How to Sew in Bed

Many years ago, when I was a fashion student, I tried sewing in bed. It was winter, my bedroom was cold, and I had some handsewing to do to finish off an assignment for class. So I sat up in bed and sewed. All was fine and I got it finished. But you can probably guess what happened. That night as I was lying in bed, I rolled over onto some pins which had slipped out without me noticing. I never sewed in bed again.

Until now. With long covid, I spend a lot of time lying in bed, and I also try to conserve energy wherever possible – either sitting or lying down to do things. Lying down is preferable, so with this in mind I’ve given sewing in bed another try, but this time I’m a lot wiser.

Here’s my four best tips.

1. Don’t use pins

The stakes are much higher now, as I share a bed with a man who’s a veritable pin magnet and I don’t want to upset him.

If you do use pins, limit it to only two pins so you can keep track of them. Just move them along as you sew each section.

Other alternatives (depending on the situation) are basting and pressing, if you have the energy to do them beforehand.

2. Remember to stretch!

It’s easy to get so involved in the project that you forget to move, but you still need to take breaks and stretch just like any time you sew. Also, your lying down-posture uses muscles you don’t normally use for sewing, so they get tireder quicker.

3. Adjust the lighting, if you need to

Is the light coming through the window good enough to sew by? It sometimes depends on where the bed is positioned and which hand you sew with. If not, I tend to use the bedside light rather than the room’s main light, as it’s closer and a softer light.

If the fabric is dark it’s harder. Once I put an anglepoise lamp next to the bed to sew dark fabric, but for short sections sometimes a headtorch is OK.

4. Take a small sewing kit

Just take what you need to sew with. I use a pocket cut off the back of some jeans with a needle, thread, snips and thimble. The more items you have to keep track of, the easier it is to loose them in the covers.

Cheers!