Intermediate Guide to Serger: Get Better Finishing, Improve Stitch Formation and Troubleshoot Effortlessly

Introduction

In this intermediate guide to serging, you will learn advanced techniques that you can use to make several knit garments. Most of the DIY projects are much easier to do with a serger machine.

One of the greatest benefits of the serger machine is to learn how to make blind hems. In most of your garments, you want to create an invisible stitch from the outside. In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the blind hem technique to create a deep hem for your pants, skirts, and unlined jackets.

You will also learn how to install the blind hem foot, adjust the tension, and needle threads for you to create a perfect stitch for joining two folded edges of the fabric.

Another important foot for any serger is the gathering foot. If you love to create a lot of gathers in your garment Projects, you will be able to learn how to use the gathering foot and an example Project you can work out with to make gathers. Depending on the task you want to do, you can invest in an appropriate foot and make garments that have a professional look.

You will also learn how to take care of your overlock machine and extend its lifetime. Regular maintenance of the machine is very important to keep your machine clean and improve its performance. An accumulation of dust and fill up of threads and trims inside the machine can lower the performance of your machine. This manual will teach you to regularly clean and oil the different parts of the machine.

You will also know how to make simple DIY projects using different stitches and features in your machine. Some of the simple DIY projects you will learn to make at the end of this tutorial include: sewing a personalized baby blanket, sewing a pillow cover, serging a drawstring bag, sewing a dust cover for your overlock machine, sewing a Christmas stocking, sewing a holiday napkin tree, and sewing your own face mask.

These are personalized serging projects you can do with your machine. You will learn the step-by-step procedures on how to sew each of the projects. Some of them are very easy and they will not take you a lot of time to sew them. These projects are also budget-friendly since you can make some of them from scrap fabrics.

You will also be able to add your personal touch to the projects. Once you learn how to sew these different DIY garment projects, you can give them a gift to your friends and loved ones.

Get ready to learn on your next serging project!

Chapter One:  Blind Hem Serging Technique

Did you know you can make super clean hems with your serger machine? Although you can make blind hem with your sewing machine, the serger sewing technique is a super-fast and easy way to hem your fabrics and give your hems a clean finish.  For this reason, a serger machine dominates the regular sewing machine making it the most preferred for excellent sewing projects.

A blind hem is a technique used to create a blind stitch on a cloth with little visible threads on the front side of the cloth. A blind stitch helps create an invisible stitch thread by joining two pieces of fabric together. These invisible stitches are hidden under the folded edges of the fabric.

When you use blind hem stitches, the thread is invisible at the front of your garment and almost hidden on the inside of the garment.  This sewing technique ensures the stitches remain hidden inside the fabric hem.

When using a serger machine to create invisible hems, ensure the fabric stretch remains natural. 

You can use this technique to attach pockets and trimmings to your garment.

If you’re using a regular sewing machine to create a blind hem, you need a presser foot and then select the stitch pattern suitable for sewing blind hems.  A zigzag stitch can be used to create a blind stitch using the sewing machine.

How to use a Serger machine to create a blind hem

In just one move, you can serge the edges of the fabric, trim, and stitch it at the same time! Your serger machine allows you to do that all in one easy step.

Requirements:   

1.  Thick threads for your looper

2.  Ballpoint needles

3.  Blind Hem foot presser

4.  Fabric you want to do serging on

Blind hem foot

This universal adjustable blind hem foot is designed to fit in most overlock models. It helps you sew neat and professional looking stitches. This foot is suitable for creating blind stitches on your skirts, trousers, and jackets.

When stitching, the bulk stitches are sewn on the hem while the larger jump stitch moves across to attach to the hem of the fabric on the wrong side up.

Before you begin to use the foot, you should match the stitch position with the available hem fabric in three ways:

•  Adjust the foot using the metal screw and move the plastic plate to the left and right.

•  Adjust the stitch width

•  Adjust the needle position (although this applies to selected serger machines)

The foot has a metal guide at the center and three grooves located on the underside. When blind hemming, the fold of your garment snugly fits against the metal guide in the foot. This maintains the accuracy of the stitch on the edges while the underneath grooves prevent slipping of the garment.

The needle will swing over the metal guide in order to create slack in the upper looper tension and as a result, you create an invisible stitch on your garment.

Match the folded fabric with the plastic guide. You can also adjust jump stitch nibbles to feed on a small amount of the fabric. If you set a larger nibble, you will have a larger stitch on the right side of the hem.

Blind hem foot not only creates blind hemstitches at the bottom of your skirts and jackets, you can also use it to make a perfect topstitch on garments. If you’re using it to add