Ooooooooh. Just looking at those photos makes my head hurt even more!!!

For mother's day I will make DH and DS sit with me while I try to use it. Seemed like such a good idea at the time ... but tooooo many gears and levers! Looks like a space ship in there.

They are intimidating! Mine came with classes (DH bought me a Bernina) and I don't know what I would have done without them.

I use it ALL the time now, though. Completely worth the effort/learning curve.

I highly second the suggestion to use different color threads to get your tension right, and then tie on to those threads each time you want to change colors. Also, be sure to buy a decent quality thread...nothing worse than thread breakage on a serger.

Good luck!

Sounds like a project. Yet sounds like something that once you get the hang of it you'll love it. Good luck.

just what I was going to say, the hardest part with mine was getting it threaded.

Sergers make my head hurt too. I have used the same stitch on mine for three years. Changing between white and light grey thread. Don't use it much, prolly don't need it, but handy a few times per year. I don't think in 3D, which might be why I quilt....No advice for you, but don't feel bad, you aren't alone. I'm hopeless, venture on without me :p

I know how you feel. Took me several months to take that serger out of the
box. Had DH help me figure it out. Once you have everything working, write
down the tension settings for future reference. Unlike most sewing machines
once a serger is threaded you don't have to do it again. Even when you're
changing cones you set all the tensions to zero and tie all the old thread with
the new one and slide each thread gently. You only have to rethread the
needle. Go for it! :)

I have my son working on it now. He tried sewing and got a fabric jam. I told him to run the chain first and he did. It wrapped itself around whatever levers are down there. DH came home for lunch and joined in with a flashlight. It's on my dining room table. I'm staying out of there.

I can't believe I'm telling this but I've had one in the box for
6,YES,6 yrs!!!!!! Nothing ever bothers me but when I brought it home,OMG<OMG<OMG It has sat there in the box.....[head hung down]
I will watch all of these sites and see if it will help me too...
You should see how red I'm turning..... :oops: :oops: :oops:

Take some large scraps of fabric and start by just turning the wheel manually to make sure you are getting a stitch, the threads are not knotting up as you go, and just to see how the blade works, etc. Once the fabric is in there a ways, slightly depress the pedal for just a few seconds at a time. Once you are a little more confident, keep the foot down longer and focus on feeding your fabric. You will get there.

Don't worry too much about the different stitches yet. Choose one that suits how your machine is currently threaded. Once you can sew with it, practice adjusting tensions one tension at a time to see what happens to the stitch. Practice one thing at a time (such as tension, stitch length, cutting width) until you are comfortable with all of them. Only then would you want to change to a different stitch type and start all over.

Don't worry; you will get there!

Check your area for a serger class. Often community education will offer one, or a sewing machine dealership might offer a class in learning how to use your serger. Fabric shops that offer classes are another good source to check out.

I think this thread should be changed to
"FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY"
or
"OVERLOCK STILL IN THE BOX ANONYMOUS"