sergers?? how to know which one is good?
 

Hello,
With all the sergers on the market how do you know which one to choose? The easier to use the better it would be for me but I can't afford the $$$$ ones. I am looking in the market of about $300. Would I just be wasting my money for one at that price or should I bite the bullet and get a better quality? I have been sewing more dresses for granddaughters lately and would like something that finishes my seams. Any suggestions?? Thanks for your time.
Ksue

There's a Babylock for around $200 and maybe less on line--it has gotten some good reviews and supposed to be very easy to thread. Why don't you search for diff brands and read the reviews as well as the features.

I have a Janome that I have had for several years now. I think I spent closer to $500 but they still sell for about the same price today. You will not regret owning a serger if you are doing garment sewing. I have been making clothing for my grandkids too and having the serger certainly is a time saver.

Go to Pattern Review and go through all the reviews. The reviews not only tell you the pros & cons, but what they paid. Their site is wonderful because the comments are from sewers and quilters.

I really like the Brother 1034D serger. It is easy to use and they give a CD to show you how to use the machine. I bought mine for under $300.00. Check it out, you might lilke it.

Decide what you want to do with the serger and then look for the new features - such as self threading etc. I traded to get the "overlock" I believe that is the term. It is the stitch that is not edge. I especially wanted to hem knit pants. Check out the features first and then decide.

Overlock, or overlocker, is a more British term for a Serger. The normal stitch is an overlock stitch. The stitch used for hems is a coverstitch-if you are talking about the one with 2 straight rows on top and a loopy stitch on the bottom. You can never go wrong with a Babylock serger. I am on my third serger and it's a Juki. It does pretty much everything but talk and I'm still learning it. But for finished seams and rolled edges, a serger is a must! The rolled edge is great for ruffles.

You may be able to find a good used one for a decent price. My niece is buying mine which has not seen much use at all. Later, if she has more money, and wants one with more features, she should be able to sell it for the same price I am having her pay me, and she can get one with more options.

Since we are on the topic. I want to start doing clothes, and have been looking at this serger
http://www.allbrands.com/products/26...spool-1hand-2n
Anyone have it, and how do they like it. I didn't see this model on pattern review so I was wondering about it since we are talking sergers.

It is the same under the hood as the 1034D. The difference is the extension table, which to me, makes it as big as a sewing machine. I have never had a problem with space to the left of the needle and only rarely to the right of the needle. To me it looks like they are fixing a problem that does not exist.

I have torn a 1034 down to the skeleton. It is all metal with a good motor. It isn't a fancy machine but it is a work horse. The only weakness I saw was a possible problem with cracking of a knob/gear combination in about 20 years. Save yourself 200.00 and buy the 1034D.

Another good serger to check out is the Janome Juno from Hancock Fabric's. It usually is on sale for 189.00. It has the tension knobs on the front instead of lay in tensions like the Brother 1034D. I am a big fan of this machine. I have the same machine as a badged Kenmore. I have used the dog water out of it and it keeps on sewing anything I throw at it within the realm of what I would sew with a serger. I love it for finishing the edges on fleece blankets. I think the tensions are a lot less fussy than the lay in type and definitely easier to release - just turn the knob to '0'. I have had my serger since 2006 and it sews as good today as the day I took it out of the box.

I've seen a lot of Name brands at that price range. As with buying a sewing/emb machine. I'd go to a dealer and try them out. Find out the good and bad points and see what all they offer. They are great to have, you can serge around your fabric before washing and you won't have all those threads in you dryer or a big mess. You can piece with them and you never run out of bobbin thread. Nancy Z has a book on quilting and serging, it has some really cool stuff in it. That is my next big investment; as soon as I get my Diamond Deluxe paid off, or close to it.

I got the Brother 1034D and so far am happy with it. The dealer offered a class and I learned how to rethread it which isn't as scary as it sounded. But, with what I sew, I keep neutral thread in it and very rarely have to change it. It is in the $200 range. The thing it doesn't do is overlock, like Holice said, so I can't hem anything with it. But that wasn't my desire anyway.

It really depends on what is important to you. I had two regular type sergers which I didn't use a lot and I would cuss a lot when I had to thread them. I paid a little over $1000 more to get the automatic threading feature. There are other bells and whistles which come also, but primarily it was the automatic threading that I paid for. I had to get it on a lay-away to get it. I use it everytime I sew! No cussing. It is definitely worth the money to me because without that feature I would not sew on the serger, it would just sit like the last 2 had done. Go try out the machines at the different dealers. Just as you wouldn't buy a new car without driving one, don't buy a serger on the advice of strangers.

Thank you for the input TanyaL I have a serger that I have had for year and do not use much. I really think I will check out the one that is auto thread!

I have a cheap singer serger, bought several years ago. I could never figure it out so never used it. Don't know where your located but if you want it, pay shipping and it is yours. Course this may be more expensive with price of postage.
let me know, or anyone else who is interested.

Check out www.hsn.com They have them at good prices very often.

Yes, I have been looking at them. The prices do seem reasonable. Thanks.

I live in Nevada-I'm sure the postage would be a lot. Thanks for the offer tho.

You can sign up on patternreview.com (it's free) and check out the user reviews on sewing machines and sergers there.

I ended up giving mine away because I never used it.

I agree with most of the comments - figure out what features you want and try out a lot of them. Some of the nice features include: self threading (as far as I know, only Baby Lock has this feature), easy threading but not self threading (Viking has one for about $400 in which the left side swings open so you can more easily access some of the threading channel - don't know if any other do this or not), coverstitch - usually (but maybe not always) on higher priced sergers.....and the list goes on. maybe folks here can list the features they really like and which machine has them so you can have a better list of options. Most manufactures now offer extra specialty feet for sergers - beading, extra gathering, etc.

I also have the brother 1034D serger and it has been great for me and at a good price! I actually bought mine off hsn or qvc (can't remember right off which one) have had for over 2 years now and still going strong!