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Have spoken with at least 3 people now who ONLY use sergers for their home sewing – and that’s everything from making clothes to drapery/slipcover sewing. One of them doesn’t even HAVE a sewing machine!
Question is: Can a serger alone do it all? Other than buttonhole, I assume. Of course, the ones they have are WAY out of my ballpark, but never having had a serger, would like to know if it’s worth my while to save for a pricey one (which would take probably 2 yrs or so), or would a lower priced one be as good? Other than maybe fixing something on clothes (zipper, hem), I do home dec/drapery/sometimes slipcover sewing.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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I use both my sewing machine and my serger. I don't see how I could sew with only a serger. I do top stitching, blind hems, buttonsholes, true flat felled seams, true french seams, heirloon sewing, gathering etc on my sewing machine. Granted, some of these things can be done on my serger as well (and I do them sometimes) but the look is different.
Things like invisable zippers, zippers in dresses, jeans, skirts work better on a sewing machine. Some heavy duty zippers, I put in on my serger. But then I top stitch on my sewing machine for add strength.
For knits, I still sew my ribbing into a circle on the sewing machine. My kids didn't like the bump that the serger made in the ribbing. I sew it to the t-shirt on the serger.
Chris.
*To me, a serger is to a sewing machine - as a microwave is to an oven. There are things you can do adequately with either one.... and there are things that only one (or the other)is capable of handling. If budget is a consideration, you need a sewing machine. A serger is nice, but not necessary.
*Thanks Stephanie and Chris. You just confirmed what I thought, but had never heard of a serger doing it all. I have a sewing machine and am in the market for a serger. Unfortunately, I don't have a heck of a lot to spend - around $500, although I might have just a little more by the time I get around to actually buying it. So many sergers, so many opinions, so little money!!!!
*Hello Adrianne,Here's my $.02It depends on the type of sewing you're doing.If all I sewed were casual clothes with an emphasis on knits I would put my money on a great serger. If I needed fasteners I would use a lot of snaps and riveted buttons or velcro. This would work great for someone making lots of kid's clothes. Home dec stuff would fit here too. I've had many sewing machines and even with the best of them the performance on knits is only fair. Sergers handle knits extremely well and they are fast!If my sewing was primarily tailored workclothes then I would base my purchase on the sewing machine with the best walking foot and buttonhole.--lin
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