If you are like me, working everyday on weekdays from 8-5 and have a family to take care of, you probably want to make sure you are making the most of your free time.
First off, I love to craft and I make sure I have time to do so. Whenever people ask me, where do I get the time to do so, I shall say – I make time to do so. I schedule in Sewing time. Even if it is only 5 minutes for that day.
So before I go onto the tips, I would advice you to:
Make time for your crafting/sewing even 5 minutes a day. Put in your schedule, or even take time sew when you wait for that dinner to bake out. Just make sure you put a timer on. 😛
Then in that limited times, here are my 5 tips to make the most of it:
5 tips to sew efficiently in limited time
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Read the instruction or plan the steps to do
Whenever you start a new project, first please read the instruction or plan the steps to do if you are not following any pattern – write it down so you can refer to it.
This will save a lot of time later, and will also save you from having to spend time with Mr Seam Ripper.
Do all the cutting, batch it!
Do all the cutting required first, put them in a dedicated box/ tray
This way you can sew anytime, I have very limited space too, so I cut elsewhere and having cut pieces ready to sew means I can save time taking out my cutting board etc.
It also makes easier to clean up and to carry around.
Chain piece
chain piece whenever you can.
I love chain piecing. It can save you a lot of time cutting or re-threading believe me! See chain piecing video here.
If your machine does not have an auto thread cutter, this is definitely a must! You can also save threads. You can even sew pieces of scraps in between blocks to mark it. This method of using scraps can also be a thread saver. See more of this thread saving tip here.
Portable design boards
Use portable design boards to place the cut pieces – especially for patchwork! Use this tutorial to make some cute portable design boards.
I also use this boards to place my pieces for making wallets. And they can be stacked on top of each other, which is perfect for small space and for stacking various blocks or parts
Use labels
I label my pieces if I’m sewing bags and my rows for chain piecing quilts. They save me time looking for them. I can leave them anytime when my sewing time is up, knowing that I won’t be lost next time I come back to it.
You can buy these alphabetic labels 
Well, hope you get more sewing done with these tips I learned!
Small chunks of time saved can save you a ton of time and make you more productive! Last but not least, be happy and enjoy your sewing time even for a small 5 minutes!
10 Comments
Love these tips, Amira! Especially about writing out a plan first if you’re not using a pattern – that would help me when I’m constantly interrupted by littles; )
wonderful tips
Thank you. I like the tip about labeling the pieces. So often I come back to something and wonder what I’ve done, or what I was thinking. Thanks for sharing these tips.
Fabulous tips Amira! I need to make some of those portable design boards as I dont have a wall to do a large one.
Great tips Amira. Thank you for sharing!
This is one of my favorite posts! =D I notice when I do all of my cutting ahead of time, I am able to get more done – especially since I only have 10 – 20 minutes sometimes for crafting. If you are looking for more post topics, please post more about your organizing process in the future! =D Aloha!
This is one of my favorite posts! =D I notice when I do all of my cutting ahead of time, I am able to get more done – especially since I only have 10 – 20 minutes sometimes for crafting. If you are looking for more post topics, please post more about your organizing process in the future! =D Aloha!
I love your tips ,Amira, and I will ceertainly do some designing boards, to be better organized.Thank you
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