"Serging" Ahead

Every weekend of late, I have found myself at my sewing station for hours on end. Orders need to be filled, new products need to be created, and there just aren't enough hours in the day...

Ok, don't get me wrong, sewing is my therapy. I can sit at my sewing station for a week straight with little to no sleep only stopping for a brief bathroom break here or there, and I would still be happy as a clam. When I am crafting, I can tune the world out, but that isn't always the best for a growing home business. So, I have been brainstorming ideas for ways to make the creation process go a bit faster while still maintaining my quality standards....

Undercover, tucked away to the back corner of my sewing station, with a bit of undisturbed dust, I catch sight of my serger. This is my second serger I have ever bought, the first being run into the ground from years of sewing hems and straight seams, and this one sits with barely any sewing hours logged in. Why? My serger and I have a love/hate relationship. I love it when it is working as it should and without complications, and once I hit that inevitable bump in the road, I hate it and banish it back to the depths of my sewing table. I have friends who bought sergers and still have them in the box after several years.

What's so scary about these machines, you ask? My quick answer, they are so much more complex than your regular sewing machines.  Regular sewing machines are fairly straightforward, no matter how many hundreds of built-in stitches they have, you choose a stitch and go.  Sergers, on the other hand, are far more complex. You have stitch options using 3,4, or 5 spools of thread, differential feed, two needles and two or more loopers with each one having its own tension dials, and the scariest of  all being the cutting blade (cutting away your seam allowance as you sew, unthinkable). Are you intimidated yet? I know I am!

Time to get over my fear! As I said earlier, I have used my serger before, on straight stitches. How boring, straight stitches. If only all of my projects had straight stitches and no curves, I'd be a Serging pro! The thought of serging a project with curves and having my fabric's seam allowance cut along the way is terrifying. What if I mess up and need to utilize my trusty seam ripper? Ok, that isn't my only grievance against my serger. The main peeve I have with it, is that it takes me half a day to get all of the settings just right for whatever fabric I am using, only to have the needle break or thread shred and knock everything out of whack to where you have to rethread the whole daggum thing. Rethreading, I forgot about that, whole other can of worms. It takes an act of Congress just to thread the goofy machine, it's very particular when it comes to threading. You've got to thread it in the correct order and make certain you hit all the correct nooks and crannies, or it won't work at all.

Ok, I have to defend the poor thing now. "If they are so much trouble, why buy one", you ask? I know what they are capable of doing, I just have to learn how to use it correctly. The decorative stitches are intriguing, rolled hem on some linen napkins for wedding gifts, perhaps. How about yards and yards of ruffles to add to a project without having to stitch two rows of basting stitches and hand gather, hoping the threads don't break and send you back to the drawing board, yes please! A more professional finish to garments you create, most definitely!

Here goes nothin'! What a beautiful thing, the picture above is my proof that my serger can give me a perfect tension set-up! My love affair with my serger is back on, and, after searching Pinterest for tutorials and ideas, I am ready for more than just straight seams! 

                                                                                                                           Wish me luck!