quilttiger

I have had a Babylock Imagine for a few years. I now use it mostly for quilting purposes such as flat locking batting pieces together, serging around the quilt before adding the binding, piecing a quilt backing, stay stitching a quilt top before loading it on the frame, and so on. Love it!

gmcsewer

I own a 4 thread Singer probably about 25 years old. I like it mostly for sewing knit fabrics. I also sew dresses for young girls for a charity and I use it to finish the seams nicely. Mine does not thread itself so I tie the new thread onto the old thread and pull it through by hand so as not to have to thread the loopers again. It can be a real pain. Another tip. If you have to thread it completely, start at the bottom and go up. This puts the loopers in position to work without tieing each other up.

just_the_scraps_m'am

owning a serger is great if you use it enough and get your money' worth out of it! I have a 4 thread Pfaff and it has sat in the bottom of my closet for...over 15 years! I used it to seam a favorite quilt & that was about it. life just kinda got in the way! It has differential feed [that you can change settings on] for different fabric thicknesses. You can use it for shirring. It also has extra feet to apply beads, sequins, lace, tape, cording, & elastic. It has double needles if needed & the best thing is it blindstitches! The best features is the fact that you can drop the blade down! and it sews 1300 stitches/minute
I would say check around & test drive them all -- see what feels right with you. they are real work horses & save loads of time!

MarleneC

I own a Viking 910 serger--didn't feel I needed the cover stitch--have used it for making clothes and edging around fleece & flannel baby blankets--have made quite a few pairs of fleece socks with the ladder stitch, haven't used any of the various accessory feet. I used it to make Kay Wood's 6-hr quilt. Wouldn't be without it. Mine has the windows that tell you how to set the machine up--I had a Riccar years ago and hated always testing the stitches--even when I wrote them down they would be different for different types of fabric, thread, etc.

Caswews

My serger is about 25 years old ... I use it just for knits, did I mention it was Pink & I bought it when Cloth World went out of business .. LOL

If I had to buy a new one ? Baby lock or Brother sergers .. Juki does have a nice serger as well, make sure whatever you buy in your serger-it has auto thread !

barny

I have an Elna about 25 yrs old too. I have 5 men around here and I use it to him pants and Mothers dresses for years. also trim around quilts before I bind them. Not long ago, I bought a long tail blouse and I just ran around the bottom and cut off some inches of it. It looks okay to wear just like it is.

Lady Diana

I have a Babylock Evolve Wave 8 thread. It has the auto threading, auto tension, and cover stitch. They don't make this one anymore...however, Babylock has several like it with more "stuff ". I loved mine so much, I purchased another one used on ebay....glad I did, now I keep one at home, one at the cabin. I am always finding something to use my sergers for....or should I say, my DH does. Covers for his tractor, seat cushions, curtains, bed spread, and mending ready made clothes...Visit a dealer and ask to see all of the Babylocks and the different features. I have never had any problems with my sergers. Make sure they include some of the extra feet too. They are pricey individually. They even come with a zipper foot now too. Lots of bells and whistles...Just make a list of the features you want and then shop. BTW the cover stitch is the one that you see on most all knit clothes...looks like a double needle topstitch on the front and a covered edge on the back. Really handy for a lot of clothing patterns. You can't go wrong with a Babylock with the auto threading...

IrishgalfromNJ

I bought a Juki serger from Allbrands.com about two years ago. I bought a cheaper model because I wasn't sure how much I would actually use one and I didn't have a lot of money to spend. I have used it to do rolled hems on material for scarves and I love playing with it when I have the time. It sews really fast, which is fun. I'm really glad I have it but if I ever have the money I would like to get a serger that does a cover stitch.

Maggie_Sue

Baby Lock Imagine, love, love, love it!!!

romanojg

I have 3 but not sure the oldest works anymore. It's a Singer and its been too many yrs since I used it to say much. Back when I bought it, there were no classes and Piece Goods had to oder them if you wanted one. I only did clothes on it. This past yr I bought a Viking Huskylock 21, they only have one newer than this one. It has self adjusting tension, which I love. I have that on my emb machine and have never had to adjust it. Its easy to thread, even though not air threading, which you pay dearly for.

I got such a great price because since the store mainly did quilting they didn't have a reason to have the serger which was set up for demo's. They just got a new store and limited room. I only paid around 400 for it so I'm passing that onto the next buyer because I don't need to make a profit. This machine new sells for over 1000. Its never been registered so the warranty should go with the machine. I figured that will the price and the great machine and the warranty I could sell it easy which is why went a head and bought a different one after attending a two day serger event. I had no plans on buying a new one when I signed up, just wanted some additional traing for my Viking. Dumb thinking.

That is the Brother Ovation, it has it all. I use it for the normal clothes, I just made a table runner, all on the serger including decorative stitching and tassels. I take classes and both teachers do almost if not all of each project on the serger since that is what they are teaching. Nancy Z has a book and there are lots of tutorials on making quilts with sergers so yes it can be done. The best thing about serging a quilt, you never have to fill a bobbin.

I love both machines and if you Google them you'll see they both have great reviews. Since I don't travel or have a second home somewhere I'm going to sell my Viking for what I paid for it. I can't justify having two especially when I only have space for one and I paid alot more for the Brother and it does somethings like the wave stitch that I love. If you aren't sure you'll like a serger then I wouldn't spend a super lot on one but do recommend getting the most for what you can afford. I would also check around for classes. Here we have Viking and Brother sellers and our Brother dealer offers classes different times a week that fit into my schedule. Another reason to keep my Brother.