewhere and you’re not sure exactly when you wanna go check and see when their Frocktails is because if you can get a ticket to a local Frocktails event when you’re travelling, that would be the most fun.

Caroline: Absolutely. When we did Vancouver Frocktails, we had some folks come up from Portland and Seattle, and that was so, so fun because you know sewists, we just bond over sewing, and…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …it’s just a fun way to incorporate travel and meeting up with people at the same time.

Helen: Such a memorable night. Just amazing. I love it.

Caroline: I was trying to find a photo of my outfit recently from Frocktails, so I got to go back and look through our photos from Vancouver Frocktails, and oh, it just gave me the warm and fuzzies. I had such a good time.

Helen: Yeah. It really was.

Caroline: Okay. If you wanna go whole hog with your travel sewing adventures, sewing retreats are the best. A sewing retreat is a trip with lots of planned sewing activities by the hosts. There can be classes, free sewing time, fabric shopping, a group bonding activity like hikes, themed parties and games. Meals are usually included and eaten together with the other participants. So it’s, kind of, an all-inclusive sewing experience.

Helen: Definitely. And retreats are a great way to level up your sewing, too, because you can learn new skills. You get a lot of work done in an inspiring and fun atmosphere. If you always find yourself wishing you could set aside more time to sew, this is definitely one way to do that. I know at Camp Workroom Social, where we’ve been to a few times, there’s a lot of moms who attend, and they love having that free weekend to focus on their sewing time. It’s really special and important. So I love seeing them getting all of that time to just sew, sew, sew.

Caroline: Yeah. And they’re also a great way to share your love of sewing with other sewists. You’re gonna meet cool, creative people who can talk about sewing for hours, and maybe you’ll even make some lifelong friends.

Helen: Oh, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll make a lifelong friend.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: I love that retreats combine sewing with travel. A lot of them are held in places that are destinations in their own right, and I think the best way to see the fall colours of upstate New York is in between sewing sessions of course.

Caroline: A hundred percent. I think we can attest to that, Helen.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: It’s also nice that retreats are planned out by someone else. You don’t have to worry about cooking or cleaning or setting up the itinerary. Someone else is doing a great job of that. You just need to show up with some fabric and a good attitude.

Helen: Yes, you do, kind of, have to go with the flow when you go to a sewing retreat. And there’s often a lot of opportunities to take time to yourself. They can be a little bit overwhelming at times. But you know, there’s often times where you can just take a moment, hang out in your room, go for a walk.

You can bring your own snacks if you’re worried about not having, you know, enough snacks to eat or whatever it is. You know, you can, kind of, take care of your needs and also enjoy the atmosphere. And you’re probably gonna have an amazing time, but I know it can be a bit nerve-wracking and, and a bit overwhelming to do that much socialising in one weekend.

Caroline: Yeah. And sometimes retreats will have options to, like, upgrade your accommodations to have a little bit more privacy. I know Camp Workroom Social offers that option. And if you’re the kind of person that it feels uncomfortable sharing a room with a bunch of strangers or maybe just you know yourself and you know that you’re gonna need that social recovery time, just know that there might be some options out there for you. So don’t rule out a retreat just because of that. Speaking of Camp Workroom Social we had such an amazing time at Camp all three times that we went. Actually, I think, Helen, you went four times, right?

Helen: I believe so. Did you go three and I went four?

Caroline: I think so, yeah. We went three times together. And then you went one year before I did, so…

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Oh, my gosh. Cherish the memories, honestly. It’s, like, some of the best times of my life.

Caroline: Absolutely. Camp Workroom Social is in upstate New York, and it’s held in fall, and there’s also a spring session now, oth great times to visit upstate New York. It’s so gorgeous there. The fall camp is around the same time as the legendary Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival, so you can go and hit both.

There are great classes you can take, open sewing hours, lots of fun activities. Fall is a more general themed sewing camp, and spring is wardrobe week, which is focused on creating your dream wardrobe. We have a couple of episodes where we talk about our Camp experiences and interview the host and founder Jennifer Wiese. Check out those if you are thinking about going.

Helen: The other thing that I love about Camp Workroom Social is that it’s near New York. So after, you can go to New York and go to the garment district and go to a Broadway show and eat dinner every night with your sewing bestie, Caroline.

Caroline: Yeah, I have such great memories from Camp and also such great memories of the New York trips that we would always tack on…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …because the bus that takes you to Camp picks you up in New York in the garment district, so you’re, kind of, forced to stay there, often for at least one night just to be able to make the bus. So we would always add on some extra time to visit around and check out some of the sites and go fabric shopping, obviously, as we already mentioned.

Helen: Oh, yes. Oh, and after, and when the trip is over, everyone goes back to New York and everyone gets off the bus, and a lot of people go fabric shopping in groups after that as well, because they’ve made all these friends and all wanna go get some fabric.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Okay. Straight Stitch Designs hosts a Maker’s Retreat once a year in Washington State, in a former convent actually, but you don’t have to act like a nun to enjoy it. There are a bunch of activities and classes. Some are free sewing time. Others are focused on learning new techniques. Last year, they had espadrille sewing, clay resist indigo dyeing, and macraweaving. I would love to try all of those things. It sounds idyllic.

Caroline: Mamas Who Dream is an annual retreat for creative parents of colour. I know about this one because they reached out to us and asked Blackbird Fabrics to sponsor the event, which we are going to be providing some fabric for some of the attendees. So I thought this was such a cool retreat. It’s held once a year in Deer Isle, Maine, and you choose one studio art session out of six that are offered: sewing, quilting, knitting, ceramics, textiles and fibre, or writing. And they also offer daily yoga, hikes, and mindfulness sessions, and there are sliding scale prices, as well. So check it out. It sounds like such a cool place to go.

Helen: StyleMaker hosts several retreats every year. There’s a Summer Camp Weekend, a Sew Your Own Jeans Weekend, and a Maker Jacket Weekend coming up this year. They are held at the Maker’s Hideaway, which is a big house in Snohomish County, Washington. And there are accommodations for 10 guests and a dedicated maker space. It looks seriously so cosy. This retreat is on the more luxurious side, and by the way, you can also book the Maker’s Hideaway for your own sewing retreat, which sounds awesome. Caroline, I think we need to look into this.

Caroline: Yes. And if I’m not mistaken, there’s also, like, a fabric store, fabric shopping component because StyleMaker has fabrics there…

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: …so you can actually go and shop while you’re at the Maker’s Hideaway. It does look like such a beautiful space. And yeah, I just feel, like, a little sewing retreat. I don’t know. I, I think we need it, Helen.

Helen: Oh, my gosh. That would be so fun. We could invite lots of people. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh, Caroline.

Caroline: Oh, my gosh.

Helen: Okay. Speaking of luxury, and if you’re in the mood to do a little bit more travelling with your sewing travel, Susan Khalje hosts tours of Paris and London that are focused on couture sewing, designer fabrics, and fashion history. She arranges talks with experts, museum visits, sewing classes along with classic entertainment, like an elegant afternoon tea in London, and of course, fabric shopping. And these trips sound so dreamy, so much fun. We had Susan Khalje on our show, if you wanna hear a little bit more from her, past guest, and she’s just great. I think she would be so much fun to travel with.

Caroline: Oh, gosh. I know this is definitely a dream. I would love to go on one of these tours one day.

Helen: Paris. Paris. I wanna go to Paris.

Caroline: Paris. London. Yes. Okay. This next one is all virtual, so it’s more of a staycation retreat, but it’s so fun. The Foldline hosts The Sewing Weekender every spring. This year’s is on the 13th and 14th of May, which is the weekend after this episode comes out.

There are longer talks from makers like Birgitta Helmersson, Juliet Uzor, and Helen, our very own Helen – plus shorter informal vlogs from other makers. They have a really stacked list of speakers this year, and they also have Zoom sessions for participants to chat with each other. They have sewing experts available to help you out with the sewing project you choose for the weekend. It’s super affordable, too. Definitely check it out. Helen, this is so exciting that you’re participating this year.

Helen: I know I was so glad when they reached out and asked if I wanted to do a little tutorial course about quilting because of my new quilting business. So I’m actually walking through how to make a Playful Placemat from start to finish and a little tutorial for the weekend. And I think it’s a great project for a weekend, too, if it’s something you wanna work on You can use fabric scraps. It’s pretty low pressure. Um, learn a new sewing skill.

But The Sewing Weekender, I think, is really neat because turning it into an online event makes it more accessible for people all over. It makes it more affordable, and it’s something that you can, kind of, do at your own pace from the comfort of your own home, with your own tools, your own sewing space, and all that kind of stuff. So I think it’s just a really fun community event that anyone can participate in from anywhere in the world, which I absolutely love.

Caroline: Yeah, definitely check it out. Okay. Sewing conventions are another fun destination to consider. Conventions bring together a large number of sewists and sewing brands, and there are scheduled talks and classes that you can attend. There’s also the convention floor where people have booths set up. There are booths where you can shop and booths where you can talk to the makers that rented it.

Unlike a retreat, your accommodations and food are not included in the price. Often, the convention will block out rooms for discounted rates at a nearby hotel though, and there’s usually food available to buy at the convention.

Helen: And here are a couple of sewing conventions that we know about. There’s Sew Expo, also called The Sewing and Stitchery Expo, that brings together more than 22,000 sewists every year. It’s in the Washington State in late winter. There are tons of booths. There are classes you can sign up for an extra fee, and there are fun events in the evenings. I saw that Aaronica Cole of Needle and the Belle taught a few classes this year. It would be so fun to take those. It would be, like, a real Who’s Who of sewists I feel like. You’d wander around and you’d probably recognize people, and you get to meet designers and people from the community. It’d be so much fun.

Caroline: I would actually love to go to this. I don’t know if you’re interested, Helen.

Helen: Ah, a hundred percent. I’m interested in both of these events that we’re gonna be talking about today.

Caroline: Okay. I know we both definitely got QuiltCon FOMO this year, seeing everyone’s pictures on social media, and this is the convention held by the Modern Quilt Guild. It’s held in a different city every year. Next year’s is in Raleigh, North Carolina. There’s a huge judged quilt show. I think one of the best parts would just be looking at the quilts and meeting the quilters who made them. There are also a ton of vendors and special exhibits, and if you sign up for a four day pass, you could attend lectures and workshops. I mean, what a dream. I feel like this would be so fun to attend.

Helen: It would be so fun. I mean, you definitely wanna wear your comfiest shoes. You wanna bring your go bag with your water bottle and your snacks. Conventions require that you have some stamina. You’re gonna be walking around all day, but can you imagine four full days of just admiring beautiful projects and chatting with fellow sewists and going out for drinks and dinner? It would just be amazing.

Caroline: Also, getting to see all these different, like, quilt lines in person and samples of the fabric sewn up into quilts and other projects. I always love seeing that on social media. All of the designers that I love, coming out with their new collections and showing them off is just, sounds like it would be so much fun to see in person.

Helen: It really would be. It would be great.

Caroline: There is another option for combining sewing and travel that’s more affordable and customizable than signing up for a retreat or convention. You can plan your own sewing retreat.

Helen: Yeah. The first thing you wanna do is think about what you want out of the trip. Do you wanna spend a lot of time with your friends? Or do you want to do sewing-themed activities, like museums or shopping? Or some combination of both of those things? Or you could just plan a retreat for yourself.

Caroline: Yeah, just a retreat, party of one. You also have options when it comes to accommodations. You could stay in a hotel and book a conference room for your sewing time. You could get an Airbnb or cabin and bring some folding tables and extension cords. Call or email ahead to make sure that the place you’re planning to stay has enough room and robust enough electricity to handle your group. Those irons will trip a fuse, whatever that’s called.

Helen: It’s true.

Caroline: It has happened to me. You could even do a camping trip if you and your friends are into hand sewing. Oh, my gosh. That would be so fun.

Helen: And you wanna think about your meals. You could throw together something simple, like good bread and cheese and charcuterie for a lot of your meals. Or you could go eat out at restaurants if you’re in a city. You could make cooking one of your activities and make elaborate meals together with your friends. Take turns cooking for each other. There’s so many options, but it’s important to plan out the cooking side of things so that you can get to the sewing side of things.

Caroline: Yeah. Another fun idea is to travel specifically for a workshop or class. When we did workshops at Blackbird, people travelled from Seattle, Portland, and more just to come to our workshops. It was so special, and you can do that, too.

Helen: If you have sewing friends or family that live further away, you could meet up in the middle for your retreat or meet up at a totally different location that you’d both like to explore.

Caroline: Riikka Alloilla on Instagram had a sewing retreat with friends last month. They had a gorgeous house in the Finnish countryside, and they ate delicious food, sewed, chatted, and went to a sauna. The reel she made made me want to go so badly, so check it out. We’ll link it up in the show notes.

Helen: I absolutely love this idea of planning a sewing retreat with friends in a destination that you all want to visit. Taking some time to do a little sight seeing, a little eating out maybe, and then, doing lots of sewing together. I think that sounds like a dream vacation, honestly.

Caroline: Mmhmm. Totally. Okay. Before we finish this episode, we wanna answer one more listener question. This one is from Joy: “My question is regarding travelling with your handmade garments. With all our restrictions lifting, I can’t wait to travel again! I’m currently putting together my wardrobe for a work conference. I’m thinking linen vest suits and cotton shirts – all things that need ironing. Do you have any tips on how best to pack these items in your suitcase (do you roll yours? Vacuum pack?), and how do you get them looking presentable (I mean, a little rumpled linen realness is ok but not deep creases for a work trip)? I find the hotel irons often spit calcified or rusty deposits on my garments of various colours. The ironing boards often also leave a little waffle burn on my items, too, so I now use one a bath towel to line the ironing board. Do you bring a pressing cloth? Iron on the bed? Please help! Oh, and also: Does your ‘travel wardrobe’ differ from your normal wardrobe?”

Helen: Hi, Joy. These are such relatable questions in a very relatable situation. We love natural fibres, but they really don’t travel especially well as far as wrinkles go. However, there are things that you can do to make your me-mades work when you’re travelling.

You can pack a portable ironing pad, get one that’s flat, not quilted, so that you have a nice smooth surface to iron on. Dritz makes one that looks pretty good. You could put the ironing pad on any flat surface, like a desk, table or bed, or lay it over the ironing board. But I do love your tip of just throwing a towel over that ironing board in the hotel room to make sure that you’re not getting those burn marks.

Caroline: Yeah, that’s really smart. Since hotel irons aren’t super reliable, you could bring a mini iron like we recommended before, but if you wanna make the hotel iron work for you, but you wanna avoid bad steam situations, you could bring an empty misting bottle with you. And you can even buy those really small ones that only hold, like, two or three ounces so that it doesn’t take up too much room in your suitcase. Empty the hotel’s iron water reservoir, turn off the steam, and then, just mist the fabric before you press it and use a press cloth.

Helen: Another option is to just forget about the iron and ironing board and bring a portable steamer. This is probably better for fabrics like cottons that release wrinkles more easily than linen. If you’re staying at a hotel, you could call ahead and ask if they have a steamer that you could use, you might be able to get one on request.

Caroline: Totally. One way of packing your clothes to avoid excess wrinkles is to lay out your garments on a flat surface, one on top of the other. Put your most wrinkle prone garments down first, and then, gently roll or fold the whole stack and put it in your suitcase.

Helen: Right when you get to the hotel, you wanna unpack your clothes and hang them up. A lot of the wrinkles will release with space and gravity, and then, you won’t have such a big job to deal with when you break out the iron.

Caroline: Yeah. This is a really good tip, and it’s something that I always do when I travel. I just unpack and hang up anything that I don’t want to be wrinkly, and a lot of the time it just, kind of, fixes itself.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Another strategy is to make garments in less wrinkly fabrics for travel. Lots of people do this. Knits tend to hold less wrinkles. You might even be able to get away with the hack of taking a steamy shower with your clothes hanging up in the bathroom. Poly blends can give you a polished look while being less wrinkly than fully natural fibres. Wool fabrics look super professional, and they resist wrinkles. You can even get wool in super light tropical weight so that you don’t get too hot. Although most work trips involve sitting in an overly air conditioned room, so maybe that’s not even an issue.

Helen: Caroline, you do quite a bit of travelling and you go to, like, fabric shows and things like that. How do you avoid wrinkles? Or do you just go with the flow?

Caroline: I usually just go with the flow. I think the hanging tip works really well. Just hanging up your clothes and letting them, kind of, do their thing, and hopefully, a lot of those wrinkles will, kind of ,smooth out. But I, for sure, I use the ironing board in hotel rooms and the iron that’s available. I just try to be really careful and not use steam to avoid that, kind of, spitting issue.

Another trick with irons is letting them completely heat up before you use them because a lot of the time the water will leak out of the reservoir if you’re not letting it get to its, like, full heated up state. But then, once it’s heated up, it won’t do that anymore. So, kind of, look out for that.

Also, always test your iron before you use it. So, like, test it just on the bare ironing board or, kind of, inspect it a little bit to make sure that it’s not dirty or doesn’t have any weird, like, calcium deposits already on it. And that’ll help you to, sort of, catch that before it ruins your garment.

But, yeah. What about you?

Helen: I honestly just wear wrinkly clothes.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: But I don’t go to work conventions. Like, I’m not in situations where I really wanna be looking professional.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: I’m, kind of, just in situations where I know I’m gonna be sweaty and wandering around a big city all day, or maybe sitting down and eating and stuff like that. So I know I’m gonna get messy and my clothes are gonna get wrinkly anyway, so I tend not to worry too much about it, I just bring all my lovely linen things and go with the wrinkles.

Caroline: Yeah. I think if you’re travelling a lot for work, then it might be worth investing in some pieces or making some pieces out of poly or poly blends. There’s some really beautiful polyester fabrics available out there, and so that will make your life so much easier ‘cause you won’t even have to worry about wrinkles.

Also, travelling with, like, a garment bag instead of folding stuff up and putting it in your suitcase. A lot of people going on work trips will do that. And there are some really cool ones out there. I’ve even seen some patterns for handmade garment bags, so look at that. And that could be an option for your, like, precious, you know, pieces that you really want to stay nice and flat and not wrinkled.

Helen: Yeah. On our recent trip that we went on for my birthday, I brought a dress with me and I hung it in a garment bag and didn’t put it in my suitcase. And then we were car travelling, so it was really easy. I can just hang it up in the car. And then, when we got to the hotel, we were eating dinner right after we checked in, and it was still in perfect condition. So that was really handy.

Caroline: Yeah. Totally. Oh, okay. I am so inspired to take a sewing trip now, Helen. There are so many ways to bring together cool places, cool friends, and our favourite thing, which is sewing.

Helen: Yes, and if you’ve taken a sewing trip, gone on a sewing retreat, or know of a good sewing retreat, please tell us about it. We wanna hear all your fun stories, and we wanna hear about all the possibilities out there that are available. So let us know.

Caroline: That’s it for today’s episode of Love To Sew. You can find me Caroline at BlackbirdFabrics.com and Helen at HelensClosetPatterns.com and CedarQuiltCo.com. We’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Helen: You can head to the Love to Sew podcast to find our show notes. They’re filled with all the links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, you can leave us a message at 1-844-SEW-WHAT. That’s 1-844-739-9428. We love getting your voicemails. You can ask us a question if you want, and we might even play it on the show. You can also send us an email anytime at hello@LoveToSewPodcast.com.

Caroline: And if you love Love To Sew and you want more, you can sign up for our Patreon. For $5 a month, you get a full-length bonus episode and weekly behind-the-scenes pictures. For $10 a month, you’ll get all that plus a mini episode focused on sewing techniques, and 15% off discount codes for both Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics. Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality sewing content for you. So go to patreon.com/LoveToSew for more info, and we appreciate all of our patrons so much.

Helen: Thank you to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore of the Pod Cabin is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening. We’ll talk to you next week.

Caroline: Bye.

Helen: Buh-bye.

See you at The Weekender.

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