I always have to chuckle when someone asks me how I find the time to fit in sewing with three little girls underfoot. See, I'm pretty sure I'm the slowest quilter in Blogland considering the glacial pace at which my quilts come together. Still, I know many of you are in a similar boat: wanting to sew but unsure how to fit it in with working and raising small children.
Here are my 10 tips for sewing with young kids underfoot -- take what you like, leave the rest.
- Have low expectations each time you sit down to sew. Set a goal of what you want to accomplish and then lower it. If you have more than one kid, lower it again.
- View your process in small digestible chunks. Before I had kids, the quilting process for me used to be (1) pick fabrics (2) cut fabrics (3) sew fabrics (4) baste (5) quilt (6) bind. Now that I have kids, I usually don't have the luxury of completing one of those steps in one sitting so I've broken my process down into more achievable chunks so that I feel a sense of accomplishment. For example, the binding process is now (a) pick binding (b) cut binding (c) press binding (d) sew binding on one side (e) sew binding on other side.
- Make your kids a part of the experience. I give my girls scraps to play with and they sit and pretend to create quilts of their own. Or I dump out all my safety pins and have them sort them by size. Binding clips are an even safer option. Lila loves opening and closing them on fabric scraps. Sometimes if I really need time to sew or cut fabric, I let them play with my fabric. They love unfolding and folding them (just like their mama!) and sorting them by color. I've even been known to sew with one of the kids on my lap. It's not the easiest thing but they feel involved and enjoy it.
- If you have a young baby, I say sew when they nap! Don't worry about the sound waking them up. The way I see it, it's better for them to get used to it now, right?
- Demystify the sewing machine and tools. Let's face it: There are 30 little fingers just dying to get all over my coveted sewing stuff in my house. So about a year ago, I started leaving my sewing machine out (unplugged) on the dining room table. I wanted Lila to get all her curiousity around it out of her system when I could view from a safe distance and intervene if necessary. The more the machine sat there, the less she cared about it. Of course, she's a toddler so I still have to check my stitch settings each time, but the sewing machine is, for the most part, like a lamp in the room now. In other words, they leave it alone and that makes it easier for me to quickly sew a block here and there. Of course, I put the scissors, pins and rotary cutter in an unreachable place.
- Flashlights. I don't know what it is about them, but my kids can't get enough. When all else fails and I need a moment to sew something, I break those puppies out. But it doesn't have to be flashlights. Just know what one item frequently keeps your kids mesmerized and use it sparingly.
- Have a grab-and-go box of sewing notions you regularly use. This seems like common sense but for a while I was spending valuable sewing time looking around for things. Now I have one box where I keep everything I typically use for quilting.
- Get away. One thing that I really dislike about quilting is that it's not a very portable hobby so for me it's very hard to find uninterrupted sewing time, unless I stay up really late. So one day of every month I drag all my sewing supplies and fabric to my mom's house and sew for the day and watch HGTV until my eyes start to bleed.
- Never use valuable kid-free time to do anything you could do with the kids around. Sometimes you'll find yourself really working out of order but you'll thank yourself later for prioritzing it like that.
- Develop a strong ability to ignore. Mounting laundry piles, dirty kitchens and toy-strewn floors. Whatever. If you are finding time to sew with kids, more than likely something else is going to have to give. Remember, creating is a messy process. And I interpret that to mean my house will be the messy part.
25 comments:
Can I kiss you for also having a messy house!
Thank you.
I only have one, but I can SO relate to this post! He's not very good at letting me sew while he's awake, so I set up a little card table outside... while he plays, I cut. :)
Haha. I'm also glad that its not just my house that is messy!
I hadn't started quilting when my 2 were babes and they're now 6 & 7 so they want to have a go at everything! I'm considering getting them a smaller sewing machine so that they can sew alongside me. My girl has down syndrome and though she's the eldest she just likes to play with fabric and notions but my boy is starting to ask to sew, its cute!
I have three little ones as well. As i read your post, I was saying yep, yep, yep. Such good advice. I don't always follow it myself though. So I am quite possibly the slowest sewist in blogland. I just wish I had somewhere to PUT everything. I waste a lot of valuable sewing time looking for things I know I have but can't remember where.... Danielle x
Number 10! Yes. This is my favorite one, but the others are all true and good too (especially number 9)! ;)
Aww, those are the most adorable pictures I have seen in a while. Beautiful fabric and gorgeous children in the same pic, perfect.
love this post! i have such a hard time sewing with my kids awake...my machine is upstairs and i keep thinking ill bring it down so i can sew while they play/fight...but i just never do.
So important to find the time to do what you love. When my kids were little about once a month my husband would watch them for a day on the weekend, I'd go in my room and close the door. They were supposed to pretend I wasn't there. It usually worked!
'LIKE' 'LIKE' 'LIKE'!!! Great post. I must be especially creative right now because my house is extra messy. I have three little girls too (4.5, 2.5 and 7 months) and I couldn't agree more!! The only thing you do that I don't do is letting the girls play with my fabric stacks. Scraps are ok, but I ask them to leave the folded fabric alone (and they do for the most). They love walking on it though. What's up with that?!? I have also tried nursing while sewing but that is very hard to do! :)
i could not agree with you more!!! these are excellent tips!!! i love the shot of your violet in amongst the fabric
Awesome post with awesome tips, though "I dump out all my safety pins and have them sort them by size" really concerns me.
You're kidding, right? It was only one month ago that you were on poop watch, right?
Oh, and 20 years ago, I was a camp counselor to a very precious but boy who was 3 years, 4 months old who CHOKED ONE A PUSHPIN AND DIED. The camp was sued for negligence, and the idiot pre-school teacher who violated state reguations by bringing the pushpin into the kids' room never worked as a pre-school teacher again. I think about this boy every single day of my life, having been the person dealing with him while he vomited mucous and gagged for air, until EMS arrived. So put the safety pins and needles and buttons and anything else that fits through the opening of a toilet paper tube out of the reach of your kids. For their sake.
Awesome post with awesome tips, though "I dump out all my safety pins and have them sort them by size" really concerns me.
You're kidding, right? It was only one month ago that you were on poop watch, right?
Oh, and 20 years ago, I was a camp counselor to a very precious boy, Miles, who was 3 years, 4 months old and who CHOKED ON A PUSHPIN AND DIED. The camp was sued for negligence, and the idiot pre-school teacher who violated state reguations by bringing the pushpin into the kids' room never worked as a pre-school teacher again. I think about Miles every single day of my life, having been the person dealing with him while he vomited mucous and gagged for air, until EMS arrived. So put the safety pins and needles and buttons and anything else that fits through the opening of a toilet paper tube out of the reach of your kids. For their sake.
I have to say I love your post! I'm totally the same way! People always ask me how do I manage to sew with a two year old and a nine month old. I say "its easy...I just do it." Haha I think its cause its such a part of my life that its a part of their life.
And I totally agree on the getting them use to the machine. I do the same thing, its no longer interesting! Love it. Wonderful post!
Anonymous, I'm so sorry to hear about Milo. That's a tragic story.
Of course I don't let the girls play with safety pins open or unattended. I am right there facilitating the activity while sewing and pressing fabric.
Playing with small objects is great for fine motor skill development. I'm a BIG fan of letting kids push buttons through a slit cut in a plastic lid. Again, supervised.
I have a friend whose friend's child died in a freak accident from getting sand in his lungs from playing in a sand box. I still let my girls play with sand. Why? Because I can't keep them in a bubble.
LOVE this post. Thanks for putting in a list the things I have learned and will soon implement (flashlights=Brilliant!).
I love your comment about a messy house being part of the creative process…then I must be the most creative person around, because just the other day my three year old neighbor came over and declared “your house is messy.” Needless to say, she is not invited back!!! :)
The difference is that the state of NJ bars pushpins from being in a preschool setting for reasons like this. I'm gonna go out on alimb here and guess that safety pins would also be on that list. There's a reason why they're no longer used to fasten cloth diapers. And Mfor the record, Miles was supervised, but like you, his caretakers had divided attention with other tasks and children. Kids pick things and stick them in their mouths in the blink of an eye. I had to testify at a trial in front of his parents, imitating the gestues and sounds he made when I exited that preschool classroom (then being used for day camp) with him. Memories like that, nevermind the loss itself, make you err on the side of caution. The fact is, as you have outlined again and again this past month, your well-loved kids don't get very much one-on-one supervision simply beause you're outnumbered, so consider using *age-appropriate* items to develop their fine motor skills so that preventable tragedies don't ocur.
Nonny (that's my affectionate term for a gutless Anonymous poster who likes to throw stones without leaving their name or email behind) - do you actually have children, or do you just like to criticize those who do? Were you ever a child once? The fact is that we as a society have become overwhelmingly litigious, suing anyone and everyone for the slightest freak accident that happens. I'm so sorry to hear about Miles. But I have pushpins in my house. I have pens with small caps. I have buttons and pennies and quarters (gasp!) and my kids have access to all of those things.
I'm with Cara on this one. They cannot be raised in a bubble. I'm so thankful that I sat underfoot as my mom and my grandma sewed, and left horribly dangerous things like needles and pins around for me to play with. Thank God they did, because I now have the talents they gave me.
If Cara's mothering style is making you wake up with night-terrors, I suggest you stop reading. Otherwise, keep your opines to yerself, kay?
I am loving this blog post so very much! Thank you for sharing. Lately I feel like I am drowning in mess, but the time I get away from my lo is either for cleaning or sewing. I simply like sewing more and it gives me time to be 'me' again, not just 'mom'
Great post!
"Nonny" has a very self-motivated, Montessori-educated four-year-old and a nearly two-year-old with some mind-blowing fine-motor skill. And a Radiologist father-in-law who doesn't think that her paranoid self is vigilant enough, so believe me when I say that I am not the poster girl for the most cautious end of the spectrum. And Nonny agrees with you that kids can not, should not be raised in a bubble. I am not the helicopter parent at the playground (though my husband, son of the radiologist, is). And I do think that Cara is doing an *amazing* job, far more amazing with three kids than I ever could with two ... by myself ... all oh-so-long day, every day. But there is something called risk management, and not one single pediatrician or lawyer out there will tell you that a 2-year-old with a pile of safety pins (nevermind one who has had two ER visits in the past MONTH) embodies that. Why would this even be a sticking point?
And don't tell me to keep my opinions to myself; what I shared is something that I hope no one, especially Cara who has already been through so much with these girls, should ever have to go through. I read this blog BECAUSE I CHEER CARA ON. I truly believe that she is doing an amzing job.But that doesn;t mean that I agree with every choice she makes AND ADVERTISES TO ONE AND ALL. But since when does being a cheerleader mean being a Yes Man? What is this, Tudor/Stuart England?
And my name, by the way, is Rebecca. In case that somehow makes my views more relevant.
Hi Rebecca, thanks for letting me know your name.
I don't mind comments of dissent but when they are anonymous, it can come across more attacking than constructive. I think that's what's going on here.
While I did write in my post that I "let them sort [the safety pins] by size," a more accurate statement is that it's usually only Lila doing that activity when the other two girls are napping. Perhaps that will put your mind at ease some.
Listen, I recognize that the intent of your comments were good -- you only want to prevent an accident -- but try to remember that as mothers we are naturally wired to do the best that we can for our kids. To protect them, nurture them, let them discover and learn. So when someone insinuates that perhaps you aren't acting in the best interest for your kids or (worse) are being negligent in some way -- even when couched within a well-intended piece of advice -- it can bite.
great post, very valuable advice and SO true!!:)
My point, Rebecca, is that there are a million and one ways of parenting, and Cara's is not any more dangerous or risky than yours. You just see it that way.
By the by, I think it's FABULOUS that your kids are Montessori educated, offspring of lawyers and doctors and whatnot, and probably destined for Hah-vahd or some equally self-righteous Ivy League school. I still don't think that means you need to leave anonymous comments criticizing Cara's mothering. Do we not get enough of that in the media? Do we not heap enough guilt and blame on ourselves for our own failings as parents as it is?
I'm one of those people who is going to fight for my friends. So that's what I did in my previous comment and that's what I'm doing now. I've been to Cara's house, I've seen her kids. They're all right. And I for one applaud her for her honesty. I'm sick of the bloggers who try to paint their lives out to be nothing but bliss and shiny happy moments. That's not real. I like Cara's real.
super excellent list. gave me some things to think about! i'm going to tack it somewhere on my blog so i can refer to it often :) http://erinlebeau.blogspot.com/
lol! too cute. i'm expecting my first in april and already wondering how i will fit sewing into the baby/work/cooking/cleaning thing.
Post a Comment