It's been a while

Ok, so the second half of November was SO busy! Between Tre's 7th birthday party for his friends, his actual birthday, Thanksgiving with my family and Jeff's together at our house for the first time, the kids off to their dad's and a HUGE party at the club that Jeff DJ'd our holiday season took off early and there's no end in sight! The good news is that Tre loved his first friend party (he hasn't had one since he was 3!) and having 8 little boys in our house went much smoother then expected! Thank you to Jeff and my parents for all they're help that day!! His actual birthday, a few days later, was pretty low key since we knew we would celebrate again when everyone came for Thanksgiving. I had decided to invite everyone to our house for Thanksgiving this year, we had my parents, my aunt, uncle and cousin, his mom and 2 brothers. It was a fantastic day, the food was great, everyone got along perfectly and the kids got TONS of presents (since no one wanted Izzie to watch her big bro open presents without getting anything!) With November's festivities behind us Christmas prep is in full swing, the house is decorated, most of the shopping for the kids is done, I have a list of gifts I need to make for everyone and I'm hoping to start some baking this week. So that's a rundown of my everyday life, now on to all the things going on with RG Originals....

Lots of exciting things going on in my little business world! First off, I got my new serger!! It was very intimidating at first but it didn't take me long to get it threaded and running and I'm in LOVE!! It is AMAZING how much easier making a dress or skirt is using a serger! Seam finishing is not only a breeze but is very professional looking and then I figured out how to ruffle fabric with just a few adjustments and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! My mom and Jeff's mom are getting really excited about all the stuff I make too so before I knew it they both brought me fabric in all forms, from old clothes to mounds of leftover fleece and even some beautiful gold brocade that's begging to be a purse or dress for Izzie! I noticed with all my new additions my sewing closet was getting out of control so I spent one of the afternoons that the kids were gone to rearrange my small little space. I'm not sure if seeing my difficulty that day is what did it or if it's (more likely) just because he's so naturally supportive but Jeff found me a sewing table online and ordered it. It is made by Sauder and he and I had a lot of fun putting it together! It is awesome! I can put both my sewing machine and my serger on it and it has space for storage and little shelves to keep my tools close by and handy. I LOVE it! It's my own little space, although at over 60 inches when the table is fully extended it's not so little, and I don't have to drag everything in and out of the closet every time I work on a project! Inspired by all this (and seeing a purse my sister made) I decided to try to make a purse. I had been thinking about it for a while but wasn't really sure I could do it since it had pleats and was a bit more advanced the the things I had already made. Finally this weekend I just dove right in and it turned out great!!! It was easier to make then I thought and I love the fabrics I chose. I liked it so much I changed my idea for the kids teacher gifts and I'm making them purses instead! Since it turned out so well I decided  that I tend to sell myself short and  avoid things because I don't think I am able to figure it out or do it well so today I tried shirring, sewing with knits (I've been terrified since I sewed through my finger years ago while sewing with knit) and making a button hole. Shirring is EASY and I can't wait to use that technique on a garment! After a few adjustments to my machine sewing with knits isn't as scary as I thought, I'm going to try it on the serger tomorrow and have a pattern I've been wanting to try so I'm going to go for it! After 3 BAD attempts I figured out button holes and the last two looked really good! The next things I want to try is adding a zipper and adding a magnetic closure. I've decided that I shouldn't be afraid to try anything or overlook a pattern I like because I don;t think I can do a specific part. Obviously I can if I just TRY! Now the sky is the limit! This month is going to be BUSY but somehow I will manage to fit in all the sewing I need to do as well as some (if not all!) of the sewing I WANT to do!!
By the way, I REALLY need to figure out how to post pictures on here!! Hopefully that will happen soon!