I started sewing in July 2011 and I’ve only become more and more interested in it as time has passed. The catch? Emma was born in August 2012. For ~65% of my “sewing life” so far, I’ve had a small child. During her first year, I didn’t really sew that much, and when I did, they were mostly small items. But over the last year — my third year of sewing if you’re keeping track — I’ve been sewing a lot more.
A few of my friends have commented offline about where I find the time to sew between having a full time job and having a toddler, so I thought it’d be fun to share some tips!
First, make it a priority. I know as well as anyone that it’s a lot easier said than done, but it’s still worth saying. I put sewing items on my to-do list, and include them in my monthly goals. I’m at my sewing machine or working on my cross stitch anywhere from 3-5 days per week right now, especially in the evenings once Emma has gone to bed.
That said, managing expectations is also very important. I’m so inspired by the sewing and quilting bloggers I follow online, but I have to be careful to avoid getting carried away with my ideas. Many of them sew full-time as a job, but I sew as a hobby — it’s clearly unrealistic for me to expect to finish as much as they do in a week, when they have dozens of hours and I only have a few.
If I don’t feel like sewing one night, then I just don’t. Easy. And I remind myself not to stress when things take longer than expected, or don’t turn out like I hoped, and just enjoy the fact that I’m making stuff in the first place.
Have a kid-friendly sewing space, and by this I mean a space where you and your kid can coexist while doing your own things. I’ve mentioned before that my current sewing area is our dining room. Is this ideal? Not really — our dining room is very open, so my sewing mess on display to anyone who walks into the house, and obviously it means the dining room isn’t usable for actual dining without a bunch of cleanup.
But we rarely use it for dining anyway! And the openness works really well for sewing with Emma around, since I can work on my stuff but still keep an eye on her while she plays in the living room. If my sewing stuff was in another room, it would be hard to sew outside of naptime or at night.
Get your kid involved, at least within reason. Emma has been to the fabric store with me dozens of times. And lately she really likes playing with fabric scraps across the table from where I sit.
(I should mention that when I first moved everything into the dining room, I was concerned that Emma might start messing with my supplies and/or break something. So far though, she basically ignores it all. If that changes, I may have to change tactics but for now, this setup works great.)
Recognize what you can (and can’t) do with your kid around, and plan accordingly. For instance, while Emma is awake and running around the house with us, I can still do things like cutting, pressing (while being mindful that she doesn’t grab the iron, obviously), and easy piecing. I can also pick fabrics from my stash for a project — something Emma loves to help with, since I let her play with the fabric along with me.
But there are other tasks that are more difficult. I save quilt basting for after she goes to bed, since I need to get down on the floor and spread out, and that’s not really compatible with a curious toddler wanting to “sit down Mama!” on whatever quilt I’m working on. I rarely cross stitch while she’s awake because it requires more focus on the craft itself. And I can’t do anything that requires a solid block of uninterrupted time.
So there you have it! These are all things that have helped me make time for my sewing even though Emma is still young. And really, I think these tips apply to any hobby — I can easily apply all of these tips to another of my hobbies like running as well (and for the most part, I already do).
