Serging cut patten pieces-what to do?

What do you find wrong with the way you have been doing it?

Before I got my first serger, I used to cut *everything* out using pinking shears. I adjusted for the additional depth of the "pinks" by sewing 3/4" seam allowances (in most cases). And if that wasn't enough, I zig-zagged the edges using a three-step zig-zag.

Now that I have two sergers, I prefer to serge the cut-out fabric pieces of *most* fabrics before I assemble garments, because I loath dealing with frayed fabric. But I still cut pattern pieces out using pinking shears, too and just trim off the "pinks" when I serge.

I would not even consider using FrayCheck for this purpose.

Beverly

I cut out my pattern pieces as accurately as possible, taking careful note of the various notches etc. Then, I stay stitch around curved areas which may stretch, such as necklines and armholes. Unless the fabric is astonishingly ravelly, I then proceed to make up the garment. About half or three-quarters of the way through, I decide which will be the most appropriate edge finish. Some fabrics need none, particularly if they are to be lined, some can use a simple zigzag along the edge, others cry out for either hand overcasting or a Hong Kong finish.

If a fabric ravels while just sitting there, I will probably either edge stitch or zigzag it to stabilise it.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

Dear Friends,

One should NEVER use pinking shears to cut out patterns, especially intricate designs. It distorts the shape, and makes it difficult to make notches. Likewise, serging edges of pattern pieces before they're sewn together also distorts, and in some cases, shrinks the pattern piece, thus making it difficult to sew together. It is not OK to cut off what hangs off the edge of a finished seam. If the two edges match before sewing them, they should match after.

Learning a variety of seam finishes should be the goal. Lightweight, ravelly fabric should be carefully handled, in fact left on the pattern until ready to go to the machine, then flat felled or french seamed together. Heavier weight fabrics should have seams great or hong kong finishes. Sergers are fine for garments worn for one or two seasons; but for long lasting seams, a better finish is needed. Yes, I have a serger, and I use it often. But not on my tailored wools and silks. Accurate cutting is essential for accurate sewing. And one never gets too advanced to eschew marking notches and darts.

Teri

I avoid finishing seams before sewing stuff together whenever possible, but not if it means the seam allowances will vanish before I get the blessed thing together! THEN I'll serge the edges if I have to - but only if pushed! I rarely use it on tailored things, but it's magic for things like the present project: stretch Lycra velour!

I own a pair of pinking sheers, but about the only thing I do with them is the edges of fusible interfacing: it softens the cut edge and makes less of a line between fused and unfused areas.

I do have to say, Teri, that I have things I serged with my first serger over 10 years ago that are still going strong, and get worn and washed almost weekly! If you use good fabric, good thread, and do it properly, it can last a VERY long time!

What is a "Hong Kong" finish? I've been sewing for 50 years so I may be doing that but never knew what it was called.

Val

Val, While Judy Barlup is known for her techniques in Japanese Tailoring

. I was at a seminar once and she also mentioned there about the "Hong Kong" finish. It is a method of taking bias fabric strips and appling them to the unfinished edges of seams. Think of it as using bias binding but the back side of the strip, which will be out of sight anyway, does not have the raw edge folded under and stitched down. That's if I remember this correctly.

I have no idea why this print turned green. If anyone gets a virus or has things go funky with there programs after receiving this please let me know. Thanks, AK in PA

Dear Kate,

I serge things, too, and they last. It's the look. I'm very fussy about finishing, to the point when I used to make my husband's uniforms with handmade buttonholes, someone asked him from what country I came, because they thought no American woman would take the time. I make up my mind when I start a project how I'm going to sew it and how I'm going to finish it. Surprisingly, some of the finishing I do really doesn't take very much time, and the satisfaction of being able to wear something inside-out if I wanted is unmeasurable. I know that sounds snobby, and I taught my students to do factory-style sewing, but now that I have the time, everything is carefully finished.

Teri

When we sew (or do anything else) for pay, we tend to focus on being efficient. When we do it for our own pleasure, we can do it any damn way we want to do it. I sometimes do handwork that could be done faster and more efficiently by machine simply because I'm in a mood to put the needle through the fabric and watch my stitches form. Other times, I just want to get finished, so I use the machine.

That sounds like it! Sew on as normal, fold to the back, stitch in the ditch so it doesn't show. On tweedy fabrics where you only half line things, it gives you a really neat finish.

It's as much a matter of time and economics as anything. If a customer wants me to hand finish all the seams, I can and will - but they WILL pay for the time! A well executed serged finish can look very professional, but it ain't on the same planet as the inside of a Chanel jacket! ;)

And some fabrics - like Polartec Windblock and 300 - are just handled and finished so much better by the serger: it squishes the bulk down, minimizing seam allowances in a way you cannot do by hand. This adds to the comfort of the garment, and bulky seams are a no-no on things you want to wear under a back pack strap up a mountain!

Again, horses for courses. Some modern fabrics respond far better to modern fast methods, but an all wool man's suit always looks much better when the foundation is built by hand.

Thank you ladies.......that technique has been know and passed along as "Carrie taught me this" for about 30 years. Nice to know that what Carrie taught me now has an official name ;)

Val

I cut bias strips of china silk to make a hong-kong finish on the upper allowance of the mock-felled seams in my wool slacks -- it made them look really spiffy inside.

And here I was about to post "I never finish the edges of my seams" to this thread. I do leave the seam allowances of my linen pants raw -- but I use three rows of topstitching on mock-felled seams in linen. Almost everything but pants gets flat-fell seams.

(Is "mock-fell" the official term for seams pressed to one side, then top-stitched to look like flat-felled seams?)

Joy Beeson

I do this if I have some suitable silk in the right colours, but I'll use commercial bias tape if I have to. I've even been known to use straight cut strips on long straight seams! ;)

That should hold them together! I must admit that I usually serge those just to be doubly sure...

It's what I've seen them called. I find it's usually as quick to fel the seam properly and only do a mock felling when the fabric is seriously thick.

That's why it's pants that I mock-fell. I find that a felled seam is

*less* durable than a mock-felled seam in pants-weight fabric: the extra thickness catches wear.

For the same reason, I leave a millimeter or two of fringe at the bottoms of broadfall (side-seam) pockets: the edge of a french seam would wear through the front of the pants.

When I made my wool pants, I considered hong-konging the edges of patch pockets to create a piped look, but I got distracted trying to figure out a full lining that would look like a hong-kong finish, and ended up turning the edges under in the usual way. I don't like to call attention to my hip pockets, so I guess it was all academic anyway.

Joy Beeson

Check out my latest post on Hong Kong finish........this just might be what you were trying to do.

Val

's it! But I hit a snag when I tried to pipe all four sides ofthe pocket. If you *don't* want the lining to show, lining a patch pocket would be dead easy: just cut the lining a tad smaller than the pocket all around, and sew them together with the raw edges matching. I imagine that one could sew the lining to the hem before sewing the lining around the other three sides of the pocket, and so line it and finish the hem in one swell foop. However, I've never wanted to line a patch pocket, so I've never tried this out.

I do tape the hem in a patch pocket to keep it from stretching when I put stuff in the pocket. I appear to have hong-konged the hem of the back pockets in my wool slacks, matching the mock-felled seams. With fine black fabric and aging eyes, I can't tell whether I used a straight strip, as would have been proper, or absent-mindedly used the same bias I'd cut for the seams. I could have put a tape or a straight strip of china silk inside the hem, of course. I don't *think* I did, but such a thin fabric would leave no evidence. (The hem doesn't stretch -- but neither does the main part of the fabric.)

Joy Beeson