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Comment by Gianna Belsito on June 9, 2011 at 9:31pm

In case anyone else is looking for a deal on a serger....
I know this is an old post but JoAnns has a great deal on a 4 thread Singer serger. It was about $400. But it's on sale for $199! When I went to my class a woman there had one and it was working great. Made really nice looking stitches. I was so envious after my husband spent so much on my Viking serger.

Comment by Shari Ortega on May 1, 2011 at 11:01pm

There is a great video by sergering with mary jo..EXCELLENT.. I have had 3 different sergers.. I started with a three thread machine.. I felt it was worthless..for me....it was a white.. the machine was great ran like a diesel.. sewed anything but I wanted the fourth thread..

I now have two ..both 4 threaders..

one is a White speedy lock.. and singer (old) ultra lock 14..both machines are great..got the used but just barely..one was free the other one was 100 at a garage sale..

the vedio by Mary jo..was very informative... covers lots of sergers and issues..I had it on vcr and I plan on getting the new dvd.. (Iloaned my vcr to a "friend" and never got it back)..

mary jo has a web site.. good luck..

 

Comment by Cynthie Morgenthaler on May 1, 2011 at 6:33pm

Jodijean - The fabric I had problems with where the blade pushed the fabric out of the way was thick polorfleece.  I agree with you when it comes to the less-thick fabrics - they don't seem to be a problem.

Comment by jodijean on May 1, 2011 at 6:03pm

@cynthie ... as a person who has used various brand of sergers, i've NEVER had the problem you are describing about the blade pushing the fabric out of the way.  and all the sergers i've used had the upper knife attached on the bottom of the machine.  i wish i could see a video of this problem, it sounds interesting.

 

@andrea ... i live in southern california, come and visit me and mickey mouse and i'll show you my studio and my machines.

Comment by Andrea Schlickbernd on May 1, 2011 at 4:24pm

Cynthie, thank you for your feedback. This whole serger issue has been more than confusing. I think  what would be so helpful is watching and learning from someone who has tons of experience and loves their particular serger.

I'm such a visual/Kinesthetic learner that seeing and doing would be so great but not just from a dealer, if you know what I mean. Anyone live in upstate NY?????????????????? I'll drive pretty much anywhere in the East Coast to spend some time learning from you if you are willing to teach me the ropes. LOL 

 

 

Comment by Cynthie Morgenthaler on May 1, 2011 at 3:43pm

My first serger was a Bernina 334D.  I think I got it in '87.  It always worked for me and though threading wasn't a lot of fun, I got good at it.  Then I saw a Pfaff 4862 at a dealer.  It had a coverlet stitch and I had some money, so I bought it and sold my 334D to a friend (with a nice case) for $250.  Dumb.  Didn't like it - coverlet stitch was a nightmare.  I tried to get my friend to sell me back my old serger, but she loved it and didn't want to give it up.  Haven't tried other sergers, but let me make a comment about sergers that I haven't seen referenced here yet.  My bernina's upper blade came from the top.  The cutting worked more like scissors.  My Pfaff (and some others I have seen) have the upper blade coming up from the bottom.  What happened sometimes is that as the blade was going up to cut, it would push up the fabric I was serging.  Then because it was pushing the fabric out of the way, it couldn't cut it.  Not sure if you understand what I mean, but it seemed to be a big deal for me.  Should I buy another serger, having the upper blade come from the top seems much better.  Anyone else with this issue?

Comment by Lillian (Texas) on April 23, 2011 at 12:04pm

I just bought a Bernina 1300 about 2 weeks ago. Never owned a serger before.  I took the guide class that is free when you purchase a machine.  It has been fairly easy to use and change threads.  I try to work with the machine every day or so in order to learn the features.  I learned to tye on threads, BUT more importantly, it is necessary to practice threading your machine so that you are comfortable with the process.  These newer sergers do do much. My 1300 also converts to a coverstitch to make those nice hems in t-shirts, etc. 

Bernina is a higher priced machine, but it is worth it for the quality and customer support that you get.  This machine will last me the rest of my life. 

Good luck in your search.

 

Comment by Paula on April 22, 2011 at 10:55am

If you can spend the $$$, the top of the line Babylock is the way to go. It is mechanical (no electronics to go out on you) and it is easy to thread. Any breakage, and you do not have to re-thread the entire machine. The air- threading is a no-brainer. Even though it would be nice to have a close-by dealer, Babylock comes with a self-help CD. It is a rather intuituve machine. Because I am lazy, I was able to buy a second hand Evolve to keep  threaded for the coverstitch. No matter what company says what, it still takes a little time to switch from overlock to coverstitch. Babylock may come out with new bells and whistles, but I will not have to ever buy another serger.  I love it...and I am not an advanced sewer either...

Comment by jodijean on April 19, 2011 at 11:14pm

@angee ... look INSIDE your clothing ... the interlocked stitched that are used on the inside of shirts, or along the inseam of your jeans ... that's what a serger does.  it cuts and finishes the fabric all in one function.  not all of them do a coverstitch (the double straight lines on the front, and the zig-zag interlocking thread in the back -- generally found at the bottom of t-shirts) ... generally 5 thread sergers do, or you can buy a separate coverstitch machine.  i'm guessing you don't sew a lot of knits like i do though ;p

Comment by Valerie Carroll on April 19, 2011 at 2:25pm

Sergers do a lot of different things, from finishing seams to decorative stitching.  The work very well for knit fabrics.  You can even sew the seams outside with different color threads to make decorative designs.  You can find lots of videos on Youtube showing how sergers work.  I love mine and have been happy to have bought one back in the 80's.  No more pinking shears to finish seams.  yay!

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