Sister Michelle
Administrator
I must keep my eyes on Jesus my Saviour
Posts: 1,065
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Post by Sister Michelle on Jan 17, 2008 8:35:47 GMT -5
How do you all do it??
I am struggling with getting back on a good schedule here at our home. That is why I have not been over here alot. My priorities have gotten out of wack.
But last night our daughter came out and mentioned lack of clothing. And she is correct. She is in dire need of new clothes. How do you all fit sewing time into a otherwise busy schedule?
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tbhas6
Senior Member
Posts: 1,146
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Post by tbhas6 on Jan 17, 2008 11:19:01 GMT -5
My younger children go to bed at 8:30 and about a year ago I started scheduling 8:40 - 10:10 as "mommy time". This is the time of day that I get to work on whatever "extras" I need or want to work on - crochet, sewing, quilting, reading for pleasure, letter writing or sometimes just sitting on the sofa & listening to the quiet.
When it comes to sewing most of my projects will not be completed within 1 1/2 hours so, I have found that breaking them into daily steps; doing all the cutting one evening, sewing to a pre determined point the next, etc. helps. Whenever I'm sewing clothing, I try to make more than one article at time, two or three dresses/two or three shirts, etc.
I hope this helps ... tb
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Post by mustxstitch on Jan 18, 2008 5:46:39 GMT -5
I sew a lot too. I find I save a lot of time if i sew like an assembly line. I pin and cut several projects at one time or over a few nights. I store my waiting projects in plastic shoeboxes with the pieces, threads, zippers, buttons and directions all in one bin. I have a shelf above my sewing table where I store the shoeboxes and I pull them down as i sew. I also try to sew serveral projects that use the same thread color like I make lots of flannel pajamas. i try to pin and cut white flannel with small prints for as many as I can. I will mark all my projects at once while pinning and cutting. Then I wind several white bobbins and start sewing...i will sew in one long string...I stay stitch the neckline pieces first...then I will sew a round of shoulder seams front to back or pants legs inner seams, I sew all the gathering lines at one time.... I take everything to iron all at one time and start on the next section. i will save the buttonholes from several shirts and sit and do them all at once. By making 5 nighties at a time or three men's shirts at one time I save a lot of time. I reserve sewing the buttons or any hand sewing for quiet time in the evening. By the end of a week I can have several projects sewn this way. I sew some when my granddaughter is here and she likes to sit by my feet and play in the scraps i cut away as I pin and cut or sew. i give her an old ice cream bucket and let her play in the scraps. i save my empty spools for her to play with while I sew. When I had young kids still at home they played in the scraps with tape and taped together doll clothes and stuff...sewing became a fun time and not a "leave mommy alone time " when i could include them. I also had special toys that my kids could only play with when mommy sewed. Some things I needed to do alone but I hope these ideas help. I also keep a cd player by my machine and listen to books while i sew. Overdrive.com has free books you can download using your library card and some you can burn to disk. Overdrive has great Christian authors too and you can do a search by publisher or author and find great books...fiction and nonfiction. I am lstening to karen Kingsbury this week while i sew.
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Post by keflavik on Jan 18, 2008 11:29:00 GMT -5
It is hard to find the time with little ones running around. I have found naptime to be a great time to sew. I have it scheduled for only two days a week and only 1-2 hours at most. You can maximize your sewing time by finding shortcuts or doing as the others have said and "assembly line" the method. If you are making several similar items, cut them all out first and then sew. I do the same for mending. I save up the jeans that need patching and do several pairs at once. I also try to find other opportunities to do hand work while the children are doing quiet work be it ripping apart seams, sewing buttons, or smocking. This is rare though as usually I have papers to correct. For immediate clothing, I hit the Thrift store. This is also a good place to get fabric cheap!
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