My secrets for maximizing your sewing time and avoiding burnout.

Friends- I sew alot, every week at least. It’s my most favorite hobby of all time but it can be quite demanding.

Below are my tips to keep the balance between work, home, and sewing.

▲ Making Time ▲

I sew in chunks of varying length, whatever I can get. The most time I get at once is Saturday afternoon into evening. If I’m lucky, I can sew for 3-6 hours!

During the work week, making time is more difficult. If I spy a free hour in the evening, I take it. I sew in the living room mostly, so I can spend time with my husband and watch trashy TV. Anyone fancy the Bravo channel?

I can get a couple hours in if the stars align.  Some nights I can’t muster any energy to sew – more often than not, my energy level is the deciding factor.

▲ Batch Tasks ▲

It’s often more efficient to do repeated tasks in batches, like pressing. Instead of sewing a seam, pressing it, sewing another seam and pressing that…I sew as many seams as I can before pressing is required. For example, when sewing a shirt with darts, I sew the darts and connect the shoulder seams. Then I get the iron out and press everything before sewing the side seams. It’s efficient and saves the time of turning the iron on an waiting for it to get hot. If you have curious pets like mine, keeping your iron running while you sew can be dangerous!

▲ Planning ▲

Planning my projects is also key, because without a plan my  mind will bounce from idea to idea, leaving me in indecision limbo. I try to have a list of things I need or want to sew that I can refer to when necessary.

That being said, the list is not set in stone. If I come across a fabric or pattern that’s really exciting, it will jump to the top of my list. Check out my free Wardrobe Oracle workbook for help with planning!

▲ UFOS ▲

When I have a work-in-progress, I feel it. I know it’s there, haunting me, waiting for me to finish it. Because of that, I rarely have UFOs. If I can’t sew but feel the Unfinished Project Ghost lurking, I might prep my machine so it’s ready to go next time by cleaning it, threading it, or changing the needle.

▲ Maintaining! ▲

Speaking of The Machine, I clean mine regularly and highly suggest you do the same! I clean it after every project, unless it’s a very small one. How dusty the machine is often depends on the fabric I’m using.  When I made my woolen Winter coat, I had to clean out my machine 5 times during the construction! The wool shed worse than my cats in summer.

The best brush in my arsenal for cleaning is a fantail makeup brush  – I got it as part of a gift years ago but I don’t wear makeup anymore, so it was re-purposed. It’s very efficient at scooping out all the fuzz; the fan tail reaches all the little nooks and crannies.

Changing your needle is very important, too! When I inherited my first ‘big’ machine, a table top from the 1960s, the needle tip was bent and broken because it HAD NEVER BEEN CHANGED. Seriously – never. My stitches were all wonky and I have no idea how it still managed to sew at all with the needle in such a state.

▲ Burnout ▲

You can’t pour from an empty cup. I’m skirting around the edges of burnout as I write this, which is why I don’t have a new tailored shirt to show you this week!

There is no shame in this, friends! I still feel guilty if I don’t touch my sewing machine for a few days but I shake it off, acknowledging my need to recharge so I can sew at my best!

When I was getting ready to move last summer, my brain completely switched out of sewing mode. It wasn’t until we had been moved in for a couple of weeks that I started thinking about projects again. It was big relief because I was getting nervous – I usually think about sewing or designing every day!

I love reading about sewing, seeing other people’s projects (the good and the bad) and I’m always striving to learn more. It’s a fascinating craft to learn and practice.

What are your tips for making time and avoiding burning out?

Thanks for reading <3

(P.S. why all the Xena? She’s my favorite fictional character, fave show, fave everything. She’s a feminist and queer icon; she champions for individuality, personal responsibility, the Greater Good, and believing in yourself. What’s not to love?)