Serger

I have a love/hate relationship with my serger. It's a magnificent tool to bind the edges of my kitchen towels after they come off the loom. When it's working properly, the serger is fast and efficient and does a great job. With surged edges on my towels, they can go directly into the wash and come out of the dryer without my weaving unraveling. They are then happily ready to be hemmed, either by hand or on the sewing machine.

The most important phrase in all that explanation is "when it's working properly" because if it's not working properly, it's hell to pay to get it up and running. Thus was my time spent over the last several days.

My serger will do six different stitch configurations. Each one has a purpose and is well suited for that purpose. You can use one or two needles and up to four different threads. Once you decide on which stitch you want, the machine needs to be threaded appropriately. Sounds easy enough but when you open the front of the machine what you see a a rat's next of hooks and eyes and arrows and it requires very small fingers or a good set of tweezers. Not to mention a young pair of eyes.

I should say that I have had this serger for over 10 years. It came threaded for the two needle/4 thread stitch and I never felt the need to change that. More threads and more needles means my hems are all the more secure, right? Well, maybe not.

I pulled my last set of towels off the loom so I pulled out my serger ready to get started. The first run just tangled all the threads and created a stunning snarl which I had to cut off. I reset the threads and tried a second time. This time I broke one of the two needles. Crap. Those were my very last serger needles.

It took me several days to get to the store to buy more needles but in the meantime I pulled out the manual to verify what sized needles I needed. Hunh. That's interesting. Obviously I never read the manual for my serger before. Or at least I never read the description of the various stitches and which stitch is the best one to use for which situation.

The two needle/4 thread set up is for "medium to heavy weight stretchy fabrics such as double knits and swim wear." Well that is not what I'm doing or have I ever done. The one needle/three thread overlock is what I need. So for the first time I've chosen a different stitch. 

Having gotten additional needles and some more serger thread, I was ready to go. I got all ten kitchen towels and the one bread cloth serged in just a few minutes and into the wash they went. The next task is getting them hemmed and up on the website. The hard deadline for having them ready to go is Sept 19th when we pack up to go the Dallas for the DFW Fiber Fest. It is held in the Irving Convention Center so stop by if you're in the area. We would love to see you!

Friday 9 am to 6 pm

Saturday 9 am to 6 pm

Sunday 10 am to 3 pm