Moving Sucks

Hey all. I've been up to my eyeballs in moving boxes. It took me a few days to find all the dishes. I'm working my way through the house, finding the must-haves, and then starting to organize. It's been like Christmas since I haven't seen some of this stuff in almost 2 years! I've thrown out several garbage bags full of things, and plan on purging my closet too (or refashioning...we'll just have to see!) By the way, remember my giveaway here? No? Well, only 3 entered, so it's really hard to choose one! So Kristin, email me your address and I'll send that gift card out!




Sorry this isn't the world's coolest post, but I really need to get back to laundry since I haven't done it for 3 weeks! I will post pictures and be more awesome next time. Promise!

A Teaser and a Tip or Two…

Remember this?

IT’S FINISHED!!  WOOT!

Check back Thursday for the big reveal!!

So, life here has been really, really busy.  We’ve had sick kids, oodles of doctor’s appointments, parent teacher conference, bathroom renovation (obviously), Scouts, piano lessons, dentist appointments, and surgical consults.  Yep.  I’m headed for surgery again.  Stupid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Anyway, my life has been super busy, so no tutorial today.  Sorry.

But, I do have a FABULOUS tip for you.

These floss threaders are AWESOME for threading your serger.  Seriously.  It makes threading the upper looper and lower looper so.much.easier.  They’re even reusable!  ;)

The other thing that takes some of the stress out of threading a serger is bent tip tweezers.

Sometimes I feel like a surgeon when I’m threading my serger.  I guess that makes me a SERGEON!!  Get it?! 

Okay.  I’m a dork.  No worries.  I already knew that!  :)

Another serger-threading trick is to clip the serger threads close to the cone and tie the new color of thread to the old color and S-L-O-W-L-Y serge until the new color is threaded through the serger.  When the knots in the thread get to the needles, clip the threads and manually thread the needles.  The knots won’t fit through the eyes of the needles.  The knots should go through the eyes of the loopers without any problems.  Once you’ve done that, you’ve successfully re-threaded your serger without the hassle of threading it!  :)

This little sweetie has really helped me get to know my serger.

It was so informative, but so fun to read at the same time.  I almost couldn’t put it down!

One night as I was deep into this book, Hubby asked me if I was ready for bed.

“Just a minute.  I’m reading all about flatlocking.  Did you even know I could do that with my serger?!  Listen to this…” And I started reading from the book.

He looked at me like I was a nut case and said, “You’re a dork.  I’m going to bed…” then walked off laughing. 

Well, there you go.  I am still getting to know my new machine, but the more I get to know her, the more I love her! 

Natalie + Juki = LOVE!!  :)

Be sure to check back Thursday for the bathroom reveal!  :)

DIY Invisibility Cloak

Hi there!  It’s great to see you again!  Before I start this tutorial off, did you get a chance to enter the What I Wore Sunday link party?  No?  Well, then, I’ll just wait while you enter!

…waiting…

…waiting…

…waiting…

Back already?!  Thanks for going to our par-tay!!

A few weeks ago, I saw these on sale and knew I needed them for my five little guys.

Even though the were 50% off, that was still more than I wanted to buy.  I mean, I wanted FIVE of them.  So I did what any frugal cheapskate would do.  I scoured the internet until I found the perfect fabric.  I found it and made the cloaks myself.  It was so easy.  This is how I did it-

I got a screaming deal from the fabric shop, and they’re offering special discounts for Crafty Cousins readers.  Score!  More info on that in a bit.

I love this fabric.  It is so soft, smooth, and silky. 

I started off by cutting out my pattern.  Not gonna lie.  That was kinda tricky.

This is what your cloak should look like at this point.

Huh.  That’s really hard to see.  Hang on.  I’ll draw it out for you in Paint.

There ya go. 

Once your cloak is cut out, serge or zig-zag stitch your raw edges.  I had to buy special thread for these cloaks.  They gradually turn invisible so that you can still see what you’re doing while you’re sewing it.  You know…in case you mess up!

There is the thread--not yet invisible.  After I serged around the raw edges, I pinned them down to hem the edges.

I used a spool cone holder on my sewing machine so that I could use a spool of the thread to finish off the hem.

I used this stitch for added strength and security.

I just LOVE how they turned out!

I love that I was able to make them cheaper than I could buy them.

The best part?!  My guys LOVE them!!  (you can’t see the other two boys in this picture, but trust me they’re there!)

The downside is that sometimes I can’t find the boys, but at least they love their new cloaks!

Guess what?!  That totally awesome fabric store is offering Crafty Cousins readers a special discount on the supplies for this cloak.  The fabric is 40% off, and the specialty thread is 30% off.  Just enter the coupon code CRAFTYCOUSINS in the promo box at check out.

Click

HERE

to buy your supplies!

Happy shopping!

{{{loves}}}