I bought a Babylok Imagine several years ago. I love it! I also have a Bernina (a very nice one) but I got so frustrated trying to thread the loopers. The thing that sold me on the Babylok is the auto threading. You just press a button. I'm sure you could probably find a good used one at a Babylok dealer for around $500. They are around $1000 new. But so worth it. I love mine. Wonderful for seaming garments, edging napkins, rolled hem on anything, etc.

I purchased a Brothers and have had alot of fun using it. It is very easy to thread and has done a great job. I make alot of crib quilts and use it to finish the edges so they will last with all the washing that they get. Did alot of research before purchasing it and found that for the money it was my best way to go. Good luck on your decision

Oh, I want a babylock too. I have a nice serger though so probably won't get one soon. I use it all the time, for finishing edges of pants that I shorten, for going around the seams on fabrics that fray a lot, for kids clothes, and much more. Once you have one, and learn to use it, it is indispensable.

Take a class from the dealer to learn all the advantages. At my shop, you can take the class before you buy the serger!
:-D :-D :-D

For under $300, you can buy a Singer or Brother serger, my first serger was a Brother (15 years ago), then DH bought me an Elna. I gave the Brother to a friend and it's still working.

I would try to take classes on using a serger machine first, so you will know what you are getting into.
IdahoSandy

I am feeling the same way, I want one also. nothing expensive, but would share with my mom and sister.
I have it in my head that I want one..
Along with a embroridy machine....

I have a BabyLock and like it. It takes patience to get the threading down, but trial and error, and a good manual, it gets easy. Look at your current sewing projects, other than quilts, and see if a serger will fit in. I haven't used it to finish fabric before washing, but will next time.

I am sitting here laughing to myself. I purchased a serger 4 yrs ago and a sewing machine that embroiders, and quilts and guess what! They are sitting there unused. I do not know how to use them and there is no one to help me. I am a visual person.I also purchased an Accuquilt cutter that is another whole story. After reading your comment I now know I am not alone.

I have a baby lock. best one I've ever had. Very versatile and easy to use often because of the easy threading.

In my opinion, the one thing BabyLock is known for is their sergers. They are incredible machines. If you can get one that threads itself (with the puffs of air), that is half the battle. Go for it! :) :) :)

I bought my little 4 thread serger about 15 years ago for $259.00. I have used it a lot. I go around the edge of every quilt after it it quilted and have made a lot of clothes curtains , pillowcases with it. I love mine.

I have owned sergers since 1989, and love them. Not just for clothing, but for gifts and general sewing. Sometimes it sits, and sometimes I use it exclusively. I just got a new one , a Brother 1034D from Wal-Mart.com for around $220, shipped free to my local store. It has easier threading and differential feed. It is smoother and much quieter than my old Singer. At this price, It's a great addition to your sewing tools. Get the Singer Essentail Guide to Serging, and Nancy's books on serging cheap on-line (used is great!)

I had a serger and used it quite a bit. My problem was threading it......it was awful! I only used it for sewing with knits and linens that ravel. I haven't used it in the past 15 years, so I would advise you to find a friend that has one you can play with to get it out of your system. Good luck.

I know the feeling you have. I had it once. Purchased a new Bernina Serger. It's still in the box sitting in the closet. I think about it once in a while. It's been 15 years now. Soon will be a antique.

When I first started sewing I mentioned I wanted a serger to do knits and slippery fabrics. I still want it for that, but haven't used it since I took a basic class.

The Brother 1034D was recommended by my sewing teacher, and I saw it got a lot of five star reviews online at different sites. It's easy to use (I guess, lol) and is cheap. Mine was $175.00 at Cost-Co online. Hubby went and bought it as a surprise although I told him I wanted to learn to sew first.

I would love a self-threading serger but they are expensive. Here's more about the Brother:

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-1034D-.../dp/B0000CBK1L

About 8 months ago I bought the Baby Lock Evolution. A little embarressed to say that I've still never used it, but did recently take a few lessons on it. I bought it knowing that it wouldn't get used until I retired (June 15 - 13 days from now). After taking the lessons though I am happy I did buy it when I could afford to do so, and I know I will be using it a lot once I'm not working. It is an awesome machine.

They have self threaders now and If I was to trade mine in an get a new one, that is what I would buy. Personally I made t-shirts and sweatshirts and fleece outer wear with mine, but I bet it hasn't been out of the drawer I keep it in, in probably 5 years. Mine is really hard to work with as far as threading and other things. I think I would use it more if I did regular sewing but I just don't anymore. Jan

And if you go to Ken's Sewing Center as 'Kat sews' suggested, web site: www.kenssewingcenter.com/ they will work with you and will give you a good deal on whatever machine you buy. I have the Brother 1034D that I purchased form them. This is my second one, I dropped the first one and broke it, and bought my second one from them as well. This has proven to be a simple, easy to learn, very user friendly serger. Go on line and do a comparison of the low end sergers.

For years my fellow (local) sewers kept telling me that once I bought one I would wonder how I got along for so long without one. That is so true. I was of the old school mindset: Cut the edges as straight and narrow as possible and zig-zag them. Well I wonder, how did I sew so long without one. And Good luck.

I have a serger and love it but I have never used it in quilting. I love it for neatening seams on dresses and costumes but you do have to be carefully with it and re threading can be a nightmare....my advice would be borrow one if you can and have a play for a day...then you would get an idea of wether you would use it or not

I recommend Janome sergers. Find a dealer who will help you learn how to use it. Take classes!! Take more than one class! If you have to take a beginner class more than once so be it. Just use it.
Good luck.

I had won years ago a gift from my husband gave it away not that impressed would rather have a quilting machine

I have an older Singer that I have used regularly for a long time. I really like it. Just expect to spend some time going over the manual and try to understand it all. There are many different things you can do with it. Nancy Zieman has recently has several shows on this. A lot of decorative work can be accomplished with a Serger with a few changes to the settings. A little patience is a plus.

I've never had one either. I'd kinda like to get one. But, I have my eyes on the bigger prize. A longarm!!

I'm sure many of you know this little tip on threading. Instead of pulling the old thread out to rethread with the new, cut the thread of each spool at the spool, remove the old spools, put in new spools, and tie the old and new threads together with a knot. Run the machine until the new thread has fed through a few inches. Voila, threaded! Learned this from a friend AFTER driving myself nuts and renaming my machine #&&??//%%%.

I love my serger. I sew lots of things besides quilts and would not be without it!

Lately my serger has done more cutting than sewing. I do alterations and have cut off miles of tulle from prom gowns that need hemming! Nice clean straight edges. I have the Nancy's Notions serger because I also got it stuck in my head that I wanted to have a serger and that was all I could afford at the time. But after having sewed on much more expensive (and easy to thread) BabyLocks where I worked, it was very frustrating to thread and adjust tensions. Still, if you do much sewing besides quilting there are many uses for it. It is great for home decorating projects and making rolled or overcast hems.

I have had a Singer serger for about 20 years. I have used it a lot. I especially like it to serge the edges of quilts after they are quilted. I use a four thread overlock stitch. By doing so, the edges are automatically trimmed, compressed and stitched together resulting in a nice, even edge. Our guild makes twin sized quilts for wounded soldiers. I have, as of yesterday, quilted 211 of these quilts on my longarm and have serged the edges. The quild ladies that sew the binding always tell me how they love the serged edges. I have also made boo-coodles of pillowcases. The serged seams make a wonderful finished seam.

Me too! :D

I bought a Babylock serger some years ago, and I absolutely love it because it does have the jet air threading. So simple and fast! Mine is an 8-thread and I opted for one with the coverlock stitch because it finishes the edges of tee shirts, etc. so professionally. I have never regretted paying for a more expensive machine up front because I did not want to have to go through the pain of threading one. I don't use it everyday, that's for sure, but I know it's there if I need it for a particular project. Never thought of using it to bind the edge of fabric before washing to prevent ravelling. Great idea! I can see where I am going to be using it a lot more! I also use mine when bath towels get too old to use; I cut them up, bind the edges with my serger, and use them for dish rags.

I have a "dinosaur" serger that still works very well, but threading it is a challenge - especially that lower looper. (I know about the tying the new thread to the one already in the machine and then pulling it through, but I haven't been successful) So I would recommend getting one that has the automatic threading feature. I've only seen them demonstrated, but it seems that the thread is "just sucked up into that machine" and before you know it, there's only the task of putting the thread though the hole in the needle

BTW, I've used the serger to make Kaye Wood's six-hour quilt.

Clair-search for a used babylock --I have had mine for over 13 yrs and love it. Had anothr before that and had lots of trouble with tension. There are lots of uses for a serger. I have had towels that are perfectly good except the edges fray and just serge them. I serge across the WOF when I am washing yardage-no fraying. If I am making a simple flannel quilt I serge and then turn and do a decorative stitch around the edge.
Hemming pants/jeans serge-turn up and stitch the hem. I paid about $1000.00 for mine 13 yrs ago but love it. That's why I said search for a used one. Maybe someone has traded theirs in for one of the newer ones. Good luck.

I have owned a serger since they came out. I could not be without mine. I have used it to make serge and flip quilts but mostly for sewing projects. I started out with a BabyLock 3 thread with the dials and have worked my way up to an 8 thread with cover stitch. I have the wonderful BabyLock with the air threading for the lower loopers now. It does a great job. I also have one with an LCD screen that tells you the settings for each project. I make t-shirts, underwear, swimsuits, pants, etc. I used to work as a power sewing machine operator and used an over seam machine there and when the home version came out I was ready.

I have 3 sergers. I have been doing garment construction for about 35 or more years. the best investment I ever made was the serger. Cut my time down, and makes the garments look professionaly made. For quilting I only serge the edges of yardage before washing fabric. I learned how to thread the machine in under 15 minutes of getting it home. First and foremost, do not be afraid of the machine. If you get a video with your machine watch it a few times if necessary before threading it. Otherwise read the manual and follow the step by step instructions as you learn to thread it. Pay attention to the pictures as you thread the machine.

Good Luck

Suzy

Haven't read all the posts but IMHO buy the one with Jetaire threading is worth it all. I have a 'regular' one and don't use it because I can't remember how to thread it. You will be disappointed and maybe NEVER use it if you have trouble threading.

Babylocks are a good brand. I've had mine for a number of years but I only use it for knits and garment making.

I use my serger all the time - why had I not thought before to serge the edge of fabric before I washed it? This has got to the hint of the day for me! :-)

Amen!

I have had one for over 20 years and recently had to get another when my first died. I use it to finish off garments, cushion covers and any thing else I need to do with it. It is up to you to decide if it is worth the money in the long run. You will never know when it will come in handy and they are great machines. I found out you can do many other things with them not just edges. There are DVD's which show you all the different things that can be done. Try one out and see if you really want to spend that money.

I bought a White Superlock 5 years ago at a garage sale dirt cheap. I had to spend about $100 to get a few things that it needed (can't recall what all), but it is a great machine and works great, and it was a steal even after the additional spending. I bought several sets of cone thread. I sat down with the video that comes with it and learned the basics. I think I made one little house dress. Then I didn't use it again for a few months, and realized that I'd have to start all over again with that video, and it was hard to get motivated to do that, when I had other projects that were more "approachable". After my grandson was born, by DIL asked if I had some fabric swatches with various textures for the baby to play with, and serging was the best way to finish those in a hurry. I managed it without too much trouble, but broke the needle on the last one. Every time I think about sewing anything other than a quilt, it seems to me to be more expensive than just buying clothes, and home sewn things can't be tried on first. Long story short: I've used the thing twice in 5 years. I'm not sure why I'm hanging on to it. I guess it's the triumph of hope over experience.

I use a rotary cutter with a pinking blade. It's quick, effective and does not use up thread.