Serger gift: comments solicited

The singer is a nice, functional serger but from costco it comes with no user help! before she starts it up, look for agoo serger book, something like

646.2 B 1996 The ultimate serger answer guide Baker, Naomi. 646.2 J 1997 The complete serger handbook James, Chris.

read one of them. i think one of them even uses the singer as a picture reference. pay attention to the caution about threading: with a sewing machine you can be sloppy about some things; NOT when threading a serger.

and for choice: i sold my s>My wife would like a serger for her birthday. We have had good luck

> > * Simplicity SL390 Frontier Serger>

> > Thanks in advance for any enlightement you may share,>

Brother sergers are OK: there WAS a problem a while back (I think it was a design issue with the loopers), and there *was* a distinct lack of customer after sales care in the USA, but here in the UK at least the machines are just fine (I recently bought a Brother 1034D and am delighted with it), and the after sales and dealer support seems to be ace.

Best thing you can do with those two is get her to try them and see which she likes best.

I'm curious. How did you determine your budget? If *you* were shopping for a chain saw, would you decide *in advance* how much to spend and then buy whatever fit into that budget? Or would you draw up a list of *required* features? Like: pull start or electric start...self oiling or manual oiling...18" blade or 36" blade... 10 pounds or 40 pounds...??? And then budget/save the required $$$ amount to purchase the machine which fits *your* needs?

I think with that budget you need to find a *dealer* and let DW take a test drive. Also, you would get some support from a SM dealer, but none from Costco. (Not a knock on Costco, just the facts).

OR, postpone this purchase, save a few more $$$ and get her a stronger machine. JMHO,

Beverly

Certainly that's a fair question, Beverly. DW is, perhaps, less stringent about establishing a clear requirements baseline for such purchases than I am myself.

As such, her requirements are not much more defined than "I'd like a serger to faciliate edge treatment of such projects as halloween costumes for our new child, various home decorator projects, and whatever other use I find for it." Our budgetary constraints would stem from our levels of dedication to our many hobbies ... we may seek out the very best in one domain, but merely hope to avoid the total crap in something we will use infrequently and for less-tasking pursuits. Sewing is something of a lower-tier hobby for DW, compared say to gourmet cooking and scrapbooking, so we aren't looking for something suitable to production work, just something quicker and better than doing seams by hand or with a vanilla sewing machine. To pursue the chainsaw analogy, we don't need a Husqy to cut a cord or two to firewood length when a Homelite will do. And frankly, I get by with a pruning blade in a reciprocating saw, and a $60 hand lumber saw, since we can't comparatively justify a chainsaw at all for our use cases.

Generally we buy with confidence from Costco (knowing we can return for full refund with no questions asked) and get our instruction from third parties (e.g. DW signed up for a sewing course to learn to use her sewing machine; I used books and the web to learn woodworking). With so many electronic and mechanical products built of shoddy components to poor tolerances, a lifetime return policy has proven a good enough safety net to offset the downsides of having no subject-matter experts available at the point of sale. Thus, often our budget is set by whatever Costco carries, with the additional provision that it is not a garbage/toy product, and can accomplish the level of projects in which we plan to use a tool. We try to go for products that hit the consumer/prosumer price point, (be they digital SLR cameras, 14" bandsaws, or what have you) unless we can find some clearance deal that takes commercial/pro grade down to the consumer cost level. I usually simply search USENET and relevant forums to learn from others mistakes and recommendations on what to avoid totally (e.g. the Tiny Serger, evidently) as a quick sanity check.

So that's a really long-winded way of asking, will we be horribly dissapointed with either of these options for occasional, light-duty use as a first serger? Bearing in mind we are late twenty-somethings with a new baby and lots of other pricy hobbies as well.

Being a complete newbie/outsider to sewing (other than lurking & google-grouping this newsgroup on occasion on behalf of DW), I'm hoping to find either a recommendation of a shining example on the price/capability curve, or a validation/rebuttal of the quality of the two products cited above based on this group's collective experience & wisdom.

If this were rec.woodworking, I'd hope to find the recommendation for the Ryobi BT3000 series table saw (~$300, which we picked up for $150 during Home Depot sale/rebates) for a low-cost tool good enough to create a devoted following (it's own fan forum at

in a community where most nay-sayers will insist you need a ~$1800 Unisaw cast iron beast to make a birdhouse. We're not running a cabinet shop, but we also don't want a toy that isn't flat, doesn't have adequate power, and won't hold its settings (like the typical $99 benchtop saw). Nothing else compares to a BT3 on a cost/perfomance basis. Or a recommendation like the $118 (often on sale) @ Amazon Hitachi M12V three horsepower router, which is a top-of-the-line, no compromise, pro quality tool that actually costs the same or less than the total garbage router choices (i.e. a no-brainer purchase).

Thanks for all of the thoughtful comments and questions posted already. Glad to find a another friendly, helpful community on USENET, even though I don't expect to stay for long past this little visit :)

Adam

you might want to read this, there is some good wisdom:

What Machine Should I Buy FAQ:

Sergers are fairly finicky critters.

You seem real hooked on the discounter so why not Buy em both and return the one that she does not like or both.

>> Thanks in advance for any enlightement you may share,>

The SL390 is the one I would choose, it seems much better to me than the other one.

I read through some of the other posts, and some people are saying let her test it - yes good idea, and to consider features she wants before she sets her budget - also a good idea. But you don't have to do that if you can return it. And it has lots of features.

I have a Kenmore from Sears that I paid about the same for last october and I love it. It doesn't even have all the features of these singers. I am in the same boat as you, late 20something, lots of hobbies, kids, etc etc. Granted I do sew more I think.

I think that I would be very happy with the SL390 if my DH bought it for me.

Michelle Giordano

> > * Simplicity SL390 Frontier Serger>

> > Thanks in advance for any enlightement you may share,>

I think that's the Singer serger that a friend of mine bought, and she has been happy with it. She is not a heavy user of it, though.

My first serger came from the Penney catalog outlet store here, and is pretty much a "bottom of the line" Simplicity. It was my first experience with a serger, and I love it, and just gave it to my step-daughter when I got a newer, fancier Singer model.

This may or may not be the right serger for your wife, but if she has never used one before, I would go with the Singer, and be prepared to replace it in a few years if she finds lots of use for a serger and wants something heavier-duty or fancier.

BTW, if you look around the 'net, you'll find that you're not getting such a good price, although you do get a better guarantee if you can return it any time.

Fair points but I'll suggest two things:

1) if the machine is a pain to use, it won't be used. 2) if you _need_ to use it, you'll wish you spent a little more for a better one. Don't ask me how I know this.

Mike (Probably the only guy in town who lusts after a Babylock).

Adam, I like your well thought out and cogent explanation! None of us has unlimited funds with which to gratify our every whim. Well, unless Bill Gates is lurking on alt.sewing. ;-)

I still think it might be wise to try to locate a dealer in your area who stocks the machines you are considering, and give each of them an honest hands-on test drive. For me, that would include a from-scratch-threading, test of the differential feed, check out the rolled hem capability, etc. Your DW may find she likes certain features, like the way the free arm is accessed or the threading path, or the tension adjustments *much* better on one than on the other.

Another poster suggested that you just buy both at Costco, and return the one your DW likes the least, but I am not in favor of abusing Costco's liberal return policy. I'm not sure what they do with open-box returned products which have been *used*, but I suspect that just ends up costing everyone more in the long run. YMMV.

Beverly

Hehehe... I'd also suggest looking in a real sewing machine shop for something better that has been pre-loved by someone who then upgraded.

Wave or Evolve? Both?

Ok, I've got no dogs in this fight -- I'm not a dealer, I have two sergers I learned pretty much from scratch, and I'm a devout cheapatarian. I've not tried any new sergers in the last 4-5 years. However, I have a limited patience with mechanical things that don't work quite right and require repeated twiddles and tweaks, and as an old teacher, I hate to see someone new get discouraged by getting stuck with something that doesn't work right because it's poorly built. I don't know these two sergers, so I can't tell you if they're poorly built or not.

Sergers can save an incredible amount of time when sewing... or they can waste an incredible amount of time when you've got a finicky one that doesn't convert easily from one stitch to another. My guess is your wife is not going to use it just for edge finishing halloween costumes (she can do that more easily and cheaply with a pair of pinking shears). If she learns to use it for construction, she may wind up doing a lot of sewing with it. I was amazed when I first whipped out a little girl's jumper in less than an hour, barring the buttonholes, buttonholes and a little topstitching. Definitely turned sewing from tedium to something I could work into my life. And time is worth a few bucks to me.

I went the dealer route when I bought my serger. Just in trying the various machines and taking them through their paces taught me a lot. I was also fairly sure when I was done that I had a serger that I could use well for a number of years. And it has served me well. It's also now starting to show some symptoms of mechanical wear that are going to be more costly to fix.

I'm with those who say borrow some library books and sort through what can be done with a serger and then go shopping. If you need a table saw, you don't want to get sold a chopsaw. If you need a chopsaw, you can get by with a tablesaw... My suggestion is to make sure you're getting the tool needed.

There are some bits on a serger that will need care and replacement, so you will also want to inquire if special needles are needed (instead of the exact same ones for the sewing machine) and the approximate cost of replacement blades. The softer blade will need replacing more frequently than the harder one. Prices range from about $4 on up. Some serger blades last a long time, other brands require more frequent replacement. Lots of heavy synthetics going through the machine mean more wear on the blades than a couple of thicknesses of quilting weight cotton.

Oh my choice? It was a basic mechanical serger, nowhere near top of the line, but well above the bottom of the line. It's served me well.

Kay

Bev, I was being sarcastic. I think be rude to do that, however it was late and I had a full days worth then I read a post where every one give great advise and the poster does not get an answer he wants. Seems they already made up their mind to limit their experience to Costco and not even try another thought.

The more expensive one :-)

Mike

Ron, I'm sorry, I failed to go back up the thread and see who had made that comment. I would *never* accuse you of being anything but extremely helpful to this group. ;-) Forgiven?

Beverly

No need to I did not think you accused me at all. I did say it, even if a bit of tongue in cheek.

Ok, just don't want to be the one to run you out of "here". ;-)

Beverly

Not likely to happen with conversation.