Sewing Brain Dump Planner: What It Is and How To Use It (+ Free Printable!)

Do you ever feel like you have dozens of sewing ideas swimming in your head? Do you struggle to keep them organised and bring them to life? Sometimes, I get so overwhelmed by the possibilities when it comes to sewing that I’m brought to a place of inactivity.

A few months ago, however, I came up with a tool to help me manage my thoughts and streamline my creative process – A Sewing Brain Dump Planner.

You can download it for free to help organise your projects and ideas. Scroll to the bottom of the post to grab your free printable copy!

I’ll go over what a sewing brain dump planner is, its potential benefits, and how to use it.

A sewing brain dump planner is a valuable tool for organising your sewing ideas and streamlining your thoughts. It provides a designated central space for capturing all your sewing inspiration, helping you stay organised and focused so that you can to easily refer back to them whenever you need.

The benefits of using a sewing brain dump planner

1. Reduce Your Mental Load

If you find it difficult to maintain focus and organize your thoughts, writing things down can help reduce your mental load by externalising sewing thoughts onto paper or a phone. You free up mental real estate to focus on whatever task you have at hand and can always return to what you wrote down later.

2. Organise and Structure Your Thoughts

A sewing brain dump planner has broad categories in which you can write your sewing thoughts and ideas. So you are bringing some sort of order to the chaos of your mind on paper. This benefit is related to that above. Not only are you reducing your mental load, you are bringing more structure to your thoughts.

💡 Related Tip:
If you struggle to break projects into smaller steps, I also wrote a guide on how to break down sewing projects into manageable tasks that includes a free task breakdown sewing planner

3. Visual Reminder

A sewing brain dump planner, like written lists or notes, is a visual cue that can serve as a reminder for sewists. I know that when I see important things that I wrote down laid out in front of me, it makes it easier for me to prioritise and complete tasks.

How To Use The Sewing Brain Dump Planner

Having outlined some of the benefits of using a sewing brain dump planner, let’s go through the sections of the planner that I designed.

1. Task Priority Matrix:

Here, you’ll find four quadrants, each representing a different level of urgency and importance for your sewing-related tasks. Urgent tasks are time-sensitive and require immediate action, while important tasks contribute to your overall progress and goals, regardless of their urgency. Please don’t get hung up on the quadrants though. Use your intuition to categorise and prioritise your tasks.

2. Sewing Project Ideas

This section is designated for jotting down any creative project ideas that come to mind, whether they’re fully formed concepts or just fleeting thoughts. Write down all those random sewing project ideas you have and don’t overthink it.

3. Sewing Patterns

In this section, you can compile a list of sewing patterns you’d like to try out, purchase for future projects or even draft. Keeping track all sewing patterns here to ensure that you don’t forget any potential pattern inspirations.

4. Shopping Supplies

Use this section to list any sewing supplies or materials you need to purchase for your upcoming projects. Having a designated space to keep track of your shopping needs ensures you don’t have to rush to the sewing supplies store mid-sew!

6. Sewing Space Ideas

This section is dedicated to brainstorming and planning your ideal sewing space setup. Whether you’re dreaming of a dedicated sewing room or looking to optimise your current workspace, use this space to jot down layout ideas, storage solutions, and decor inspirations to create a functional and inspiring sewing environment.

7. Tips and Tricks

In this section, you can compile a list of sewing tips, tricks, and techniques that you find helpful or want to remember for future reference. This is a very underrated part of sewing that can help you to improve your sewing skills.

Download your free printable brain dump planner

If you love the idea of a brain dump planner, I have a free printable planner for you and will it send it straight to your inbox.

If you enjoy sewing planners, you might also love my Sewing Journal Prompts Workbook for deeper reflection on your sewing practice.