Serger recommendations
 

Hello my quilting friends. I have another question. I am looking into getting a serger. I really don't know much about them at all. I would be using it to serge seams in my grand daughters outfits I make for them. So I was wanting to see which ones y'all would recommended. :)

Thanks again in advance.
ChrisD

I love my janome 1200D, works like a dream and is easy to thread too. Actually I used mine this afternoon.

If I could afford it (and if I had grandchildren!!!) I would get a self-threading serger that includes the cover stitch (or one self-threading serger that does everything but the cover stitch and another serger that does just the cover stitch). A serger is a machine that tends to last a lifetime, so you really want to get the best if you can afford it.

The self-threading feature simply means the serger becomes *much* more user-friendly; you can sit down and start sewing immediately instead of spending hours fiddling with threading and tension.

The cover stitch is ***really*** nice to have if you are making clothing. Look at the bottom of a t-shirt to see what a cover stitch does. On the right side it looks like two perfectly parallel lines of sewing; on the wrong side is a zigzag-type stitch that covers the raw edge of a knit. This is SO wonderful to have for giving a finished look to clothing! Although you can achieve a similar effect on a sewing machine by using a double needle, it's not nearly as easy or neat that way because the differential feed on the serger compensates for the stretch in knit fabrics.

I have a good Bernina serger that is not self-threading and that does not have the coverstitch. I purchased it about 15 years ago and it still works fine. However, I never used it as much as I expected for making my dd's clothes because it just wasn't that easy to use.

I plan to buy the Baby Lock Imagine and the separate Baby Lock cover stitch machine. From what I can see those are very reliable sergers. My Huskylock seized it's motor a few weeks ago and it is not worth the repair bill. Baby Lock has a dual duty machine that is both a serger and a cover lock, but it is necessary to rethread each time you want to switch over, my dealer has offered me a good price on the 2 machines.

As Prism99 stated the Babylock is the serger to own. They are not inexpensive, but well worth it. They have a serger that doesn't have the coverstitch which is less money. The threading is very easy, but more important to me is you select the stitch and it's perfect. There is no 'tweeking'. I have owned a White (still have) and a TOL Viking. Have serged on friend's Bernina and another TOL Viking. One afternoon, with 4 sergers mind you, we could not get a perfect rolled hem. The next day I went to the Babylock dealer. I've had the White for 15 years and sewed a lot of clothes without the cover stitch, but it is nice to have.

I have the Brother 1034 D which is low priced and I haven't had any problems with threading it. I took a class where I bought it but it comes with a CD. Try using the search function above because we have discussed sergers recently and you will get lots more opinions.

I have what was called New Ho,e and is now known as Janome. Wouldn't even think of replacing it with anything other than Janome. I purchased mine shortly after it came on the market as the home serger. It has never[ knock on wood] given any trouble through the years as the mainstay for my drapery business and has easily sew upwards of thousands of garments. My grandchildren have sewn lots of pillows and anything else they could think of and it is still going strong.At one time I thought it needed a new blade but with use it evidently sharpened itself. keep it oiled and blow the dust out of it frequently. Yeh, Janome is the machine for me.

THAT IS NEW HOME NOT New Ho,e

I have an older Elna 634 mechanical serger that I love. It has color-coded threading and cards which show and tell how to set up for each stitch. It has 2-3-4 threads and an easy rolled hem feature. No cover or wave. It is very easy to use and runs so smoothly. I see many women who have fancy machines that are so complicated to use, they spend most of the class-time getting set up. I think my model is no longer made, but I have seen similar ones at the dealer. This one works for me on doll clothes, pillowcases, skirts, capris, napkins and placemats. For me, a good basic machine is very good enough. JMHO.