Friday 14 October 2011

Threading the serger.

Hello people.

I was recently lucky enough to receive a serger/overlocker (dependant upon your country of origin) to assist me in my quest to make beautiful clothes that fit me well.

The serger was an absolute bargain ! I got it from a lovely woman on Ebay for half the price that it is in the shops. I was gutted to find that upon receipt the telescopic rod had broken, even though the seller had packed it wonderfully.

There is a sewing machine shop across the road, and I was thinking 'wonderful', they could fix my telescopic pole, until I actually went the place and found the guy very rude and more than a little odd, it was the most surreal shopping experience I have EVER had.

After half an hour with the 'oddest man in the world' TM, Mr P and I were still unsure as to whether he was agreeing to actually fix the machine. We were actually on the doorstep, leaving, when I asked 'so can you fix it'. To which he replied 'yes'. I then asked if he could show me how to thread it (as it had become un-threaded in transit), he again replied yes, but that he would charge me £65 for the pleasure !

Readers, £65 !!!  I was shocked ! And declined.

When Mr P and I got home, he got busy on-line, and ordered a telescopic pole for £10 including postage, and I got busy on you tube looking for cheaper ways to thread the serger. Thus negating the need for the assistance of the 'oddest man in the world', TM.

I am happy to report that I found this AMAZING man, and I threaded my machine using his tutorials, in ten mins (max !) and for FREE !! And although my serger is not the same as his, the principles still worked.

I thought I would share this wonderful man with you (not Mr P ! the serger guy !!). Sewists unite ! Never be ripped off by the 'oddest man in the world', TM, when you can do it yourself for free and for not alot of bother.

So, without further ado - here he is !



                                                                source for tutorials

Thank you Mr Serger ! And thank you You Tube.  :-)

Honestly, I was well scared of trying to thread this machine, but following this guy was so useful. I have totally lost my fear now. Yes, it was little fiddly sometimes, but it WAS NOT difficult.

I hope maybe these links are as helpful to you as they were to me.

K xxx

6 comments:

  1. Must admit, I've had a serger for 3 years, 3 YEARS! And I am so scared of the thing. My husband keeps asking when I'm gonna use it, cause I "wanted it so bad" and he got it for me. One day, I'll dust it off and watch these videos. So, thanks for sharing! (And sorry for the 'oddest man in the world bit, how frustrating, pffft.)

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  2. They are frightening eh ? (both sergers and odd men !) Mr P bought mine for me for my birthday (very lucky lady !). I really do think that if you watch the vids and then have a go yourself you will totally be able to do it. I have exams tomorrow then am hoping to get plenty of sewing in, I heard sergers are great for knits, so maybe I will try and make something with knits, I will let you know how I get on :-) xx

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  3. Thank you for this post. I bought an overlocker a few weeks ago and even though it came pre-threaded, the minute I used it two of the threads came out. I've been too scared to use it since (it also seemed to slice a whole column of fabric off the edge whilst it was at it!!)
    I'm going to watch these clips next week and see if I can make it work for me. x

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  4. You are welcome :-) I scoured You tube for HOURS looking for the best vids, this guy certainly delivers and he has such a lovely way about him, he is lovely and calming (in an otherwise stressy situation) and I really cant thank him enough. It took longer to watch than to actually thread ! I have a babylock machine and I threaded it no worries. Remember as well, once its threaded all you need to do to change the threads is cut the ones already threaded and tie the new threads on. I tried it and it works a treat. Good luck Jane - I cant wait to see what you make using yours ! xx

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  5. Hi Kirsty, I was lucky enough to have an overloker given to me a few weeks ago and I spent ages trying to get the thing to work properly or make a proper stich..either one of the 4 threads kept breaking or it wouldn't make any stitches at all. So it's sitting there gathering dust at the moment. I will watch the vids when I have a minute, but isn't it funny how you can't find anyone to actually help or teach you how to use it? £65 is an awful lot of money.

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  6. Hi Karima :-) Look at us lucky folk being given over lockers ! I must say, I was too scared to use it for a while (the fact it was not threaded did not help !). Using the tutorials I got mine threaded absolutely no problems AT ALL. Now I am all set up and ready to go I LOVE using it ! It finishes seams so nicely, and I used it on both my Ginger skirts (with better results on the second one). Practice makes perfect (or so I hope !). I would have loved to have a real person show me how to thread and use the machine - but like you say £65 is alot of money, and I was just not prepared to spend that on some weird dude attempting to show me whilst being totally patronising at the same time ! BTW I think threads will break if its not threaded correctly. Good luck and dont forget to share any creations with us !! :-) x

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