Here's some great newbies to add to my collection! Strangely enough the day that I made my son a pair of pj's out of the Treasure Island print he came home with a note from his teacher stating that he'd take a test on Treasure Island and he did excellent and the book was almost 200 points over his previously assigned lexile reading level which is fantabulous! I think that this will make the pj's even more special! Lots of great toddler and bigger kid pajamas to be made!!
Both of my new machines have been pulled from their boxes and I've packed away the huskylock. I've given the the new Juki 734DE a test run and all seems well. I have some attachments but I probably won't try any of those out until after the holidays. I don't like to mess with things when I feel pressed for time. That being said, I still decided to give the coverstitch machine a whirl. That too has 5 different attachments, but please don't ask me what they all are yet since I'm not even really sure. I've figured out the different ways you can thread it (I think) and what I mean by that is that it just depends if you want a wide or a narrow coverstitch and if you want two or threee needles threads. It's really like a serger but it doesn't cut. On the Brother 23440cv it's a bit different not having an autothread release which means that the needles threads don't release when you lift the presser foot. One might think that this is not a big deal until you try it and you realize what a pain it is to release them. I did find a tutorial that in my humble opinion will certainly make it a wee bit less cumbersome once I get used to doing it. Sew, if you too are wondering how to remove your fabric from your new brother 2340cv without feeling like you need to be an octopus, vist http://sew-4-fun.blogspot.com/2007/06/coverstitch-removing-fabric.html. You'll find this blog most helpful! Also, I've found so many helpful people at http://sewing.patternreview.com/. I'm feeling good about my choices so let's hope it stays that way!
Kristen was star of the day last week at preschool and I was the volunteer parent that same day. She was soooooo cute! She did such a great job with her poem. I tried to upload the video clip but it wouldn't work. Her poem goes like this: Brown is my hair, brown are my eyes, i'm 4 years old and just the right size. My name is kristen and as you can see, I'm very happy to be me! Might I point out that her left to right progression was fantastic as she just beemed with pride. I was so happy to share this time with her at East Concord Cooperative Preschool. Teachers Miss Jill and Miss Katie are really quite the everyday hero's in my book!
THEY'RE HERE -- EW, EW, EW, THEY'RE HERE -- I'M SO EXCITED BUT I JUST CAN'T PLAY W/ THEM RIGHT NOW, NO TIME, MUST CLEAN OUT SPOTS FOR THEM TOO - PROBABLY START W/ SERGER FIRST SINCE I ALREADY KNOW HOW TO USE THAT ONE. MAYBE TOMORROW?? I'M GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE SOME PICS OF MY HUSKYLOCK AND KISS IT GOODBYE SO I CAN SAVE FACE WITH HUSBAND. THE JUKI TOOK A DIGGER ON IT'S WAY HERE, BUT SEEMS IT ONLY HAS BOX INJURY.
Here's the finalized version of my batman costume. I cannot take credit for the gorilla - that came off of a clearance rack at Sam's club years ago and this is Kristen's 2nd year wearing it (her choice entirely and no tears from me on that one). The kids are very pleased with their pumpkins as well as their candy intake! I'm told that they got to experience some sort of haunted house while out w/ dad, their aunt and cousins trick-or-treating. I could tell that they had a great time! Now if only Matty would be batman next year too . . . 
Well, it's a busy week here for many reasons and these costumes are only one of them. The flapper dress took pretty much no time compared to the batman costume that's mostly complete. With batman, I didn't fuss with hemmng sleeves or pant bottom and I fudged the top a little cuz I didn't have the right size zipper and so I added the bias tape to the neckline for ties. The belt has some parts that you glue and I don't have a buckle so I might hit the goodwill store to see if I can find one there?? That's pretty much what I think is left on this. I could tweek the face hood a little to snug it up but Matty didn't seem to care so . . . The flapper dress is a neat hairy-like fabric and I just made a straight tank-style dress and added the trim at the bottom. The fabric is very sheer so I actually made a slip out of some black swimsuit fabric that I had so if my niece wanted to wear that underneath. I just hope it fits?! I didn't have all her measurements, just the waist so I really did wing it a bit. She's very petite so I think it will be fine.
