Digging in

Alright, its been CrAzY busy around here lately.  I helped plan and then attended a conference for my work group, end of the year PD has been happening, I'm trying to build a timetable and then I got sick.  Boo!  I think that much of this crazy however, was an effort to avoid doing a couple of really scary things.

The first thing was that I needed to do was learn how to use my hand-me-over serger that I got from my awesome grandmother (shout out Nan!).  I've been messing around with it a little to get comfortable but it still had the four cones of brown thread that it came to me with and I have been way too scared to attempt to change it.  Look at this:

Do you see how complicated this is!?!  I have been studying ALL week just to be able to work up the nerve to change the threads!

 I really think if the machine is going to be this complicated, it should come with a man-servant to change all the threads for me.  Then I might sew full time!  So I read the directions about 50 times and followed all the threads through to get it down pat.  Then I changed them to new threads.  This is what happened:

That's RIGHT!!!  Success on the first try!!!!  I ROCK!

So once I got the serger thread changed, I was off to the races with my next project -- making a competition suit for my friend who competes in figure (read body-building but slightly less intense) competitions.  She is coming up to provincials on June 1st and asked me to make her suit for her.  Uh.....no pressure, right?  So I have never made garments of ANY sort before (except for most of a shirt that I started last weekend with a sewy friend of mine named Marie).  Nothing like biting off way more than you can chew.  I also have no pattern and am working from her old suit which I took apart.  If I screw this up, I am in BIG friendship-ending trouble.   Most of the suit is serged first with elastic, then the elastic areas are rolled under and zigzag stitched.

Step one, serged bits complete...

...And then rolled under and zigzagged 

I'm getting this puppy finished by Saturday night so I can start to add the jewels.  Bedazzle style!  Should be a fun process...except for the fact that I need my friend IN the suit while I glue crystals to her boobs and other lady-parts.  Its a damned good thing we've been friends for so long.  No shame, right?

K, up early tomorrow.....nite!