I made a lot of knit tops (shirts) with my serger when it was more popular to do. Now I mainly use my serger when hemming pants which makes the job so much easier. A serger cuts the fabric and then stitches the seam. So when I hem pants, I mark the seam...decide how much I need to leave on to make the turned up hem, serge the edge which also cuts off the extra fabric, then I turn up the fabric and complete the hemming process by hand or if it is a pair of jeans or work pants using my regular machine. A serger can stitch fairly fast. I have used mine also on polar fleece. Knits and stretchy materials are easier to seam with a serger as most of them come with a differential that lets you decide how much pucker or ruffle you want in a seam as well as just doing a normal seam. I really don't use my serger much now. But I am keeping it for those certain jobs. I am glad however that the serger I have is a basic four thread model as it will probably last longer than me..