Serger Tales, part 1

Posted on February 12, 2014 by oliver's fancy

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. 😉

Attention all Makers…

Posted on February 7, 2014 by oliver's fancy

I had the privilege to attend the inaugural Maker’s Summit last year and was blown away by this awesome event! You can read my summary here. I was so excited to find out they have decided to make this an annual event and bought my ticket as soon as I could. The second annual Maker’s Summit will be held Saturday, March 1. Here is their definition of this event from the website…

“A one-day business conference for the art, craft, and design world. Learn how to start or grow your business alongside fellow creatives. Hear practical advice from industry leaders and peers during keynotes, workshops, panel discussions and one-on-one time with experts.”

Some really cool people are going to be speaking this year, including Jordan Ferney from Oh Happy Day, Handmade Charlotte, and Susan Peterson from Freshly Picked. Seriously, if you live anywhere close enough to come, you should make the effort. This conference will inspire and teach you so much. I think it’s good for just about anyone who enjoys creating of any sort. And considering some of the other conferences out there, the price is quite a steal!

Also there’s a pretty awesome after party affectionately known as the best craft party ever… Yeah, it’s true, peeps. But you’ll have to come and judge for yourself. Hope to see you there!

look it’s a hugely pregnant me from last year! Will be nice not to need so many bathroom breaks this year. 😉

Sewing for Kids Workshop

Posted on July 4, 2012 by oliver's fancy

I realized that I never blogged in detail about my sewing class that I took at Whipstitch back in March. Because I learned so much at that class, I wanted to discuss it a bit and show off a few pics. To begin with, I have talked several times about how much I LOVE Whipstitch. Seriously, if you get a chance to go to Atlanta, you MUST go to her store. It is the perfect shop for the modern quilter/sewer. But even if you can’t get to Atlanta, she has an etsy shop where you can buy her fabric online.

I had been to Whipstitch last year when the hubs and I went to Atlanta for our anniversary. It is so modern even the hubs said he doesn’t mind going into it- Score! When I saw Rae blog about the class she and Karen would be teaching there in March, I jumped at the chance to go- meet one of my bloggy heroes and learn more sewing tips…perfect weekend. It just so happens that I have a birthday in March so the timing worked out well for me. No need for the hubs to buy me any other presents!

And it pretty much was the perfect weekend. We headed down to Atlanta after the hubs got off work Friday night (about a 2.5 hour trip). We have a very generous friend who lives there and offered for us to stay with him all weekend- thanks, Andrew ,for making our trip possible! (I’m sure he doesn’t read my blog but I’ll give him a shout out anyway. 🙂 ) There was a crafty meet-up on Friday night that I really wanted to go to but we got in too late for that…bummer.

I stayed at Whipstitch all day Saturday and the hubs very generously watched the Little Man for me. He dropped me off early in the morning for a free clothing workshop- given by Karen and Rae, came back for lunch with me and then took Little Man back to the house for an afternoon nap while I went to the Sewing for Kids Workshop. All day I was pretty much like a kid in a candy store.I know I am being a bit melodramatic here, but it was a dream come true for me. Being a mostly self-taught sewer, it is so helpful for me to get instruction from others. The Saturday morning tutorial was all about constructing handmade garments that look professional. A lot of discussion was given to seams and finishing touches. I really took away tons of helpful advice for clothing construction. Then in the afternoon class we made the treasure pocket pants that I have been addicted to since…from the book Sewing for Boys. It was a crazy whirlwind class because we were trying to finish the pants in 3 hours but it was loads of fun! Rae and Karen are great teachers! I am just sad I don’t live closer to Whipstitch or Michigan to make attending more classes at either a regular occurrence 😦 . Whipstitch just happens to be about 5 minutes away from Ikea so after my class was over, we headed over there with our friend Andrew to have some fun.

Here are some pics of the weekend…They are mostly instagram shots because we didn’t bring the regular camera.