Bought a Serger!!!

[jaunvie]

I just bought a Pfaff Hobbylock 797 for $300!!!  It's a nice machine (5 thread) but a pain in the butt to thread   I think a got a pretty good deal though. Even has all of the feet and accessories for it. I'm just so excited

[lady serena]

Congrats on getting the serger, you are braver than me.

[Pascal]

I've got a Pfaff Hobbylock too -- I really enjoy mine.  Haven't used all the fancy feet yet.  I rarely unthread mine -- most of the time, the serged seam isn't visible, so I just keep a neutral color thread loaded and don't worry about it.  The few times I've rethreaded, I tie off the new thread to the tails going through the looper arms and just serge a few inches to pull the new thread through.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Huzzah on the new purchase!!!

After sewing with a Serger, one discovers what took them so long in getting one.  That was my first reaction was after I bought my first one 20 years ago .

I own 2 now and use them both.

[Kate XXXXXX]

You got a good deal.  Threading won't seen difficult once you have done it a few dozen times!   

Lady K, I'm also a 2-serger household!  I have a Bernina 1150MDA as the main one and a Brother 1034D as a back-up and for the free arm.  Neither do coverstitch, but as I rarely need that and get as good a result with the twin needle on the Lily or Bernina 1005, wasn't about to pay the extra £100 it would have cost me.

[Adriana Rose]

I have one.. but I lost the book and cant figure out how to thread the damn thing.. Its taunting me I know it

[Kate XXXXXX]

Get a new book!  There are places on line to order them from for older machines, but if it's a currant model, get one from your local dealer.  They'll have to order it and it'll cost, but it's worth it.  Then SCAN it, and save to a CDR!  Safe from being lost and from pooter crashes...

[nliedel]

Congratulations. Most manufacturers have their manuals on line now.

[jaunvie]

Accually, I have 2 sergers now too. I'm excited about geting a five thread serger. My other one (huskylock 340D) is a great machine. I bought it over 10 years ago, used, for $200. It's a four thread machine. I've only needed to have it serviced once to get retimed, but now I need to find a new cutting knife for it. It's not cutting anything and messing up the stitch because of it. I got feed-up a couple weekends ago while trying to hem my daughter's homecomming dress, it ate up the bottom of the dress. I had to make it an inch shorter than I wanted. That's when I started to really look for a new one.
I've been wanting to get a five thread for a long time. I wanted to have the chain stitch. I have noticed, now that I have it, the chain stitch isn't what I thought it would be. I think I still need to play with the tension a little, but every once in a while the needle thread on the chain stitch will break and then it's a real pain to "repair". I either need to take it over to the lockstitch (regular)  machine, or go back over it with the serger (a problem in itself).
But, I'm having fun with it. I think I will probably set it up for a four strand and get a knife for the other one. Then, I can just have one in black, and one in white.

[LadyElizabeth]

So as a 0 Serger household, I'm wondering what is so great about these machines.  It's on my "wanted" list out to my family, but who knows when I'll actually get one.  Please, could everyone just tell me what they use this machine for?  I know that sounds naive, but I really just don't know...

[TiaLD77]

what do you use a serger for?....hmmmm
I like it for working with fabrics that tend to fray or pull through regular machine stitches.
It is fantastic for doing really long seams.
the cutting bar works well if you are going around the bottom of a skirt made of fray happy fabric & you hava a panel that is to long, you can just trim it off as you continue to sew.

Those are the basic things I do with my serger....there are folks here more adept at manipulating fabric with them than me  so I am sure you will get lots more info.

[Miranda]

I use mine primarily for over casting.  It keeps fabric from fraying due to handing, washing, what have you.
It makes for a more durable garment if you aren't going to finish the seams with binding, flat felling, etc.  Its also great for garments that you don't intend to line.

Also, if you unthread it, you can use the knife to cut your own bias tape.

[FireFaerie]

Please, could everyone just tell me what they use this machine for?

Take a look at the seams on the inside of your pants. See the threading that goes along the edges of the excess fabric? That's what a serger does. 

[LadyElizabeth]

So does it roll under the edge and stitch it up as it goes, or do you still need to roll over and pin along the edges of the fabric?

[Kate XXXXXX]

NO PINS!  Y'll knacker the blades!     

Here are a few things I do with my two:

Rolled lettuce edge on chiffon:


Rolled seam on chiffon:


Seams on stretch velvet:


Seams on viscose/Lycra mix:


Lettuce edge on same:


Flat felled seam on Polartec Windblock:


Boy putting bum seam in jeans:


General purpose seam neatening:


Seams on this embroidered organza jacket:


The whole of this bias cut silk chiffon ensemble and organza bolero:


I use both of mine so much I'd feel lost without one.  I use them on a whole host of fabrics and processes, and I've even put a zip in with one!

[DragonWing]

  I am so ashamed.....I have always wanted one and.....I guess the price has always scared me.  I am not worthy. 


I am so Buying one!

[Pascal]

Also, if you unthread it, you can use the knife to cut your own bias tape.

What a good idea! 

[Kate XXXXXX]

I am so ashamed.....I have always wanted one and.....I guess the price has always scared me.  I am not worthy. 

Don't be daft!     All are worthy.  Look out for a nice pre-loved one in your loca sewing machine emporium.  This is how I started.

I am so Buying one!

Oh good!  Another one bites the dust!   

Honestly, they are not the least bit scary.  My first was a pre-loved 3 thread Toyota: a very neat bit of kit, though it doesn't like woolly nylon much and if you break a needle thread, you HAVE to start from scratch on that one!  For most you can get away with just threading that needle again...  Sold on to Big Sis when I bought no 2.  She still uses it, mostly for rolled hems (at which it was always brilliant), seam neatening, and seams on knits.  She's a decent home sewist who does several garments a year, and it suits her fine.

My second was a Huskylock 910: big, butch, tough...  But I wore it out being careless.  You MUST clean all the fluff out and oil them VERY regularly.  Great at everything, but I never used the memory function.  Turned out to be a waste of £100.  YMMV...

My third was another pre-loved Toyota: great little machine bought as emergency stop-gap when the Huskylock was dying.  4 thread this time.  I sold that on later, when I upgraded.  This Toyota did not have differential feed, was a bit slow, and had no free-arm, which the Huskylock had and I missed.  Otherwise a brilliant machine with superb stitch quality.  The newer ones with diff feed (helps a lot with stretch fabrics), would be great as a starter machine, and did almost all I needed as a professional sewist.  I sold this on to a friend, who is very happy with it.  I have 'borrowing rights' if I ever need it!

The next one I bought was my Brother 1034D.  Now, I do NOT rate Brother sewing machines: cheap, flimsy, prone to go wrong and have plastic bits drop off.  There ARE some good ones, but spotting them without extensive testing is too time-consuming for me to bother with.  Their SERGERS are now a very different story, and this one is a gem.  Free arm, easy to switch to rolled hem, a doddle to thread, dreadfully easy to use...  Cuts through Polartec 300 with ease and is equally happy on silk chiffon!  It's a little slow...

I also bought a Bernina 1150MDA.  This is my main machine.  It's an unmitigated success.  While the Brother is brilliant for the price, once you use this one, you can feel why it costs twice as much!  The only reason I bought the Brother was that this one has no free arm, and while I don't use that function often, it is very useful when I DO need it.  The Bernina is so easy to thread and use, takes delight in everything I fling between the blades, and is much faster than the Brother, as well as much smoother and quieter.

Hm...  Noise can be an issue with sergers.  They are nothing like as quiet as good quality sewing machines.  The motors are a bit more butch and noisier, and the blades also make a noise.  No problem for me, but those who sew late into the night in small spaces with others sleeping close by may need to be aware.

[LadyElizabeth]

WOW, I feel so more informed and like I desperately need one now...  haha! Serger envy!

[DragonWing]

LMAO! at KateXXXXXXX  Thanks for that slap up side the head. 

[Kate XXXXXX]

LMAO! at KateXXXXXXX  Thanks for that slap up side the head. 

Giggle...

Look, mate, this kid was 12 when he used my Bernina!  If he could do it, what's stopping a big fella like you?   



His first garment project was this pair of jeans:


You can see the whole story here: http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk/KatePages/Sewing_Projects/Boy%20stuuf/Jeans/jeans_for_james.htm
Unfortunately, he's now 14 months older and 4" taller, and they no longer fit anywhere!  I refer to him as the Giant Mutant Ninja Teenager.

[DragonWing]

  What a wonderful story.  I started sewing in high school, home Ece, we didn't have sergers then. Or at least not in high school.

thanks for sharing.

[Lorraine]

I have a question for you Kate. I have the Brother serger too and when I do a rolled hem on chiffon it works great on the straight areas but when I get to an inner curve part the rolled hem starts ripping away from the fabric, any ideas?

[Kate XXXXXX]

You are probably not making a wide enough cut...  I always find that the cutting width suggested in the manual isn't wide enough for some fabrics: just experiment with a few more millimeters of cutting width and see how you get on.  Another thing to do is to lengthen the stitch a tad.