shortcuts to sew a dress quickly and save time

Do you struggle with finding the time to sew? Do you need shortcuts to sew a dress quickly, save time and add to the wardrobe with less stress?

I have really struggled lately with not finding the time to sew, so I knew I needed to do something about it. When life is busy and the sewing projects get put on the back burner, something needs to be done about it.

We can’t add more hours to the day! There has to be another way to get the sewing done even if things are busy.

Let me tell you a story.

When I was about 8 or 10 I was in great need of dresses. My mom was, of course, busy and didn’t have endless hours to sew for me. So she took a pattern, made a test dress, and made sure it fit and then…

She sewed me 5 or 6 dresses a l l t h e s a m e. My aunt helped sew and I had a new wardrobe in one day! But, all those dresses were the same pattern. Each dress was made from different fabrics but every dress was the same design.

And I loved those dresses. I didn’t care that they were all the same pattern! I had a whole bunch of new dresses!

So what am I getting at?

Telling you that you need to sew all your dresses the same?

shortcuts to sew a dress : shortcut 1

Shortcut number one is…yes… sew all the dresses the same. Or all your daughter’s dresses the same. Choose a pattern you love. Test it to make sure it fits and no adjustments are needed.

Then start cutting. You can even cut out two dresses at once and save time right there. 😊

And then it will be just like breathing. You’ll be able to sew a dress without thinking because you will sew the same kinds of pieces together again and again.

Just make sure you buy the same type of fabric so that each dress fits the same. No variation in fabric types for this shortcut. 😉

shortcut 2

Do you find time for appointments? Doctor appointments, dentist appointments, taking your child to swimming lessons? Yes, of course!

Do you push off buying groceries until there is nothing left in the house to eat? No, I’m sure you don’t!

Then, here is the second shortcut you can try.

Set an appointment with yourself. Like after your husband goes to work. Or after the children go to bed in the evening. The time of day you feel the most energetic. Any of those times. And sit yourself down at your sewing machine and sew for as long as you can. Or 30 minutes, or an hour.

Or even set a certain time of the day that you will just sew 2 seams. And do that. Every day.

You can also set aside one day or one week that you are going to sew all that day or all that week. Prepare meals ahead or buy ready made food. That way you don’t have to spend a lot of time preparing meals.

And just SEW!

shortcut 3

Choose a simple design with as few pieces as possible. Use a sewing process that is smooth and easy. Like cut, pin, sew, press, repeat. So cut out the dress. Then pin as many seams as you can. Sew each seam and press. And then repeat that process until the dress is complete.

And it won’t take long if the pattern is a simple design. And you can always add a fun detail to spruce it up! 😊

Saving time saves frustration. Really, we just want something beautiful to wear. And if we can use one or all of these shortcuts to sew a dress, we will add to our wardrobe a lot quicker!

Wishing you lots of happy sewing moments!

Are there any time saving tips you like to use? Let me know in the comments below! I love hearing from you!

P.S. The Free Anna Dress pattern is a really simple pattern as well as The Erynn Dress or The Jeanette Dress patterns.