Or more to the point, what don’t I do?  I’ve have a few people lately comment on how surprised they are that I can fit in so much craft and sewing while having two small kids.  This is how I do it – there is lots that I don’t do.  At the moment, I hardly read anything.  I’m even way behind on trash and fashion magazines, and there isn’t much reading in those!  I’m not working (other than keeping the business books).  I have a cleaner.  I don’t do the meals – hubby is the cook.  I don’t do much shopping, other than online ;-).  Hubby does most of the grocery shopping.  I don’t watch television without doing craft of some kind at the same time.  I don’t play enough with my children.  I don’t read enough to my children.  I don’t talk enough to my husband.  I don’t do the ironing as regularly as I should and then poor Mum does it when she visits.  My older daughter loves to watch television so she probably watches more than she should.  My baby sleeps a lot – more than most babies (all night, a couple of three-hour sleeps during the day – she’s only awake for 6-7 hours in 24).  I don’t sleep in.  My husband works from home and is very involved with the children, so I get some sewing/crafting/blogging time when he is interacting with them.

So how do I do it?  I’m rarely idle.  If watching TV or being a passenger in the car, I crochet (a legacy of watching my Mum knit while watching TV or being a car passenger, I think).  My sewing room is all set up and well organised.  If I’ve got fifteen minutes up my sleeve, I cut something out, or decide on fabrics for another project, or sew a couple of seams.  Much of what I make is pretty simple, so gets finished quickly.  I’ve been sewing for a long time, so I know what short cuts I can take without it affecting the finished product.  Children’s clothes are quick to make!  I do some craft once the children have gone to bed in the evening.  Clare likes to do craft too, so sometimes we are both busy in the sewing room together.

At the moment I find that I NEED to sew and create.  I need to see a finished product for my efforts.  Although my girls are my most beautiful works in progress, I still need to have something that I can look at when the day (or week) ends as tangible proof of the time I put in.

So that’s how I do it!  How do you fit in your crafting and sewing?