What Happened When I Sewed Little and Often
Why building a sewing habit has been more rewarding than waiting for the perfect day
When I first came up with the idea for One Match One Make, I thought it would simply be a fun way to encourage us all to spend a little more time sewing during the World Cup.
Like many makers, I’d fallen into the habit of believing I needed a long, uninterrupted stretch of time before it was worth getting everything out. A whole afternoon. A free weekend. A day with nothing else planned. Don't get me wrong, I still love those days when I have a whole afternoon to sew. But over the past few weeks, something has shifted for me.
Instead of waiting for the perfect opportunity, I started looking for the opportunities that were already there. Sometimes that was an hour. Sometimes it was half an hour. Occasionally, it was just enough time to prepare the next stage of a project.
And it turns out that those smaller sessions were enough. I have been working on some new sewing pattern ideas over the last couple of weeks. Sometimes, these come together really quickly, and only a couple of tweaks are needed to get the result I was aiming for. But more often, the idea in my head doesn’t always work out as I had envisaged, and it takes time to work through possible fixes. There's always a real sense of achievement when everything finally clicks into place, but I have realised recently that I don’t need to do this all in one go. I've realised that I don't have to solve every problem in one sitting. Walking away, letting an idea settle, and coming back for just fifteen minutes often gives me a fresh perspective.
Progress Looks Different
When I think back over the past few weeks, I can’t honestly say that every sewing session ended with something exciting to show for it. Some sessions were spent cutting fabric. Some were pressing seams. Some involved more unpicking than stitching! But every session made the next one easier. And that’s something I think we often overlook.
Progress isn’t only measured by finished projects. Sometimes it’s measured by removing the little obstacles that make it easier to begin next time.
The Habit Is Becoming the Reward
One of the biggest surprises has been how much easier it feels to return to a project when I haven’t left it untouched for weeks. I used to find it really difficult to get the momentum going again if I had been away from a project, but this has changed over the last few weeks.
There’s less hesitation. Less wondering where I got up to. Less feeling that I’ve somehow lost momentum. Instead, the project stays familiar. It’s still part of my week.
I’ve realised that building a regular making habit isn’t really about sewing more. It’s about making it easier to begin.
Every Session Has Value
Not every sewing session needs to be productive. It's easy to think that a sewing session only "counts" if we finish something.
But remember, some sessions are creative. Some are practical. Some are frustrating. Some are wonderfully satisfying. But every time we sit down to make something, we’re practising our skills, solving problems, making decisions and spending time doing something we enjoy. That has value, whether we finish a project or not.
A Simple Question
I’ve started asking myself one question before I sew.
“What would make this session feel worthwhile?”
Sometimes the answer is to finish a pocket. Sometimes it’s simply to thread the machine and sew a few seams. Sometimes it’s to spend half an hour quietly making, without worrying about how much I achieve. I’ve found that setting a gentle intention is much more motivating than setting a long list of jobs.
This Week’s Resource
This week’s Sew Smarter resource is a Sewing Session Journal. Rather than focusing on the whole project, it focuses on just one sewing session.
Before you begin, you can note what you’d like to achieve. When you’ve finished, take a moment to record what actually happened. When you've finished, take a moment to record what actually happened. You might be surprised how much progress can happen in even the shortest sewing session, because it’s surprisingly easy to forget how much progress can happen in even the shortest sewing session. Over time, those pages become a reminder that creativity isn’t built in one marathon weekend. It’s built one session at a time.
Please subscribe to receive this and all the previous One Match One Make sewing resources.
This Week’s Challenge
The next time you sit down to sew, don’t worry about finishing the project.
Instead, ask yourself:
What would make this session feel worthwhile?
It might be learning something new.
It might be solving a problem.
It might simply be enjoying an hour away from the noise of everyday life.
Whatever your answer, I hope you’ll give yourself permission to count it as progress. Because the more I’ve reflected over the past few weeks, the more I’ve realised that sewing isn’t just about what we make.
It’s about making space in our lives to create, to learn, to solve problems and to enjoy the process.
And I think that’s worth celebrating.
Until next week,
Happy sewing,
Suzanne