I have 3, a brother 929D, Jancome compulock and pfaff 4874.
I like the brother because of the free arm capability, handy for doing cuffs and the bottoms of pant legs. It's a royal pain to thread, but once threaded it stays that way.
I have probs keeping the Janome threaded, but that may be my fault, not sure yet. I have the pfaff set up for cover stitch and love it! Wouldn't trade my sergers for anything!

I could not live without my Babylock Imagine Wave. I upgraded to it 4 years ago from a Babylock Protege that I bought in the mid 90's. So easy to use. I also have the separete coverstitch machine. IMO Babylocks are tops! LOL, as soon as I bought my Imagine, DD#2 confiscated the Protege!

I love my serger, I bought a Kenmore (Janome make theirs) and I love it! Nothing gives that crisp finished edge like a serger! I haven't tried the serger quilts, but there's a book out there about serger quilts and the pictures look wonderful....so there are many uses for a serger!
Kind Regards,
MaryAnna

EASY THREADING TIP: once it is threaded the first time, when you want to change colors, just cut the thread at the top. Tie the new thread to the old, run until the knot reaches the needles. Cut off the knot, thread the needles and then run a little more until the tail is all the new color. You're done!!

Next to my sewing machine my serge is my best friend. :-D

I have a Baby Lock Imagine and I love it for the finished edging it gives. Am currently making a quilt-as-you-sew throw on it for myself. They're rather fun to make - this is my third one.

And for clothing, it does make a nice finish inside whatever you're sewing - raw edges don't look as nice. Made some things for my two and half year old grandson and the insides of the shortalls and overalls do look more professional.

I had a White serger, and the thread quard on the lower looper broke. I took it back toJoAnn's but they no longer handle that brand. I took it to sewing machine repaird shop. They wanted $100.00, plus whatever the parts and labor to fix it. It was there 2 months and the parts were still on back order.
Finally I traded it in as junk and bought a Janome. Which has been a good machine and I use it alot. I was back into the shop awhile back and they said the parts for the White were still on back order. :thumbdown:
I would never get another White machine

Since I am kinda new here, I am reading thru the older post and am surprised how little it takes to make a quilter happy. :) I new sewing machine and we are in 7th heaven.

Hi, I have a pfaff 794 and I have had it for over 22 years. I had to take it in a month ago for serviceing and bought another pfaff coverlock. I couldn't be without my serger for that length of time and now I have 2 so I have lighter thread in one and darker thread in the other. I am in heaven!!!!

I have a Janome and I love it. It makes you seams look like they are done by a professional and its great for rolled hems also. I wouldn't be with out it.

I have a White and it has been a great machine (1984) if I bought another one I would like the ones I have seen that you can raise the cutting blade.

Mine is a Bernette 203 -- got it used from Bernina shop. It had been in high school classroom but had hardly been used. It is hard to thread, so I generally keep neutral thread on it so I can use it for a lot of different fabrics. It still has the original blade and still cuts great. I don't use it for quilting--It is the 3 thread style (very "old fashioned"). I'd like to have a newer one, but am not sure I would use it enough to justify the cost.

I never thought of using the serger to 'finish' the edge of a quilt prior to binding! It's a great idea...I'll try it on my next quilt. Would make the binding go on much smoother.

Good idea!

My serger is a Singer that I bought several years ago and it never did sew right. A video came with it and I've never had trouble with any kind of sewing machine before this. I adjusted, rethreaded, adjusted, rethreaded, nothing worked right. It's still in my possession but I never try to sew with it anymore. I gave up. I'm thinking about buying a Janome. I'd really like to know what model Janome you all have as Hancock's runs one on sale every now and then and I've been looking at that.

Santa brought me a White when I was in the 2nd grade and I used it for years on all of my 4-H garment making stuff. Last year my mom and I went half and half on a new Bernina. The White was giving us fits with the lower looper thread breaking.

I love my serger. I use it to make pj pants, curtains, pillowcases. The possibilities are endless. I don't do much apparel sewing anymore but am still happy I have the serger.

I have a Bernette I have had for many years and I have a new Janome. I never really enjoyed sewing until I got them. Also can zip the edge of large fabric pieces before washing and no threads.

I use it before I put on the bindings. I makes them all look so much better when it lays correctly. Plus there isn't the extra bulk in the binding. I did make a silk quilt for my SIL so that whole quilt is done with the serger.

I was reading this thread late last night and thinking what a wonderful addition a serger would make to my quilt studio. To make a long story short, I thought.....wonder if anyone is selling a serger on Craigs List. There was one listed and I sent an email to inquire and I bought it for $70. The owner assures me that it works perfectly and she has all of the manuals and threads......so thanks for giving me all of these good ideas and the incentive to look for one.

Alright, besides the cutting function, how is it different than an overcast stitch on a sewing machine?

I learned early on how to thread my serger from scratch every time. If I tried the "knot" method either the knot would come undone (because it wasn't strong enough) or it would be too thick to go through the places where it needed to go (because I made a big knot so it wouldn't come undone!). I understand that the newer sergers are easy to thread.

Alright, besides the cutting function, how is it different than an overcast stitch on a sewing machine?[/quote]

The sewing machine only uses two threads, the serger 3, 4 or 5 so it's much sturdier. The sewing machine doesn't trim the edge of the fabric so you get lots of "pokies", especially after washing. The serger encases the edge after trimming off however much you need to trim (just shaving it if you are edging, more if you are sewing two pieces together with a seam).

A seam on a sewing machine takes three steps - sew the seam, neaten one edge, neaten the other edge. A seam on the serger is done all in one. The only difference is that you cannot press open a serged seam, you have to press it to one side. Alternatively, sew the seam on the sewing machine then neaten each edge on the serger - neater and longer-lasting.

I have 2 sergers. The first was a singer, bought back in the 80's. It sewed great but was a nightmare to thread. Had to get the book out every time to re-thread it. Then I bought a Babylock, and I love it! It automatically threads the upper and lower loopers by a jet air threading system. I wouldn't have one if it didn't have that. You will love a serger to professionally finish so many things. And I was amazed at how pretty and easy the rolled hem stitch was. Good luck on your purchase.

I have a Burnette Funlock and then I upgraded to a Babylock Evolve and love it! If you hate threading a serger, look at the Babylock, no tension and jet air threading make it a dream machine. Don't buy any machine without test driving on all types of fabric and learn how to thread it first!

I have one that my mom gave me, but the thread keeps breaking. God bless. Penny

I've had my Bernina FunLock since 1992 and it has done miles of petticoats and skirts for the play "Oklahoma" and hundreds of pairs of tights for the play "Camelot". That was just what the school got out of it! I've sewn clothes for me and my six kids and piecing quilts as well. I'm starting to baby it now because I want it to last until I can afford one of the new "no tension" ones!

I have always wanted one but that fear factor is there on learning how to use it but I have seen some of the things it can do with quilting. I don't sew anymore. Use to make clothes all the time. I had to go back over with a zig zag stitch on a reg machine. Took double the time. I like the way it finishes the edges when you are sewing quilt pieces together. I think it is a good idea with buying from a dealer for the help, great idea, and thank you all for the helpful suggestions on styles.

I have a "dinosaur" serger, but it serves my purpose now. While I was still doing garment sewing I was considering buying one of those newer models that "self-thread." But then I got into quilting -- and bye-bye garment sewing. Old serger works fine (only more work to thread) for what I need. I've used it mostly for the Kaye Wood 6-hour quilts.

It's probably the same, but my serger goes much faster than my sewing machine can. Without the cutter, you need to make sure you're feeding the fabric in right so you don't get folded fabric underneath or not enough fabric while you're stitching. http://berninausa.com/product_overview-n5-sUS.html or http://janome.com/index.cfm/Machines/Sergers

I use mine primarily for serging the edge of fabric before washing it. It makes a huge difference if your fabric isn't all wound up in loose threads in the washer or dryer.

Penny, I have noticed that dark threads break all the time in my serger and the repair man told me that's common, so I try to keep lighter colors in my serger.

I can honestly say that I HATE threading my serger!!!! :lol:

I have one, but sadly I don't quite know how to use. Wish I had someone close to show me how.

I have a bernina serger that I bought used... Wish I could figure out everything it does. tee hee

I've not taken any lessons other than the basic on how to thread. I even asked for a book (which I received) but have always just wanted to "get it done" so I've never used the book. I learned as I went, kind of like how I'm learning to quilt! :)

I'm new to serging as well but am looking at a brother 4 3 2 with built in threader and amp cd. Anyone know about this one ?

I got a Kenmore serger more than 25 years ago. Still love it.

Needles r big expense with my serger -- special needles never on sale. I have not used my serger for quilting, but have done some machine applique with the coverlock stitch from the back of the piece.