Some time ago I bought a second hand serger. I put it away in a safe place until my sewing room was finished. Fast forward one year and I still have not used it. What's keeping me from serging? Am I scared of the fabric eating beast?
Nope. I'm fearless. In the sewing room, that is.
If an experiment fails there's always more fabric. Then why is this beauty still unemployed?
The reason is I'm not really attracted to sewing with knits. I don't do fast sewing.
There, I've said it.
I like my garments either fully lined, or with French seams or Hong Kong finished seam allowances, with hand picked zippers and invisible hems.
I don't like whipping up a knit dress, skirt or jacket in a few hours. Although I never tried.
That's right. I never tried.
Maybe I should.
So here's the deal. The next month will be all about experiments with the serger.
If I like it, I will have learned some new tricks and sew happily ever after.
If, after that month, I still think the serger is a waste of space I will sell it, invest the money in Linton tweed and silk charmeuse and sew slow projects happily ever after.
Last week all fabric salesmen on our local market dumped their winter fabrics for 1 euro/meter. Since I had no knits in my stash I went a little overboard:
From February 20 till March 20 I will be serging my way through this stuff and learn all about 2-, 3- and 4-thread overlock, flatlock, narrow seams and roll hems. I've got my Bernina manual ready, the Craftsy course on beginner serging, two reference books and some patterns.
You can place your bets now. Will I have a new best friend, or will I give the darn thing it's walking papers?
I bet it will grow on you, as you do wear quite a lot of knits in your everyday life. But if you are ever looking to give it a new home: I will happily adopt! Hint, hint ;)
ReplyDelete(And start busting out the lady skaters, long t-shirts and pencil skirts. Me luuuuuuuves a quick sew)
We're complete opposites, as I have no clue how to sew with non-knitted fabrics. In case the leopard and red fabrics survive the serger surgery experiment, I'd happily adopt them ;-) x miek
ReplyDeleteNot sure yet, threading is already a big hurdle!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've already heard this, but... Once you thread it the first time, don't unthread. Just tie new thread to the old and let it feed through. The thread that feeds through the needle will have to be cut at the needle and threaded by hand, but that's it.
ReplyDeleteI always tie off one, feed it a bit, tie off the second and feed that a bit, and continue that way till they are all done. I just don't want the knots meeting in the middle. LOL
Have fun with it.