9 Tips to Help You to Find Time to Sew

Are you busy? I can’t hear you right now, but I’m sure you said ‘YES!’ These days everyone I know is so crazy busy with kids (carpooling, volunteering at school, science fair projects, feeding, bathing, keeping the rascals alive), work (commuting too!), and homemaking (dishes, laundry, floors, beds, bathrooms and on and on) that some people say they have no time to sew… GASP!

I was talking to my friend Sarah about this and we decided to put our heads together and write down our top tips to find time to sew. Because taking time to sew is not something you should feel guilty about. You’re making something useful and beautiful, building your skills, and filling your own bucket so you’ll be ready to give more to those you love. Are you ready??? Let’s count down.

9. If house chores are keeping you from sewing, play a little game with yourself. Set a timer and alternate Speed cleaning for 20 minutes then sewing for 20 minutes. It’s amazing how much cleaning you can accomplish with the proper motivation and you’ll be surprised at how much sewing you can get done in 20 minutes.

That was Sarah’s tip for dealing with housework. This is mine…

8. Block or hide the distracting housework. Close the door to the laundry room. Shove the junk inside and close your children’s bedroom doors. Put on your blinders and quickly walk past it all to your sewing room After all, no matter how many times you clean it, that mess is gonna re-appear. Your fabric is calling you! (note: I may or may not shove the dishes into the dishwasher just so they stop distracting me… and then it only takes a second to start it.)

7. Silence the interrupters. Turn off or don’t answer your phone. Don’t answer the door unless it’s the UPS man bringing more fabric. I’m sorry to my friends if this seems rude. But when people are busy at work, they routinely let calls go to voicemail. I claim the same luxury. And I will get back to you. 🙂

6. Keep a to-do list. I find that other tasks stop distracting me if I write them down. Then I know I won’t forget them and I can put them out of my mind to sew for a while.

5. Schedule it in. Plan time to sew first thing in the morning, right after lunch, after the kids get are in bed, etc. It doesn’t really matter when… just make sure it’s on your schedule. This could be once or twice a week or every day.

4. Set an alarm for when you have to stop – to go get the kids, get ready for work, etc. Knowing that the alarm will stop you, you can stop looking at the clock and focus on your project.

3. Have a grown-up play date. Invite a friend over for a morning or evening of sewing. She might help you finish a big project, or you can each work on your own.

2. Pack a ‘sewing on the go basket’ (or bag). I must admit that I enjoy the slower pace of hand sewing just as much as I love sewing with my machine. So I keep a large-ish zipper pouch packed with my latest hand sewing project that I can grab when I know that I’ll be waiting. Like on a long car ride, during my daughter’s dance class, or in a doctor’s waiting room. Paper pieced hexis are excellent an excellent start if you don’t already have a hand sewing project.

1. Don’t put away your sewing machine… keep it out and ready to go. This will be hard if you don’t have a dedicated sewing area. But you know as well as I do that if you put the machine away it will be a while before she’s out again.

Do you have any tips that you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments.

And then sew on!

xoxo,