How a Serger Can Improve Your Sewing

For many career women, being a professional means you have to keep up two wardrobes.  That’s not just extra expense, but also extra time.  Learning to use a serger can help in both those areas.

A serger is a great, convenient and safe appliance that can do several things from trimming, finishing and creating a seam quickly. Buying a serger can improve your sewing project in many ways. Being a multifunctional appliance that can trim seam allowances as you sew a serger is great for knits. It can also save time due to its high speed and its ability to create strong stitches gives your seams a professional high-quality and durable finish making it worth investing in. But, if you are among those who are hesitant and asking what is a serger sewing machine used for, below is a look at the uses and how it can improve your sewing experience.

Secures and finishes a seam in one step

A serger allows you to do several things at once, which include sewing a seam, trimming the seam allowance, and overcasting the edge in a single pass. Also, the formidable 4-thread safety stitch feature makes the serger an efficient machine for sewing seams preventing fraying or raveling. The serger is a wonderful sewing machine for knit garments since it creates strong and secure seams that can stretch with the fabric even when you are wearing it.

Can create Flatlock seams

You can create flatlock seams that lay flat with or with no seam allowance. The seam can be used either as a color blocker or for decoration. If you’d like to add extra design details or improve the esthetic, you can use a contrasting color thread creating beautiful and fantastic flatlock seams.

It overcasts raw edges

To prevent hems and facings from fraying, you need to overcast their raw edges before sewing. This is possible with the help of a serger machine that comes with a 3-thread overcast. The overcast can stitch a wide and a narrow stitch resulting in a smooth, finished edge. In some cases, you might want to overcast a raw edge which is also possible with a serger sewing machine.

When focusing on the edges, some serger machines have differential feeds and split feed dogs to the front and to the back which help edges flatten. A differential feed can also be used to gather lightweight fabric. You can adjust a feed dog’s speed ratio for fabrics that stretch. You simply need to follow the user manual correctly to determine how to use this feature.

It makes tiny, perfect rolled hems

Special fabrics and cloths like scarves, bridal veils, napkins, among others, require perfect rolled hems to bring out an elegant finish. Many sewing machines cannot achieve this, but with a serger, you will be able to create perfectly rolled hems and corners.

 Similar to any other product or appliance, the serger sewing machine also has some cons. Due to the multifunctional capabilities it has, it can be quite expensive, costing you about $200 or more depending on the features that you need. Also, it can be very frustrating to do things like threading since it has to be threaded in the correct order for it to work properly. But, it is quite a worthy appliance to invest in once you master the skills and can follow the manual step by step and correctly.