Serger Project

Usually, I sew almost every day.  This spring and summer have been very different for me.  Because of a medical condition, I have done very little sewing.   In fact, I have not sewn a single stitch in more than 4 weeks.  I am still recovering from surgery, but I think I am almost ready to begin sewing again!

During that recovery time, I tried to mentally plan my next sewing projects.  I tossed around several ideas including making another purse and a couple of jackets.  Instead, I settled on the idea of learning to put my serger to better use.  I use my serger mainly to finish seams on the garments I sew using my sewing machine.  A serger will do much more than that!  I have a BabyLock Ovation and I plan to learn more about everything it will do including the cover stitch  I have used that stitch occasionally to hem tee-tops.  I also made a purse with my serger a couple of years ago.  That was fun and I was able to incorporate a lot of different serger techniques while making the purse.  A picture of the purse is shown below.

 

If I can make a purse with my serger, I know I can make a garment with it; not just finish the seams.  So, I am going to try to get in the habit of using my serger more to construct garments.  I plan to cut out a couple of knit tee-tops and a couple of woven pajama bottoms and start with those.  I may need to do a little research before I start because I already have a question about how I would insert the elastic into the waist of the pajama bottoms.  I know I have an elastic insertion foot for my serger, but don’t remember how to use it.  I will need to brush up on that technique before I begin the pajamas.  My goal is to try to construct the garments without using the sewing machine.  I am also going to time my work to convince myself that it is actually faster than constructing the garment on a sewing machine and finishing the seams on the serger. 

The first thing I needed to do to prepare for this project was to locate exactly where my fabric should be placed under the needle in order to get the correct seam allowance.   I read my Ovation Instruction and Reference Guide and found that when using the left overlock needle (0-1), for either a 3 or 4-thread overlock seam, the second mark on the cutting blade cover indicates a 5/8” seam allowance from the edge of the fabric to the first needle (the O-1 overlock needle).  With the fabric in this location, the blade cuts off 3/8” and leaves a perfect 1/4“seam.  If I use a pattern that calls for a ¼”seam, I position the edge of the fabric against the edge of the serger blade and the serger will sew a ¼”seam without cutting off any fabric.

I am looking forward to this project for at least three reasons.  The first is I should become more proficient at using my serger.  The second is I may be able to construction garments in less time than I do now.  And the third is I enjoy learning something new and if that something new is connected to constructing garments, that is really a bonus!

I will let you know how this project goes.  In the meantime, I hope you will be successful with whatever sewing projects you do!

Judy