What will a serger do for me?

Yes, it will sew knits FAAAAR better than an 'ordinary' machine, and it will sew the seam, trim the fabric, and clean finish the edge all in the same time. It will also do it almost twice as fast as an ordinary machine!

Oh, yes... Once you get into it, there are all sorts of decorative things you can do as well. There are lots of books about this aspect of sergers.

Oh, much easier for the straight forward stuff... Except for the speed! But you soon get used to that.

Look for a gently used pre-loved one. A cheap serger is no fun at all, and for the same price or less, you can get a muvh better beastie. :)

Yes it will! And it will also finish the edges so they don't frey.

I just made a bunch of aprons, napkins and table runners with my new serger this week using the rolled edge feature; I plan to use this same edge finish to make some appliance covers.

=46or me, the #1 trick with a serger is TREADING it, the #2 is getting = the tensions right. I have a bit of arthritis in my hands making it difficult to get into the 'tight spots' on some sergers, especially when threading the lower loopers.

As Kate suggested, you might be better off looking for a good used one. I just replaced my 15-yr old Babylock which was built like a tank, because I could no longer manage the threading of it easily. I sold it for $75 (with all the original accessories, plus some serging books) and the new owner loves it. =20

In it's place I purchased a top of the line Husqvarna Viking which has a lot of great features including a large bed area for much easier threading of the needles and loopers, and an advisor window telling me what the tensions need to be set at; at this stage of my life (kids grown) I decided I deserved it LOL

Good luck, Dana!

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

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i have a simplicity serger (i want to say the model is a 390??) it ran about 200-. for what i use it for, and i am NOT a kate dicey who sews up a storm, it works really well...it's a fairly solid little workhorse.

it will make sewing easier--especially long seams, etc. there's a lot you can do with a serger--it's a nice addition. and yes, it sergers knits easily....

betsey

After you purchase your serger, if you decide to do so, take at least one class. If you buy a previously loved machine call that brand's dealer and ask about "into to serger" classes. My dealer (Viking) who sponsored the classes left it up to the instructor if they wanted to have other brand machines in their classes and most of them didn't care. Many of your community centers and Community Colleges have sewing classes for sergers too, even check the Voc/Tech Schools for non credit courses.

I had my serger for two years and was very pleased and happy with it. After I took a few classes I can now make it dance and can't imagine not having one. I one of those people who do better seeing things done than reading about them.

Val

Well, the serger is the microwave of the sewing machine world. Not strictly necessary but d*mn useful!

It won't do button holes and it's best not to do a zip -although I think you could if you tried very hard. But it does seam and finish the seam edges simultaneously - fast!

Exactly why I got one in the end. I'd lived on 2nd hand machines all my life and was fed up with zig-zagging my seam allowances, and finally bought a new Sewing machine and my first ever serger about 4 or 5 years ago - what a revelation! Wish I'd done it sooner...... (bought a decent sewing machine that is, and taken the plunge with a serger).

You can do lots of fun things - look out for a book on serging in the library - Kate has a couple of titles of useful books on her book list.

HTH

Sarah

I use it for zips in heavy fabrics, like when recovering the sofa cushions with stuff that frays like there's no tomorrow! Also great for luggage, if you are into making that... I'm thinking patchwork weekend bags rather than long-haul flight or cruise luggage here! You need a zip with a wide tape, so usually heavy duty zips. Aim NOT to trim the zip tape!