I love my Brother 1040D serger. I purchased mine directly from Brother Corp. I have other sergers but I find the 1040D the best. The best analogy I've heard is a serger is to a sewing machine what a mircowave is to a oven. Both the microwave and the oven have their uses, as does a serger and sewing machine. Some people use their serger's a lot, other people don't even take the serger out of the box it came in. It is different from a sewing machine, but once you have one, I think you will wonder what you did without it. For home dec purposes, it's invaluable. There are several You Tube video's on how to use a serger and The Quilt Show has free Bernina video's on their website, some of the Bernina video's use a serger. When I can, I plan on making a reversible baby quilt using a technique I saw on the free Bernina video's on the Quilt Show. You might find some help on both You Tube and The Quilt Show. Good Luck!