Who has a serger?

[homesteadmamma]

Who has a serger and how often do you use it? Is it something that you would never go without now that you have one? Is it a must when it comes to professional looking clothing?

[Guest1]

ME!!

I love mine!! (but I just broke my tower thingie... )

I use it on just about everything I sew.....

It certainly makes things much easier when making clothes or things that require a hem...(which eliminates what Deb )

[SewCrafty]

Who has a serger and how often do you use it? I have 2 and I use at least one of them every time I sew.

Is it something that you would never go without now that you have one? Absolutely, I won't ever do without one again.

Is it a must when it comes to professional looking clothing? In my opinion, yes, but you can finish your seams off in other ways too. I like it especially when working with knits or very ravely fabric. You can do a lot of edge finishes too with it, for instance napkins and tablecloths or a lettuce edge on a nightie (ripple effect).

[canadian gardener]

I have one, I use it more than my sewing machine now, and I wouldn't be without it.

You can construct things far faster and without as much bulk in the seams resulting in a professional looking finish

plus the seam finishing.

I always thought they were a luxury, but now that I've had one for a while (quite a while now!) I wouldn't be without it. Most of my stuff, goes together first on that with the odd bit like buttonholes, topstitching, and darts being sewing machine rather than serger.

However I do prefer to fit the garment before serging so if you need the extra seam allowance, you aren't accidently cutting it off short using the serger, and finishing the seams before trying on the garment.

It is a Janome MyLock 234D model which is the 4 thread kind.

Threading them is AWFUL even with reading glasses, I tie a little knot to attach each new thread and run a chain till the new threads are on board.

When I got it (a friend gave it to me before she went overseas) I read a bunch of books on serging. I found the following titles very handy, and I suggest you get your library to bring one or all of them in for you.

I don't suggest you buy these books till you see if they are useful.

(yes I bought them)

Serge a Simple Project by Tammy Young and Naomi Baker pub by Chilton Press 1994 isbn 0-8019-8393-2 this is the BEST self teaching serger book in my opinion but I also like the companion book ----

ABCs of Serging by the same pair. ISBN 0-8019-8195-6 and it is 1992. Just that Serge a simple project takes you thru the skills using real projects that you would use. It makes sense but the aBCs one is a good reference book for how to thread, which way the tension needs setting for odd finishes, methods etc.

Innovative Serging by Gail Brown and Tammy Young is a pretty close second really to Serge a Simple Project. Also takes you thru stuff, lots of overlap but different explanations, different pictures and a different slant. 1989 iisbn 0-8019-7986-2 also by Chilton.

Not so good but still occaisionally useful is
Singer sewing reference Library -- Sewing with an Overlock (which is their photo manual book on serger sewing) not bad, the photos are clear but I still prefer the line drawings of the above 3 books for clarity and the tips in the top 3 are better.

and The Serger Idea Book by Palmer/Pletsch which have some good tips, all of which are covered better in the top 3 books, clear photos, but the projects seem uninispired to me, very dated and they rely on expensive types of fancy serger thread to do, so not near as useful. Definitely not one to bother buying, most libraries should be able to get hold of a copy for you.

HTH

[mylittle4]

Who has a serger and how often do you use it? I have the Brother 1034D and I use it everyday.
Is it something that you would never go without now that you have one? Most definatly I can't imagine life with out it

Is it a must when it comes to professional looking clothing? Yes I sell online a lot and the bids I got and my sales practically tripled when I wa able to say all seams have been serged.
When I was doing diapers and talking to all the other ladies that do them everyone was amazed by how well the brother 1034 works. It is not fancy and is affordable. It is load but a work horse. Mine chews through layers of corduroy and denim with out hestation. It took some practice and some guidance from sewcrafty (thanks Dee!) to do corners but I am pretty good at it now. I do all of the patchwork for my clothing that I sell on the serger it is amazing how fast I can put together patchwork panels on it. Mine does 1300 stitches per minute.