does since take a past progressive?

[5jj]

1) "It's been a long time since I've sewn..." = I have not sewn for a long time.
2) "It's been a long time since I sewed.." = It has been a long time since X (X being that past time when I last sewed.)

3. "It's been a long time since I was sewing..." = It has been a long time since X (X being that past time when I was sewing last.)

#3 is rather unlikely, and I would not recommend its use to students, but it's not impossible. As I have said in other threads, virtually any combination of tenses is theoretically possiible in English. The reason many of them sound incorrect or unnatural is that the contexts in which they are possible are not common; when we see them here with no context, then very often our first reaction is to say 'not possible'.

 

[Kotfor]

1) "It's been a long time since I've sewn..." = I have not sewn for a long time.
2) "It's been a long time since I sewed.." = It has been a long time since X (X being that past time when I last sewed.)

Thnaks a lot. The gist of these two is pretty much the same. IMHO

 

[5jj]

Thnaks a lot. The gist of these two is pretty much the same. IMHO

I agree.

 

[ostap77]

I agree.

The context is in post #14.