How to Find More Time to Sew by HelloSewing

Written by the talented Helen Spencer of HelloSewing.com

How to Find More Time to Sew

What you decide to do with your free time will have a great impact on your health, mood, and longevity.

Unfortunately, the most common free time activities are entirely passive, like watching TV. Not only do you not engage your body and mind by doing this, you invite other ills as well.

Surely, you have felt that a food snack would go great with some flick you will forget about the next day.

In fact, Japanese people have a special phrase for that feeling – kuchi no taikutsu – which translates to mouth boredom! Sure, it might feel good in the moment, but giving into such habits will make you hate your body in no time!

Not to mention the feeling of guilt that will appear later on for completely wasting your time without anything to show for it.

As hobbies go, sewing is at the opposite end of that spectrum:
⦁    It elevates your mental acuity, mood and skill.
⦁    It holds just the right balance between productivity and relaxation.
⦁    It allows you to save money by repairing your own clothes or even making new ones.
⦁    It invites creativity and joy for completing a sewing project.

Here are some useful tips to help you better organize your life, so you can never say that you can’t find time for sewing.

Ditch Bad Habits
The first step in ditching bad habits in order to free some time is to recognize them for what they are.

And watching TV certainly falls into that category. Not only are TV shows and movies now thoroughly politicized (it’s not an accident that it’s called programming), but you don’t actually get anything out of it. Just like a sweet morsel of food, it feels good in the moment, but nothing more than that can become of it.

It passes by like it didn’t happen at all. But it did happen, and it stole your time and a bit of health, both in mind and body.

Keep that criteria in mind as you recognize bad habits in order to discard them and free up your time.

Organize a Dedicated Sewing Space
There is space for sleeping, there is space for working, there is space for lounging, and there is space for sewing.

It needs to be there for immediate use, so you don’t have to spend extra effort in unfolding and unpacking. Especially if you have a good sewing machine. If you are really busy, and have only snippets of time during the day, an extra effort required would be all it takes to dissuade you from sewing. You would always find yourself thinking – I need everything right and proper, so of course I can’t do it now!

This line of reasoning is how hobbies are gradually abandoned. Therefore, make sure your sewing area is ready to go the moment you enter it.

Be Precise About Your Sewing Project
Be it simple or complex, make sure you have all the materials and tools for your sewing project. Outside of Amazon, you can visit the following great online stores that will equip you with everything you need:

• Fabricworm
• Plush Addict
• HobbyCraft
• Minerva Crafts

Moreover, you will get many great ideas on what kind of sewing projects are the most appropriate for your skill level and time requirement.

If you take on a complex sewing project, splice it up in tiny chunks so you get many simple, mini projects. If you do that, you will immediately see that even the most demanding sewing project can be completed in less than a month if you give it 10 minutes per day or less.

This is why it is imperative to have your sewing work area always ready to receive you.

Lastly, try to group similar sewing tasks together to further increase your productivity!

Use Your Smartphone
Nowadays, there is an app for everything, but you don’t need anything more than a simple alarm and schedule feature to really make your sewing a habit that will entrench itself with each new day.

Additionally, don’t forget that you can turn off the notification sound on your phone after you start sewing. The less distractions, the more engaged and productive you will be in your sewing venture!

Thank you Helen, we hope this helps any reader under a funk to get organized and restart their sewing mojo. For even more inspiration, shop Just In Fabrics online Fabricworm today.