Sewers, how hard is it to use a serger?

[Boots]

My mother passed away six years ago this month. She had a wonderful Singer sewing machine and serger. They are mounted on a L shape table and all one has to do is swivel the chair to use either one. She bought both them just a short time before she died. I know how to sew but never really liked to. My grandmother and mother were both excellent at sewing (my mother made my wedding dress and veil). I did make DD a few things when she was little, but like I said I just never liked to sew. But now that I have a beautiful three week old grand daughter I have been thinking about moving the sewing machine to my house and getting industrious. I am sure that both machines have improved over six years but still I am sure with a little oiling and cleaning up they would both be as good as new. I know the serger has either 4 of 5 spindles for thread and there is an instruction book. I just wondered if I would be better off trying to sell this huge set up and just getting a new sewing machine on a smaller table or should I try to learn how to use the serger. Sorry if I am rambling! Thanks for any imput. Boots

 

[Kermit]

I absolutely LOVE my serger. I'm don't have a lot of experience sewing, and I'm mostly self-taught. (Read: I'm not very good.) I did take a one-hour class for my serger, and I have a really good book, but it's not hard at all once you get the hang of it. It's hard to thread the first few times, and it takes awhile to really understand the tension. You know how tension problems can drive you crazy on a regular sewing machine? Imagine it multiplied by 4 (or 5, depending on the exact machine).

Baby clothes are wonderful with a serger. A serged stitch is an elastic stitch, meaning it has some stretch. You have to sew with an elastic stitch on knits, and of course, baby clothes are so cute and soft when sewed with knits.

I would try it if I were you. If you don't like it, you can always sell it. The table alone would bring in some pretty good money. You can't get a table like that for less than $500 new, and that would be an amazing price.

I'm sewing an outfit today for Jacob, but I'm sewing it with a woven material, so I have to use my regular machine. It's okay, but I'd rather be serging. It is good to have the serger around with wovens, though, too. I'll use it to overcast the raw edges of my seams, and I won't have a problem with them unraveling. You don't really use a serger on wovens, except to overcast the raw edges, unless you want the thread to show on the outside of the material. For example, you could sew a rolled hem on cloth napkins or chiffons with a serger.

 

[arminnie]

My sewing machine (Pfaff) and serger are both 15 years old and still work great. I love the serger - probably used it more than the sewing machine. It is SO fast.

The only problem I ever had with the serger was getting tensions right - you do need to practice with your machine on a piece of similar fabric before doing anything for real. Because the serger cuts and binds as it sews - there's not really a good option of ripping it out and starting over like with regular sewing.