I’ve discovered that a backpackers’ headlamp makes great hand’s-free illumination for dark, tight places, like inside a serger. A headlamp consists of a strap headband that holds a tiny, very bright lamp on the forehead; the light therefore aims where you’re looking. By using a headlamp I can see the dust and lint in my serger when I clean and the path when I’m threading.

You can buy headlamps at good backpacking stores, or from mail-order sources such as www.campmor.com. Headlamps cost from $10 to $50, and the lightweight, less-expensive versions are all you need for this purpose.

-Margaret-Ann Ellis, Massillon, Ohio

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