Learn to Serge: How to Serge a Straight Line and Serge with Multiple Layers
Now that you have the basic understanding of How to Serge, it’s time to start working on some projects! Today we are going to cover How to Serge a Straight Line and how to serge with multiple layers. If you are new to the Learn to Serge Series, check out the homepage, here!
As always, prepare your serger machine by:
- Turn your machine on
- make sure it is threaded properly (read here for more details)
- raise the presser foot, and raise the needles to the highest position (*but remember, you must always serge with the presser foot down in the lowest position!
Since you have practiced how to start and stop, you should be comfortable putting fabric in by the needle. That could mean that it is starting at a raw edge, or in the middle of your fabric.
How to serge a straight line:
- Your pedal is your friend. Use it to your advantage. Since an overlock machine serges so quickly, until you are use to it, allow yourself to start and stop the pedal at any moment.
- Depending on the fabric, you can start your projects by drawing the seam allowance on the back of the fabric. Take a pencil and mark the seam allowance. This will help you gauge where to place the fabric in reference to the serger blade.
- If you can’t mark the fabric of your seam allowance (it could be 0″ and you are serging at the raw edge of the fabric, or it could be anything like 3/8″), find a spot on your serger that you can align your fabric up with. As you are serging a straight line, this will help you monitor where to keep the fabric in reference to the serger blade.
- Just like in sewing, the placement of your hands can be a very valuable tool. I always use my left hand to guide the fabric along the side of the serger. This hand is there to make sure that the fabric aligns with the needles. My right hand pulls the bottom fabric, keeping the seam allowance in place.
How to serge with multiple layers:
- You’ve got the basic understanding of serging, but with multiple layers I would suggest pinning your fabric to make sure they stay together. You can pin them one of two ways: the experts say to pin vertically about 2″ from seam (so that your blade or needles don’t ever come in contact with the pins). Or, if you’d rather, you can pin the fabric like normal (horizontally) but you HAVE to make sure you take the pin out before it reaches your blade! 🙂 This is where your pedal comes in handy! To start and stop! 🙂
- When serging with multiple layers sometimes you’ll notice that the top and bottom fabrics are being pulled at different rates… an example of this might be when you are serging two layers and they are the same length. You start by matching up the corners on the top edge, then by the time you get to the bottom, the top and bottom layers aren’t even. This might mean your differential feed is off. Read more about that here.
Serging can be a great tool in your DIY crafts because it speeds up the sewing process (it cuts and sews your project at the same time)! I honestly prefer serging to sewing.
Your Serging Homework for the week: Make your own hand bag! I use my hand bag as a secondary kid’s bag; for those times when you need extra snacks, books, toys and all the kiddo goods! 🙂 If you don’t need an extra hand bag for yourself, this is a great opportunity to make a gift for someone who does!
Since the Learn to Serge Series has been so popular, I have put all of the lessons in one easy-to-read ebook. Click here to have all 12 comprehensive lessons at your fingertips!
