The heat of summer certainly slows down the pace of many things, including our sewing efforts. Special occasions and more pop up on our calendars on a regular basis despite the scorching heat. Finding a time-saver sewing project may be just the right inspiration needed for a creative sewing session.

No child can resist a huggable soft toy, especially one sewn with care just for that individual youngster. Whether bears, or bunnies, charmingly dressed mice, traditional rag dolls or enchanted characters from storybooks of old, children are delighted to have a clutchable treasure all their own.

Spot a fabric-lined sewing basket filled with sewing notions and it evokes a call to our inner sewing muse. Whether new or an endearingly inherited one with a jumble of well worn needles, fading threads, mixed buttons and perhaps a makeshift pin cushion is a sewer's delight to own and cherish.

Soft flexible vinyl is durable, easy to clean, comes in colors other than clear and can be fun for outside-the box scrappy sewing. Vinyl is used to make peek-a-boo windows in organizing pouches, colorful luggage tags, poolside splash proof pouches or suitcase travel protectors. All are easy to sew.

The humble bandana is an iconic summer fabric favorite. Like its Americana counterpart - blue jeans, it has withstood the test of time. Bandanas are thrift-store, dollar-store, discount-darlings readily available, inexpensive and able to add instant whimsical appeal to clothing and home décor.

The tiny sewing machine push-in light bulb that all sewing machines and sergers seem to have as default lighting is barely adequate to illuminate even the intended sewing area. Today's lighting options can mimic natural daylight and keep any sewer from enduring an inadequately lit sewing area.

Among a sewer’s collection of sewing tools, notions, fabric, threads and needles none is more important, save the sewing machine itself, than an iron. It may be hard to think of the humble iron as a sewing tool yet its heat and steam capabilities are key to producing exceptional sewing results.

Beautifully staged online photos of finished sewing room makeovers do evoke inspiration when contemplating a sewing room do-over or organizing the chaos of a cramped sewing area. However, what is practical, budget-conscious, and ultimately functional when tackling such an organizing chore?

Whether called sewing hacks or tips, sewing room secrets or shortcuts, the effect is always the same – sewers sharing a more productive, efficient way to sew. Of course, learning and trying new sewing techniques is really part of a long tradition of the sewing process.

Whether spring or summer travel is a local micro-cation or a destination of dreams, having a few travel accessories homemade using colorful fabric scraps or a pretty length of fabric saved for just the right occasion, sewing them to go along just seems right.