Have y’all heard of Craftsy, yet? It’s a pretty cool website that offers video classes for all sorts of crafts. Most of the classes have some sort of fee, but they do offer some free classes. If you sign up for their email list, they will send you random notifications of really good sales. A few months ago, I signed up for this serger class (taught by Amy Alan of Really Handmade) during one of those sales. The cool thing about this online format is that I can take the class whenever…the bad thing about this online format is that I can take the class whenever- no deadlines to force me to finish (it’s the only way I get things done around here, peeps). So the class just sat in my inbox waiting for me to have time to take it.

After my fun with knits during Kid’s Clothes Week, I promised myself that I would get my serger out and take that class ASAP! And this week (while my sewing machine was in the shop) was the assigned week. I just have a cheap serger (a Singer ProFinish that I got for my birthday 2 years ago) because I didn’t want to invest in a really nice one until I knew I would use it. I did, indeed, begin the class this week and am happy to report I completed my first project from the class. I think it turned out not-too-shabby… If I do say so myself. I’ve been wanting to make a boxed bag for a while and really love how easy it was. Can’t believe I made the entire thing with my serger! Also it turned out to be the perfect size for my latest knitting project- to be discussed later.

I’m still struggling with tension on my serger. Maybe it’s because it’s cheap, but it seems like I have to put the tension up way high in order to get the correct stitches. It could be that I still really don’t know what I’m doing. Fake it till you make it, right? However, slowly but surely I am understanding more about this machine and seeing improvement in my work. And I’m happy to report that I can correctly thread my machine without fear! I’m glad I have this class as a resource to go back and review when I forget things. I would definitely recommend it to any other beginners like myself.

Next up on the class project list is an infinity scarf. After that I’m looking forward to trying out some clothes for the boys! Nothing is off limits from my serging now… you really should be scared for me. If the needles on a sewing machine weren’t bad enough, now I have knives on a serger to try not to hurt myself on. 😉