Use a Bullet Journal For Sewing

Hi, this is Kath from thingskathmade with a post on how to use a bullet journal for sewing.

A bullet journal (or BuJo) is a great organizational tool and can be used to keep track of your sewing projects, too.

If you are not familiar with the bullet journal method, you can find a lot of posts on pinterest. But you can get started with just a notebook and some pencils. You can get creative with your BuJo and make pretty spreads or you can keep it simple and just use it to stay organized. I like to keep mine rather basic, because that’s what works best for me.

In this blog post I will show you my favorite pages to have in my bullet journal to help me keep everything organized.

Weekly page

The most important one for me is a weekly page ( basically like a planner page with dates) to have an overview of what I have to or want to do that week and any deadlines I have to keep. Here I’ll put any sewing projects I want to work on, tests, pictures I have to take and upload etc.

This is my most used page that I can’t do without.

Sewing ideas list

Another great page I like to have is a Sewing Ideas page, where I can write down any ideas for sewing projects that I have and want to remember. So whenever I have a random idea of what I would like to sew, I just put it on that page, maybe add a little sketch, and get back to it later when I have time to work on my idea more in depth.

Sewing projects page

Which brings me to the next BuJo page I’d like to introduce you to - a Sewing Projects page, where you can plan your projects in detail. You can do a page for each project or a two pages spread if you need more space (or half a page if you need less) - whatever works for you.

What you can put on this page:

• type of garment (or craft) you want to sew

• the pattern you want to use (or a list of patterns that might work for your project)

• fabric you want to use (if you already have fabric you can add a fabric swatch, if not you can note down what type of fabric you want to use and how much you’ll need)

• any notions or hardware you will need

• a sketch of how you want the finished project to look like

• what size you will sew and any adjustments you will have to make

Patterns I want to try list

This is a great list to have if you have a lot of patterns (or a wishlist full of patterns) and tend to loose track of which ones you wanted to try next. This can be an ongoing list where you write down patterns you want to try when you see them or you could write them down in the order you want to try them in.

I only have the ones I would like to try next on my list, so it doesn’t get too overwhelming.

Measurements page

One thing you always have to do when you start a new project is measure yourself (or the person you are sewing for). You can have a dedicated page for that in your BuJo, where you write down your current measurements to get back to when you need them again at some point during your project. This can just be a note in your BuJo or you can have an overview of your measurements if you want to see if they have changed over time - which can also be helpful for other reasons, for example if you want to keep track of how much your kid is growing in one year.

Gifts to sew list

If you are someone who sews gifts for their loved ones, this is another great list to have. Whenever you see something and think “hey, I could sew that for my partner/friend/kid/….” you just put it on your gifts to sew list so you don’t forget. Or you can have a list dedicated to special occasions (like holidays) you want to sew gifts for.

Projects tracker

An overview of all your ongoing projects, where you can track your progress. I’ve added the most important steps here, but you could do more or less steps, depending on how you go about your projects.

Sewing Challenges

You have probably heard of the ABC sewing challenge or the Slash your Stash challenge. I participated in the ABC sewing challenge last year and printed out a sewing ABC to put in my BuJo and also made a list of patterns for each letter, to help me keep track.

Stretch test instructions:

I printed out the stretch test instructions that are included in every E&M pattern and glued them in my bullet journal to always have them handy. I find this super helpful as I’ve always had it as a loose page before and now I don’t have to search anymore.

Other pages and lists you could try:

There is a lot you can do with your BuJo and it’s almost impossible to try everything. I have collected a few more ideas that I have not tried yet, but think they might be a nice addition:

• fabric list (to organize your stash: you log every fabric on that list, details about the fabric, where you bought it, where you are keeping it etc.)

• patterns list ( a list of all the patterns you own: you can have them in alphabetical order or by designer or type of garment,...)

• techniques I want to learn ( as the name suggests, this is for sewing techniques you would like to learn - you could add resources you want to use like books or websites, dates for online courses etc.)

• sewing events page ( for fabric markets, craft shows etc. that you would like to attend)

• photo locations ( if you take pictures of your sewing projects, it might be nice to have a list of locations that you know work well or you would like to try)

Okay, that's it from me today. Happy sewing and happy journaling!

(Written by: Katharina Reiser)