Learn to use a serger.

I actually figured out how to thread the serger for a double chain stitch! It’s only two threads, but it’s the brown “path” that has to be threaded, and that’s tough for me to do (#1 because I can’t tell brown from green and #2 because threading the brown path is a weird ass labarinth of hidden switches and pullies you can’t see).

I’ll have to play around with it some more, but I am definitely on the way to figuring out how to use this silly little machine rather than let it sit around and gather any more dust.

I used it over the weekend to sew a sample block for my next quilt. I don’t think serging is the norm for quilting, but who cares; if it fits my purpose, I’m going to use it! The picture attached is of the serged seams. They’re not 1/4” seams, but for the strips I’m sewing, seam allowance isn’t an issue. And besides, they are CLOSE to being 1/4” seams. I’ll bet I can figure out where on the foot the fabric has to be to make a 1/4” seam if necessary.

Maybe I’ll try to learn how to use the serger to sew the cat crate liners I’m making. I’ve got the serger, the fabric, the batting and the thread. Now I just need to sit down and figure out what I’m doing. What’s holding me back is that I don’t understand how to thread the silly thing. I have problems telling the green guide from the brown guide.

I live in Portland, Oregon, and I’m going to take a serging class next week at the Montavilla Sewing Center. I got my serger secondhand, so I’ll have to pay $35 for the class—if I bought it there, it would be free.