I received a serger for Christmas, and I was quite keen to use it. I threaded it according to the directions, and used it to mend some of Mark's pajama bottoms. It worked like a dream.
Now it just wants to skip stitches, get tangled up, and in general do nothing that I ask it to. I've gone through all the "troubleshooting" helpful hints at the back of the manual and I'm about ready to give up. I've adjusted the foot pedal pressure, the needle pressure, you name it. Anyone here with a serger have any good advice for me?
That is what I would suggest, too. Also, what about the tension on the thread? To adjust my old 20 yr Singer I place the numbers on " 0 ". Then bring the number to 3 or 4 and slowly move it toward O again until I feel it start to be tight. After all the thread tensions are adjusted, try sewing on a scrap and see if it is correct. Barbara in FL
...and usually with sergers you thread in a certain order. Get out the manual and make sure you are in that order and hitting every spot. Some sergers are just touchy about threading. Taria
My Elnalock serger is real touchy. It has to be threaded in a certain order. The timing on that thing seems to go whacky very easily & it ends up in the shop nearly every time I use it. Fortunately, I don't use it very often. I think I've already spent more on repair bills than the thing cost me to start with. :(
Julia > If it 'did' work and doesn't work, it sounds to me like something has jumped
I agree with this one. And this may sound silly, but make sure you put the presser foot down. There are times I'm so involved in all the nit picky ways to thread and start sewing, that I forgot to put the foot down.
1) change the needles.
2) make sure the thread tree is up all the way
3) rethread from scratch, in the order specified, so the internal thread crossings are correct. Common threading order for a 4 thread serger is (left to right) 4 3 1 2
Have you had any broken needles, hit a pin, jammed a looper, knocked a looper out of alignment?
That's why I ditched the second-hand one I bought and got a brand new Huskylock instead. I may have been "down-grading" in going from
5 threads, no cover-stitch, to only 4 threads but I am so much happier with the Husky!
Check/change needle and re-thread, double check tensions and differential feed if it's adjustable. The only other thing I can think of before handing it over to a rpofessional repairer is to thouroughly clean the inside of lint, it shouldn't need oiling yet.
One more thing, if there are thread holders before the tension disks make sure the thread hasn't popped out of those. It really screws up the tension on my machine if that happens...
On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:11:57 -0600, Jo Gibson wrote (in article ):
Usually when that happens to me, something has come out of one of the thread guides. Try rethreading from the beginning. It may take a try or two or three before it's right again.
Hi Jo, Sergers are a "funny beast" and can be very particular about several things. First, did you change threads between when it worked and doesn't want to work? Did you have to rethread any part of the machine? If a looper thread breaks you may need to unthread the needles to be sure that the thread paths are clear. If the needle threads get looped wrong about the looper threads it causes all sorts of mayhem. Second, most sergers do not open the tension disks when you raise the pressure foot. (Some do, many do not check your manual). This means that you have to be very sure to seat the threads in the tension assemblies. Be sure they are securely between the tension disks and not resting on the outside of them.
Skipping stitches can be caused by several things. What are you trying to sew? If it is a knit fabric you may need to change to ball point needles. Make sure the needles are all the way up in the assembly. (I highly recommend a double needle holder, a relatively inexpensive gadget. (Mine is orange, a plastic "handle" that has two holes for the needles the correct width apart and shaped so the needles are in the correct position for inserting into the machine.) This is almost essential if you only have one screw for both needles. (If you have one screw for each needle not so necessary.) Remember that in most cases one needle is a bit lower than the other.
In learning about the serger and using it a good way to practice a lot of differences it to thread it with 4 different colors of thread, I like to color coordinate with the colors of the different thread paths.... Then, using some cheap/ scrap fabrics start serging. Change one tension at a time to see what happens. Write the settings you used on the scrap when you find something you like. This gives you a starting point to duplicate it. One thing that is very difficult for many people to learn with a serger is that you need to test everytime you sew something different. Different fabrics, different threads, even different colors of thread, can make changes in how you need to set it up. It takes time to learn your serger. And every single serger I have every sewn on is different from the others. Sergers also take more oil than many other machines. And the lint needs to be cleaned out from the cutting blade/looper area frequently.
If you can give me some specifics, possibly a link to some pics of your difficulties I might be able to make some more specific suggestions.
Have fun, practice and eventually you will learn to love your serger.
Pati, in Phx (Yes Polly, I used to sell sewing machines and sergers. and have used a lot of different sergers in the past.)
Pati - you are such a jewel! When you can offer assistance, you provide so much detail to whatever the problem is. You must be a fabulous teacher. How come you don't have a crown yet? Maybe Pati, Queen of Solving Sewing Problems?? You're the best. I don't have a serger & frankly, they intimidate me, so have no plans for one in my future.
Hi Jo, Sergers are a "funny beast" and can be very particular about several things. First, did you change threads between when it worked and doesn't want to work? Did you have to rethread any part of the machine? If a looper thread breaks you may need to unthread the needles to be sure that the thread paths are clear. If the needle threads get looped wrong about the looper threads it causes all sorts of mayhem. Second, most sergers do not open the tension disks when you raise the pressure foot. (Some do, many do not check your manual). This means that you have to be very sure to seat the threads in the tension assemblies. Be sure they are securely between the tension disks and not resting on the outside of them.
Skipping stitches can be caused by several things. What are you trying to sew? If it is a knit fabric you may need to change to ball point needles. Make sure the needles are all the way up in the assembly. (I highly recommend a double needle holder, a relatively inexpensive gadget. (Mine is orange, a plastic "handle" that has two holes for the needles the correct width apart and shaped so the needles are in the correct position for inserting into the machine.) This is almost essential if you only have one screw for both needles. (If you have one screw for each needle not so necessary.) Remember that in most cases one needle is a bit lower than the other.
In learning about the serger and using it a good way to practice a lot of differences it to thread it with 4 different colors of thread, I like to color coordinate with the colors of the different thread paths.... Then, using some cheap/ scrap fabrics start serging. Change one tension at a time to see what happens. Write the settings you used on the scrap when you find something you like. This gives you a starting point to duplicate it. One thing that is very difficult for many people to learn with a serger is that you need to test everytime you sew something different. Different fabrics, different threads, even different colors of thread, can make changes in how you need to set it up. It takes time to learn your serger. And every single serger I have every sewn on is different from the others. Sergers also take more oil than many other machines. And the lint needs to be cleaned out from the cutting blade/looper area frequently.
If you can give me some specifics, possibly a link to some pics of your difficulties I might be able to make some more specific suggestions.
Have fun, practice and eventually you will learn to love your serger.
Pati, in Phx (Yes Polly, I used to sell sewing machines and sergers. and have used a lot of different sergers in the past.)
Jo, All of the posts so far have given you good ideas on solving this problem. One that causes me grief is forgetting to raise the arm that holds the threads. Make sure is it s fully extended. It can cause the exact problem you are having right now.I have sat and puzzled over the %^& thing changing needles and rethreading only to find out that I forgot to put the thread thingy up I call it an antenna(I think it receives messages from the sewing gods :)) Donna inNWONtario
Yes, that's what I have - a Babylock. Supposed to be super simple! I have rethreaded it from scratch, adjusted tensions, changed needles.... but I'll try all these suggestions again.
The first project was sewing 1 inch wide waistband elastic to stretchy knit fabric. I thought that would be challenging, but it coped beautifully with factory settings of "4" for all 4 needle tensions. Then the **** hit the fan when I changed over to slightly stretchy wool trousers (hemming). I changed the tension in the foot for the fabric and in the needles, but no joy, oh no, there was no joy in this house. Back to square one.
Unless you have the Babylock with the jet threading, you have to be sure to thread all the parts in the correct order. Also you need to make sure that the thread for the lower looper is not hung up on the upper looper before stitching. That's what causes the tangles and breaks.
L>D>> I'm so happy I have a BabyLock serger. Don't have to go through all this
Thanks for the compliment Pauline. I enjoy teaching, when people want to learn. I have also discovered that explaining the whys and hows helps many people retain the needed info better. Although I have also been told that sometimes I am too wordy. Always glad to offer assistance when I can. As for sergers, they are really a neat tool to have and use. Lots of uses, and they really aren't that difficult once you understand them. Newer sergers are much, much easier to thread than the old ones, and I have dealt with many of them. However, I do believe they, like sewing machines and many other types of machines, have "personalities". And if your personality clashes with the machine's, well, things do not go well. The first serger I ever owned did not want to sew well for me. Had it serviced, sewed fine in the shop, got it home and problems. Took it over to a friend who was looking for a serger, she sat down and had absolutely no problems with it. Sold it to her on the spot. sigh.
Don't let the machine intimidate you. As I tell my students, "You are bigger than it is." So you are the boss. Sergers work differently from regular machines, but if you take the time to understand a bit about how they work, and some about how the parts interact, they are wonderful to have.
thanks aga> Pati - you are such a jewel! =A0When you can offer assistance, you provid= e so
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