getting crafty.
warning: i say the word craft or some variation thereof about a thousand dozen times in this post. it will lose meaning for you by the end.did you guys know that i have my very own sewing machine? i do, yes i do. i asked for a sewing machine for my 10th birthday, because i was really into the american girl books, and all of those girls could do thing like sew dresses for themselves and their dolls, and they were all only, like, nine years old! i wanted to at least be able to sew bedding for my dolls so they didn't have to freeze in their little beds at night, was that so much to ask?
well, i got my sewing machine. and oh man, that was the coolest gift ever. i learned how to set it up, how to load different colors of thread into it, and even got my own little sewing basket with a pin cushion! i made a couple of incredibly ugly patchwork pillows, and one mini beanbag for the dollhouse. and then i realized that sewing was hard, and most of my stuff was not very pretty, and who needs to know how to read a pattern, amiright? then my mother commandeered my sewing machine, because it was actually a very nice machine, and i haven't touched it since. that makes it about...oh, 15 years since i've even thought about using a sewing machine (oh my gosh i am getting so ooooooold). this makes it difficult to be as productive as i want to be in my current phase of life, wherein i am starting to get that craving to make things from scratch (but am not allowed to make a baby yet, so have to settle with crafts).
so in a twist of wonderful serendipity, i recently heard about this site called craftsy. it's a site that provides online classes and resources for people who are at all different levels of craftiness. the online classes are what really got me interested. i always have the best intentions of going to take a community class on sewing or knitting or something, but then my workout clothes feel really comfortable and i don't want to leave the house. a class i can take at home on my couch? perfect.one of my holiday surprises i'm planning involved a very minute amount of sewing. such a small amount. but too much to do it by hand, which is what i normally do. (can you guess what it is MM?) i'm going to need to use my mom's/my sewing machine to get it done. so i figured that i would see if there were any classes that could teach me the very basic of basics of sewing. enter "sewing 911" (which is actually being offered as a free mini class right now, so perfect). this class basically teaches you how to set up your sewing machine, and troubleshoot if you've done something wrong. you have to be adult enough to understand how to feed fabric through the machine, but if you can't figure that out, you have no business being near needles.the class was really helpful for me (although i could do without the camera switching angles every two seconds....not adding to the production value at all people). it's so nice to be able to watch someone work with the machine, instead of trying to read a tutorial, which does nothing for my brain. i feel like if i watch it a couple of times, i can get the hang of it and not get all sweaty and nervous when i try to make my Christmas surprise. the nice thing about the classes is that once you buy them, you can watch them as many times as you want, which, if you're like me, is invaluable. things don't always stick the first time i hear them.i'm so glad they offered this mini class for free, because now that i've been able to see an example of a class, i'm really inclined to pony up and pay for one (the mitten knitting class is calling my name if i get brave enough). i think it'd be kind of fun to give a class as a gift, or just buy one for yourself. there are tons to choose from on the craftsy site, and it's totally worth a look!
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