How to Find Time to Sew!

DIY, Sewing

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If you’re trying to find the time for more creative sewing in your busy schedule, you’re not alone! Creative pursuits seem to get put on the back burner when life gets crazy. These tips will help you prioritize your favorite hobby and help you find time to sew!

sewing machine project

Life is just FULL, am I right? Whether you’re busy with housework, a career, kids, church service, or a million other things, everyone seems to have lots of obligations and less and less time to do the things they really love!

Sewing is at the top of my list of hobbies that bring me joy and so I’m always trying to find more ways to sneak it in my crazy schedule. Most of these tips will apply to moms with small kids at home (because that’s my area of expertise) but hopefully you’ll find an idea or two to help you even if that’s not your current life situation.

1. Schedule specific time to sew

This is kind of a no-brainer but often we think that extra time will just fall into our laps and when it doesn’t happen we get frustrated! Saturdays are my favorite days to schedule sewing time because Luke is home with the kids and I can often sneak away for a little lonely creating.

Even better: pick specific hours, like 9-11 am on a Saturday morning, or 8-10 pm Thursday night.

2. Create a dedicated space

Sometimes this is only a pipe dream, but if at all possible, find some space to set up your sewing machine and keep it there! Sewing is not a portable hobby, so unless we have space for our machine, pins, iron and thread, it can be almost impossible to get regular creating done.

The good news is, this doesn’t require as much space as you’d think! Just hop on Pinterest and search “small sewing space” and watch as hundreds of inspiring spaces populate. I’ve seen people successfully sew out of their dining room, a linen closet, a corner of a master bedroom, you name it!

This post on my tiny sewing corner in my old house continues to be super popular. In fact, I almost miss sewing there because of tip number 4!

3. Sew in small time increments

Most of us can’t dedicate hour after hour to sew on a regular basis, but luckily, sewing is one of those hobbies that can easily be broken up into lots of small, little steps!

Take sewing a dress, for example. First, assemble and cut out your pattern (15 minutes), then lay out and cut your fabric (30 minutes), then read over the instructions (10 minutes), next prep your pattern pieces with marks and interfacing (15 minutes), then sew 2-3 steps (20 minutes), etc. You get the picture! You can easily come back to your project throughout the day to get another couple of steps done.

4. Sew near your kids

At first glance, this tip doesn’t make any sense…kids are so destructive and distracting! But in reality, it goes right along with step #3.

Being a SAHM means that the bulk of your day is spent with little kids running around. If my sewing machine is tucked away in an office far from where my kids often play (like mine is now), I either have to save sewing for when all the little ones are asleep, or I have to leave kids unsupervised while I step away to sew. This isn’t very conducive to relaxing creative time if I’m worried about what messes I’ll find when I come back!

In my old house, my sewing machine was in the corner of my kids playroom, and while yes, we did have a few scissor accidents (like the epic fiasco with this button art vest), I got in the habit of storing dangerous tools up high out of the reach of little hands and my kids got in the habit of seeing me sewing regularly!

Combined with step #3, this meant that I actually got a lot more sewing done during the day than I do now.

find time to sew

5. Start with simple projects at your skill level

Nothing kills sew-jo like a project that’s too difficult or an unexpected problem you can’t solve. If you get stuck or realize that you’ve chosen a pattern above your skill level, just put it aside and pick up something new and easy!

Finishing a project gives me all the warm fuzzies and is a surefire way to make me excited about starting something new. You’ll be much more motivated to find time to sew when you have a home run of a project waiting for you to spend time on.

6. Invite a friend over or start a sewing group

Sometimes, even with our favorite things, we just need a little external motivation! Having a sewing date with a friend means that you’ll definitely get started on that new project because you’ll have a buddy to do it with.

The added benefit of sewing with others is that you can share tips and tricks and get inspired from each other as well! Put on some fun music or an old romantic comedy in the background, grab some snacks and you’ve got the recipe for a great evening filled with socializing and creating.

I hope these tips gave you some ideas for fitting more sewing into your life. Be sure to check out my pattern shop if you’re looking for your next project or some simple tutorials here!

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