Hi All. Just recently bought a beautiful Bernina 145S and am learning and am enjoying it and I just can’t say enough nice things. Handles nicely, sounds good. Soooo, I’m now looking into serging. Seems like this is kind of necessary for perfect looking clothes. Is this true? Should I get serging out of my head for a while? Is there a decent one out there I can get without breaking the bank? And should there be one that has both stitch capabilities like the overlock and coverstitch? Thanks;-)
Sue
Replies
I LOVE my serger. I don't have coverstitch & miss it sometimes, but not for the price! If you want a quick and clean seam finish, it's a good way to go.
Depends on what your thoughts on perfect looking clothes are. To get the RTW type look inside the garment, yes, a serger is used. For a couture finish you don't need it. Think about what type of sewing you do most and see if it suits. Remember that there are many stitches on your new Bernina that can do a very good job finishing seams and other such tasks often given to sergers. My advice would be to try your Bernina in every application you can think of, use the owner's manual and really look. The Bernina will go through its paces gracefully and eagerly. Know what it really can do (a lot!) - then you will also know what it cannot do and that will give you a good basis for making a serger purchase decision.
There was an informative article comparing sergers in a Threads not too long ago. Serger features and uses were explained and there were machine reviews. For now, enjoy your new Bernina!
Most sergers that also have the coverlock ability are more expensive than a regular serger. I would consider getting a regular 4 thread serger with differential feed and getting a blind hem foot for it if your funds are limited. I can say that I have bragged all over the internet about my Elna 744. I have 3 sergers and had a Babylock for many years. I now have a Pfaff, Janome and the Elna and the Elna 744 is the easiest to use and does 3 coverlock stitches and chainstitch and it cost me less than the Bernina 009 cover/chain only machine. It has tilt needles for easy insertion and also has auto tensions that never need fiddling with and it converts easy to cover and chain stitch without changing foot or plate. You just switch a knob and add a little table to the front of the machine. If one does a lot of sewing I would highly recommend a serger for just the time saving alone. Gathering and puffing is done so quickly without having to stitch and pull threads and also beading and binding is done so quickly. Just serge finishing seams alone is more professional looking than using the overcast or overlock stitch on your sewing machine because the extra fabric is cut and finished off neater. Many items can be constructed solely on the serger. If you are a crafty person there is so much that can be done with a decorative look.
This post is archived.