My daughter wanted a serger for Christmas. Santa came through with a Juki model. She was very happy to get her first serger and wanted me to try it. So, like the good student I am, I sat down for my lesson on the Juki.

The serger was easy enough to use on a straight seam. Just put the material under the presser foot, step on the pedal and off you go. But what about on curves? I actually did not try curves until my daughter had gone off to college again. First, I decided to watch a you-tube video. A very helpful lady showed me how to maneuver the material under the presser foot. I gave it a go myself and thanks to my you-tube tutor, all went well. It is a bit like a sewing machine, the difference being if I messed up the little blade would slice my material off. That is why I watched the video first. Take it slow and easy on curves and it is not a problem.

I have been using the serger a lot since my daughter went back to college. I think that I will eventually have to ask Santa for my own, as she will some day take the Juki with her, and I will be left without. One might ask, “Do you really need a serger?” After using one for a few months, my answer is “yes”.

A serger has many benefits. It sews a beautiful finished edge to the piece so that the material looks finished. A serger allows a piece to be washed without the fear of unraveling seams. It brings the garment up a notch from “homemade” to “Where did you buy that?” status. I would recommend a serger to serious seamstresses and for people who sew a lot of clothing. Beginning sewers can use a zig-zag stitch on their sewing machine or cut the seams with pinking shears. This will do until they become more accomplished sewers and actually want to wear what they make. It is more important to have a good machine and then acquire a serger thereafter, as it is a monetary investment.

The only drawback I find to the serger is that it is a pain to thread. Tweezers and tools have to be used to reach the threads here and there. The threads have to be threaded in a particular order for the machine to work. There are four spools of thread on my daughter’s serger. One spool seems to run out a lot faster than the other spools. This one is the one that needs to be threaded first. Although, there is a way around this, by sneaking threads around others. So the hardest part about serging is threading the machine. Once threaded it is a piece of cake.

As always, Happy Sewing!