This might be old news to some of the really organised people out there, but in case I wasn’t the last person in the world to figure this out, I thought I’d share (also I’m very pleased with myself over it).

Recently I was lamenting that I never seem to have enough time to sew – I want to make Little F some new shorts, but I didn’t have a pattern ready, so I’d have to track down a pattern, print it out, cut out the shorts, and then sew them, and I never seemed to have a couple of hours free to get it all done. I don’t have a dedicated sewing area since my husband works from home and took over our study, so I need to pack everything away every night.

I have my sewing gear organised so it only takes a minute to get the machine set up, but the rest of it seemed to be standing in my way. Then I realised – I don’t have to get it all done at once. I can print the pattern out one night, cut it out the next night or when I have free time next, and then start sewing later.

So that’s what I’ve done. It’s taken me three nights so far, but I’ve picked out a pattern (Kid Shorts from Dana Made It), cut it out, and tonight I got it half sewn. I don’t have the right sized elastic, so I’ve stopped until I can buy some (just in case I end up with a different size), but I have a half sewn pair of shorts, and that’s far more than I’d have if I was still waiting for that elusive block of free time to pop up.