When do you sew?

I am the owner of an errant toddler and the wife of a shift worker. This leaves me with very specific windows of time when I can sew.

I can’t sew when the toddler is conscious – that’s like wrestling 100 grumpy (and slippery) eels into a small bag.

I also try not to sew when the husband is around – seems a bit antisocial to ignore him when I see him so little. Unless Formula 1 is on of course. Then I’m entitled to do as I damn well please because there is sod all chance of him noticing I’m around let alone alive if cars are whooshing round a track making neooooooowwwwww noises.

This means I tend to sew on evenings when my husband is at work and when the child is in bed and I’m effectively house-bound. This means you’ll see certain bursts of creativity from me – generally on a 5 week rotation thanks to Police Scotland!

Last week was one of those bursts. I was hankering after a fun top for going out and had this yellow polyester type fabric left over from my blazer. I also had a stash of black lace left over from a Christmas party dress. And so the two came together quite nicely.

For once I was relatively patient when pinning and sewing the lace on – I think I’ve got it pretty neatly done. I even bothered to change my bobbin thread colour so the inside looks decent. This is an old favourite Simplicity pattern – the only adjustments I made was to ditch the back zip, make the neckline a bit deeper and to use bias binding on the arm holes rather than a facing.

I rather like it – I like it even more because it kept me amused for an entire evening.

When do you tend to sew? Are there times you’re busier than others? Are you slow and steady or do you have manic bursts of creativity like me?