Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Serger Workshop

On Saturday I took a Serger Workshop class with my mom and aunts at Steve's Sew and Vac in King of Prussia.  I've had Mr. Nilsson for about a year now, but I've really only used him to finish seams.  It was really awesome to see the different things you can do with a serger!

There were about 10 people in our class and almost everyone had a different machine.  I am SO glad that I got the Babylock Imagine, which has automatic tension and a very easy threading system.  Using it seriously couldn't be more simple.  I can't imagine having to deal with tension knobs and the very complex threading on some of the machines.  One poor woman brought her serger that was made in 1982 and ended up beyond frustrated with it.

Our instructor was Pamela Leggett, who has her own pattern line, Pamela's Patterns, and has written quite a few articles for Threads.  She was very patient with all of us and our different machines and shared a bunch of great tips for using our sergers.  She gave us a few sheets of different techniques and as we completed sampes of the techniques, we pinned them onto the pages.

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This way we have a working notebook of the techniques and can refer back to them later.  Since I have automatic tension, my Tension Control sheet was super easy to complete!  If you have a serger that doesn't have automatic tension, this sheet works as a cheat sheet for what tension settings your machine needs for different types of fabric. You record the tension settings for each type of fabric and then you have a logical starting place when you work with that fabric in the future.  It's a great system but I am so glad that I didn't have to bother with all of that fiddling!

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We used this worksheet method for a few different techniques in a my very first sewing class and I think it's a great idea.
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The Serger Workshop was from 10am-4:30pm, so it was a lot of information to remember.   Being able to have an actual example of the technique is so much more informative than just taking notes.

I highly recommend taking a class with Pamela and at Steve's in general.  But remember to wear layers—it was freezing in there!

9 comments:

  1. wow, looks like a great class. I wish I had a serger! ;)

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    1. I may have jumped the gun on buying a serger since I really had no idea what I would do with it other than finish seams. :) Thankfully I paid for it by cashing out my credit card points that I had been hoarding for years, so no harm done!

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  2. That does look like a great class! I'd love to have a serger, too! I'm glad you like yours-- I've been thinking about getting one and wondering which one to get if I ever make the leap!

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    1. I would definitely recommend getting a serger with automatic tension. Fussing with those dials would drive me crazy! I think the Babylock machines are the only ones that come with automatic tension. I wasn't a fan of the Babylock sewing machine that I used in a quilting class, but I love my Babylock serger. Funny how that goes, isn't it?

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    2. That's good to know-- sometimes there's just no predicting how you're going to like something! I've never even used a serger before, so maybe I'll have to try some out somewhere!

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  3. How interesting! I do have a serger but I've only used it to finish the seams. You've inspired me to want to whip out my manual to learn some new stitches on it since I'm a bit far away to take that course. :)

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    1. You should! I have a million sets of curtains to make and I'll be able to get them done a lot quicker using a couple of the techniques that I learned in class. I especially love flatlocking, especially since it looks super hard and complicated but it takes about a second to do.

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  4. Wow, good for you to invest the time and energy into getting the most out of your serger. I love the notebook idea (though retired, I still think like a teacher).

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    1. I'm glad you appreciate the notebook idea! My dad is a teacher so I guess these things rubbed off on me too. I've referred back to the notebook that I made in my sewing class a few times when I blank on how to do a particular technique. Having an actual example of it never fails!

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