How to amuse kids in a craft room?

[Smokering]

So I finally got my sewing room in workable, if not gorgeous order. And now I'm realising the snag. My one-year-old likes to be near me, and the sewing room has nothing to occupy her except doom - pulling out my stash, finding scissors and pins and seam rippers, eating buttons, that sort of thing.

So how the heck do you do it? Do you make one half of your sewing/craft room a play area: and if so, please tell me, what harmless objects do toddlers find more engrossing than seam rippers? Do you only craft when your partner's home to watch the kiddies?

Right now I find it works better to do as much sewing as I can - hand sewing, cutting out etc - at the kitchen table, because at least then she can wander around our open plan-ish living room/dining room/kitchen area and play with her toys. But the whole point of having a sewing room is so I wouldn't be spread all over the house...

Any tips? So far the thing that works for me is crafting for half-hour blocks and doing housework and baby stuff between. If I doo that and vary the locations of my crafting, the baby doesn't get too bored. If I get engrossed in finishing a project and try to sew for hours, she gets whiny and clingy (and who can blame her, really?). It's a pain to keep stopping and starting, but better than doing no crafting at all!

[spmamma]

Oh, I wish I knew how to keep my 2 YO better occupied in my sewing room! When she was younger, she loved pulling scrap fabric out of a basket. She still goes through it sometimes, but now she prefers to look through "her" zippered pouch in my sewing supply organizer. It has things in it that can't hurt her but look interesting. I still have to keep a close eye on her, though.

Every once in a while she'll sit quietly in my lap and "help" me sew... but those days are few and far between because she wants to touch everything. Mostly, I have do stick to sewing during times when she is asleep.