Read-Aloud Advice and Sewing Tips

I am hoping that some of my fellow homeschool parents could offer some helpful advice.  First, I am finding myself rather frustrated during our read aloud time.  I have five young children, ages 8, 7, 5, 3, and almost 1. My oldest two are very bright but are on the autism spectrum, which for us, means that they tend to be very easy distracted and also need shorter passages to narrate than perhaps a typical child the same age(s). So first, read aloud time is often very busy.  I try to do it while we eat so that the baby and toddler have the best chance of being occupied and quiet, but that also tends to keep my oldest from paying attention as closely. Plus, the baby and toddler just love to make noise and be silly with each other while we eat, even if everyone else is trying to listen.  Add to that the more frequent narration breaks (to make sure they’re following the story and won’t get confused later, not because I’m trying to turn read-aloud time into some sort of drill time), there are just more chances for them to go off on a tangent.  Any time I pause, actually, it’s pretty likely that someone will go off on a tangent!  So between the distractions of little ones, frequent pauses to narrate, and all-too-often interruptions and tangents, it usually takes us two or three times as long to read and I’m usually just trying to “get through it” by the end.  However, reading on the couch or the floor is almost a guarantee for a crying/screaming baby who is either desperate to get up on the couch with us or is trying her hardest to grab the book. I love reading and I love the idea of what reading to my children looks like in my mind, but the reality of it is that it is HARD and I’m hoping someone out there has some helpful advice or ideas that I just hadn’t thought of.  I’m not feeling like I want to give up- I’m just hoping to get closer to the beautiful, connecting experience that reading aloud to my children is in head.  Any help???

Second, my 7 year old really wants to learn how to sew.  Any suggestions on programs or books or video channels, etc, etc, etc. that might be good?  I can sew, but I’m not quite sure where to start or what a typical sequence of learning to sew looks like.