Serge Away!

I am getting reacquainted with my serger.

Gee, it has been years.

I bought this machine when Elena and Grant were little so MANY years ago! I used it a lot. It was a good investment at a time even though it was more money than we had. I last used this serger maybe 8 years ago. The tension got all wonky and I could not figure out how to correct it. I also had to re thread it, which was hard. So in storage it went.

Side story: In high school, I was bused to a vo-tech school from my high school to learn industrial sewing. I did not stick it out the whole year partly because I was shy and a little immature and partly because at the point I dropped out I was learning to draft my own skirt pattern which required buying actual expensive wool fabric. My mom could not afford the fabric. My sisters and I were the free lunch ticket,latch key kids of our day. Not uncommon these days, but back then we were kind of freaks, poor, and pitied. I was too shy to say anything to my guidance councilor about the fabric. I bet if I told him he would have figured something out. I wish I was not such a 'fraidy cat back then! The things I would have learned!!

Anyway, I do remember a few things from working with an industrial serger back then and one of them was how to change thread colors on a serger without having to re thread every time a color change was needed. Of course, that is pretty much common knowledge now that sergers are for home use. BUT I never knew how to actually thread a serger from scratch or work with the tension. My serger is color coded but still, not fun!! So I abandoned it until last week. The re threading was a breeze and although the tension on one of the four threads could not be corrected just by playing with the knob, I improvised and it works great now!!

So here are my serger test items.


Pantaloons and top.

A skirt out of the pantaloon fabric.

I have made these items in the past without the serger but used french seams.

I still think there is something special and classy about french seams opposed to serged seams but there are things that I have avoided making because I could not hide a raw seam. I also stayed clear of certain fabrics like knits and slippery fabrics.

Now, the world of fabrics is my oyster!

Well, as long as it does not have a zipper or button holes.

I am sure I will have more to show as the weeks go on.

I will not let the fun of serging distract me from schooling the kids...

I will not...

Sigh...

Maybe just a little bit...

Warmly, A Dragonfrye Mommy