Learn to Serge: Tips and Tricks
When I got my serger as a gift for Christmas, I was super excited, but very intimated! I had no idea where to begin and it felt overwhelming. Throughout the last 2 1/2 years that intimidation has definitely dissipated and in turn I’ve grown a love of serging! It is seriously my favorite DIY tool. Here are 10 serging tips and tricks so that you can feel confident with your serger too!
I wanted to create a few Tips and Tricks in our Learn to Serge series that you can come back to anytime. These are things that might not come up in any of the particular lessons, but rather just good to remember throughout.
Tips and Tricks for your Serger:
Tip and Trick 1 SPEED:
The first thing that intimidated me was the speed. Sergers can go up to 3 times faster than your typical sewing machine. That was really hard for me to get use to that. When dealing with this, just keep in mind, practice makes perfect. The more you sit in front of your serger and even run scrap pieces of fabric through, the more comfortable you’ll be with starting and stopping your very quick needles!
Tip and Trick 2 The best tool you will use is your pedal.
That might sound funny, but you don’t have to have continuous speedy stream of sewing, it’s actually a technique to serge a section then let your foot off the pedal while you regather your fabric and go for the next section. Never hesitate to slow your speed or just completely stop. It will make for more accurate serging and will look better.
Tip and Trick 3 Remember to use a good quality thread.
Since sergers are so fast, the cheeper threads can’t keep up. Maxilock and Toldilock are great options.
Tip and Trick 4 Love thy Tweezers!
I literally cannot thread my machine without tweezers. Tweezers also help if you are trying to detangle thread that wraps up where it shouldn’t. My advice, keep them handy!
Tip and Trick 5 Use the Stitch Finger as a guide for sewing.
Keeping an eye on the Stitch Finger (or the needle when the Stitch Finger is on R) will prevent the material from getting wrapped around the Upper Looper.
Tip and Trick 6 Keep those pins far, far away from the cutting blade and the needles.
You know how on your conventional machine you can get away with sewing over a pin or two? Not on your serger. You can always use basting spray to secure your fabric. If you must use pins, place them three inches away and parallel to the blade.
Tip and Trick 7
Oil every 15 hours of serging and dust frequently. That cutting blade makes one heck of a dust pile. Learn more about oiling and maintaining your machine in the Learn to Serge: Maintaining your Serger lesson #7.
Tip and Trick 8
If a thread breaks in the upper or lower loopers, I rethread both of them in order just to be safe. We’ll go over that in the Learn to Serge: Thread your machine lesson #1.
Tip and Trick 9
If you run into problems and can’t seem to troubleshoot, turn off your serger and come back later. No need to get frustrated with your serger, it will just create resentment. Sometimes the time away from the serger will allow your mind to think of what the problem might possibly be. If you still can’t figure out what the problem is come back and ask me! Most likely I’ve run into the same problem and can would love to aid in some assistance.
Tip and Trick 10
Take a picture of your “perfect” tension. That place where you found a balanced stitch becomes your homeostasis. With different fabrics you will adjust slightly but you will always want to come back to your perfect tension setting. I have sat down at my serger many times to find my son (2 year olds love to play with things they know they shouldn’t…especially if it’s fun colors) has changed the tension dials. The first few times this happened I panicked not knowing exactly where to readujst the tension dails back to. I suggest you take a picture so you can refer back to in any case.
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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!
