I wore out a serger making clothes for my kids and my nieces and nephews. One of the ways I spent my inheritance from my Dad was to buy a top of the line Phaff serger. I never put it away. THE BIG THING is learn to thread the machine. It is not a big deal. When my SIL took a class the first thing the instructor did was to walk around and cut the thread in all the machines. What a good idea. Eleanor Burns uses hers to make some quilts, check her videos.