Sergers for home sewers

This is the earliest photo I can find of a home serger or overlock machine, as they were originally called ... hence the name "Baby Lock". 

This from the Baby Lock website.

Baby Lock got its start when a group of engineers in Japan took a chance on a new product. It was a smaller version of an industrial overlock machine or a "baby lock". A St. Louis-based, family-owned company saw the benefit of this new machine, and brought it to the United States. This marked the introduction of the first home serger in the U.S. market. 

They don't give a year, but I know it was in the mid 60's, so this photo above could be a photo of their first model.  I remember the buzz about this new machine when I was in my teens which was about that time. Juki was the next company that sold sergers to the home sewer and that was in the mid-70's.

This website has the best history of the serger I've found. Sew Vac Outlet.

So ... How many of you sewers own one?  I'm curious again.  Please answer yes or no.

Then, if you don't own one ... do you want one?

There are many testimonials out there. Many along the lines of "I don't know how I ever lived without one!" and a few "I don't know how to use it, it's still in the box"

I don't do everything possible with a serger, but I'm in the "I couldn't live without one" camp.

Read some testimonials here.

If you want to learn to use a serger, there are LOADS of books, tutorials and classes you can take.  I'm showing the cover of this book because I like the photo.  It shows the many different things you can do with a serger.

I couldn't have made my Fairy Sweater without it. It can stretch and give knits a lovely "lettuce" edge.

It's the easiest way to hem chiffon, especially if it is a circular hem and it instantly makes the inside of a garment look clean and neat.

I finish my seams with a serger 90% of the time, but a serged seam can be too heavy for certain fabrics and will make an ugly shadow or impression on the outside of a garment over the seam when pressed.  Just want to be honest ... as with all things it isn't perfect.

The trickiest thing, I think, is threading. At least it isn't as hard as threading an industrial serger like I show in yesterday's blog.

I'm posting a good Youtube video about the basics of a serger and how to thread one.  BUT, this just for one brand. You really need to read the manual and get to know your machine.  There might a Youtube video for your specific model. For my first two sergers, I asked someone at the store to thread it for me, before I left the store.  Then, to change the thread, I used the tie and pull method I talked about in yesterday's blog.


I now can thread my machines from scratch, but do it as infrequently as possible.

So, if you are thinking about getting a serger you can spend as little as $50 on Ebay or up to 2 or 3 thousand.  I recommend doing a little research. Every sewing machine company makes them now, so there are many choices and plenty of reviews.  If it is your first, look for easy threading, would be my recommendation.