[Buratti]

How do you all make time to sew? When do you sew? And how do you do it with children?! I am struggling to make time for it. I just wondered if any of you had any helpful advice. I have two Everyday skirts and one sailboat top waiting to be sewn and two other patterns yet to cut. How do other mothers do it? Just wondering. Thanks!

[Nicole]

I bumped a couple of threads I thought you may find useful/interesting.

Happy reading!

[Masha Richart]

My kids are 4.5, 3.5 and 1. I can only sew during nap time and at night, and sometimes on the weekends though we generally like to have family time then. I do have to let the housework go in order to sew. So it’s usually an every-other-day kind of a thing during naps. One day I’ll cook and clean during nap time, and the next day I’ll sew. I love nights when my husband plays basketball or something because then I can sew guilt-free after the kids go down. When he is around we usually watch a show together; that is when I trace patterns, cut fabric and do any hand-sewing that is necessary (blind hems, etc).

[cybele727]

I sew at night. Sure I am a tired lump, but I also find that I am re-energized after an hour or two of sewing. I go to bed a different kind of tire, more peaceful, serene tired, than when I sit on the couch like a lump. 🙂

[bren5kids]

I have found that I don’t need to have, say, half a day dedicated to sewing. If I sit down and sew a few seams in between loads of laundry or while the potatoes are cooking on the stove or whatever, I can actually get more done than if I think I have to wait until I have a big block of time to do it….because I very rarely do. But this doesn’t work very good if you don’t have a permanent sewing space. Mine is right off the kitchen and beside the laundry room, with plenty of room for the baby to play.

I do sew with my children playing around me, I just try to keep the scissors and pins and seam ripper away from the edge of the table so my 18 mo old can’t grab them. Although he does manage to get them every now and then!

I don’t sew at night because my husband likes me to go to bed when he does. But, like RTWG, I absolutely love those evenings when he goes to play hockey or something and takes the older boys with him, and I have a blissful, long evening to sew! He also is away from home quite often tending to our business out of state, usually for about a week at a time. So when he is gone I do sew into the wee hours of the morning…..when the cat’s away the mice will play! 😀

Sometimes I look around at my friends and other people and wonder how they can find the time to do certain things or keep their house always looking so nice, then I remind myself that they probably think the same thing when they see everything that I sew. I have one friend who has 3 little boys, aged 1-5yrs, and she’s 8 mo. pregnant with boy no. 4 AND she still sometimes works a 12 hr. night shift (she’s a nurse). I don’t know how or why she does it, but I tell myself that it must be important to her (I don’t think they need the income) so she finds a way to do it. I guess it’s the same way for me and my sewing. And yes, some things won’t get done, I usually don’t have a spic n span house during the week, and there are almost always dishes sitting beside or in the sink. My friend has two girls come clean her house once or twice a week. (Lucky her!) 🙂

~Brenda

[Jess M.]

i usually sew at n ight when everyone is sleeping, or when the hubby is home and can keep an eye on the mini-monster. Otherwise, if I absolutely HAVE to sew, Mini-Monster gets free reign and I check in every so often to make sure she isn’t up to anything crazy. lol. But she’s almost 5, so she can entertain herself pretty well.

[emcamfield]

I have a full-time office job and two young kids (ages 2 and 4). I have to squeeze my sewing in! My sewing machine is set up in our living room, and I have converted our dining table into my full-time cutting table. The good thing about this set-up is I can easily sew a quick seam here and there, or pin some pieces, or do a little cutting. Having my tables set up, and the ironing board, too, really helps. When the kids are occupied I can do the next step in my project, and then set it back down as soon as they need my attention.

I also make use of my break time at work. I hide in a corner of our cafeteria and cut out paper patterns, or pin things for the next step in sewing. Today I took a quick 15 minute break and trimmed the strings off of pockets for three pairs of shorts, clipped the corners, and turned them right side out. When I get home from work today the pockets will be ready for the next step: ironing, topstitching and attaching to the shorts.

The good part about doing little bits here and there is I keep my momentum going on my projects!

Other times I sew is during naptimes on weekends and after bedtimes, or early in the morning. Morning is nice because I have the house to myself. I do try and take at least two nights off from sewing a week to spend some time with my husband.