Sewing with a machine in a vehicle
02-10-2014, 06:41 AM
#41
Super Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Central Wisconsin
Posts: 4,391
About 20 years ago I was a music teacher (an emergency situation) and needed to practice constantly. I'm not that good of a piano player. I plugged my keyboard, (not a small one) into the cigarette lighter and played away while my husband drove.
I have done knitting in the dark. Elizabeth Zimmerman says just look out the window and put your needle into the stitch. You can feel it. Then do the next one. She used to read a book while she knitted.
I think a sewing machine in the car is very doable. It will plug into the cigarette lighter, but it probably should be strapped down as someone else suggested: it could become a flying object in an accident. And a surface to set it onto would be a necessity also. I would use my Featherweight or the small Janome, (which is on sale this week, and I am going to buy). I can't wait to try this. Jeannie from Oregon has some good ideas. (jcrow; post no. 20)
I have done knitting in the dark. Elizabeth Zimmerman says just look out the window and put your needle into the stitch. You can feel it. Then do the next one. She used to read a book while she knitted.
I think a sewing machine in the car is very doable. It will plug into the cigarette lighter, but it probably should be strapped down as someone else suggested: it could become a flying object in an accident. And a surface to set it onto would be a necessity also. I would use my Featherweight or the small Janome, (which is on sale this week, and I am going to buy). I can't wait to try this. Jeannie from Oregon has some good ideas. (jcrow; post no. 20)
Last edited by maviskw; 02-10-2014 at 06:44 AM.
02-10-2014, 07:33 AM
#42
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Prescott Valley, AZ
Posts: 1,329
Well if you have the room to set up a machine I say go for it.
You can buy a dc to ac converter for about 35-50 dollars that plugs into the cigarett lighter. My son brought a small tv with a plug for a road trip. I don't see why it wouldn't power a simple machine.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...ac%2Caps%2C249
You can buy a dc to ac converter for about 35-50 dollars that plugs into the cigarett lighter. My son brought a small tv with a plug for a road trip. I don't see why it wouldn't power a simple machine.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...ac%2Caps%2C249
02-10-2014, 07:34 AM
#43
Power Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 26,113
Sewing machines are heavy and in the event of an accident it would be like a missle flying around in the car. Not advised... How about some hand quilting? Or prepare a rag quilt and do the snipping while you ride? I always knit or crochet on long car rides... saves my sanity. I don't like the confinement of being in the car for hours.
02-10-2014, 08:32 AM
#45
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Maine, Where else!
Posts: 1,526
One of the ladies in our sewing ministry rides with her husband especially when it is cross country trips. Her machine is plugged in the cigarette lighter. She has a table set up in back. She usually has 9 or 10 lap robe size quilts pieced when she comes back. Her seams match and points are not cut off. Most of the time her tops are some variation of Jacobs Ladder. She gets more tops done than anyone else in our group. We are working now on quilts for our local Veteran's Center to be delivered in July. Probably half of the quilts will be from Sandy.
02-10-2014, 12:17 PM
#47
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 2,007
I too would opt for a hand project! If it's possible to find a battery operated or ac/dc converter... I can only imagine all the mistakes that could be made with the motion of the vehicle. But...... I do understand the need to sew where ever one is at! I take mine in our RV because I can't stand the thought of being w/o my machine for any length of time. Good luck whatever you decide to do.
02-10-2014, 01:03 PM
#48
Super Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Central Wisconsin
Posts: 4,391
I would NOT recommend this. A TV requires very little power, so as long as the car engine is running it would be fine. A sewing machine has a motor which takes a great deal more power. Your car's alternator may not keep up with charging the battery even though the engine is running.
02-10-2014, 01:23 PM
#50
Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 54
Sewing machine a vehicle
You can buy a plug in that goes into the cigarette lighter that has a two pronged outlet. I have one that I use for all kinds of things such as computer. Why wouldn't you be able to plug your machine in it. First, you could plug a surge protector into it and then your machine into the surge protector. I bet it would work fine.
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