Weekend Wrap Up.

I am so happy to find out that my camera only needed a new battery! It did take stopping at 4 different shops to finally find the right one, but I can take pictures again. And video.

And I got to bring home a serger from the shop this weekend. It's just a loaner so I can learn about using sergers. It's a used Brother serger that is for sale in the shop. If you are local, Sew Simple currently has several quality used sergers for sale, not to mention brand new Janome sergers.

Sergers can be tricky machines, especially if you have never used one and are trying to learn from a manual.


That's why I got myself a Craftsy class on Beginning Serging with Amy Alan. Now that I have a serger to use while I watch the video, I understood so much more! I printed off all the class handouts and began making my stitch samples.


The first stitch was pretty easy. Then it was time to take a needle out to do a 3 thread stitch and I realized I had absolutely no tools or accessories to go with this machine. Miracles of miracles, I found the right sized allen wrench to take out the needle!


Now I have a whole new set of projects to add to my never ending list! Cloth napkins and some dresses or skirts for my daughter are near the top of that list.

But I have also been making great progress on a special commissioned quilt and it's really taking shape. I'll post about that next time.

I almost forgot, I taught another beginning free motion quilting class at the shop on Saturday and we had a good time. The gals picked it up quite easily and nobody had any major tension or machine issues. Of course, they all were using Janomes! (I am a bit biased, I suppose.) One gal did have an older machine without the needle down function and it was a bit difficult for her, but she was a trooper and did quite well.

I'll be doing another beginner class February 15th and then I think I'm going to work on an intermediate class, where we can play with some new designs.

Ok, back to my sewing, quilting and serging! I hope you had a lovely weekend and got some stitching or other creative activity done.

3 comments:

  1. You're a brave person to tackle a serger without a personal lesson. The one you're using...is it self-threading? Threading was a HUGE thing for me and I still need to refer to the manual to be sure I've done it properly. I love the serger's capabilities and use mine quite a lot though I probably should utilize it more. Way to go, Amy!

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    1. It is not self-threading, but I had the benefit of watching the Craftsy class while I threaded it and it did have good pictures inside to show how to do it. Though a pair of tweezers for cosmetic purposes are not a good substitute for the type that usually come with a new serger! I even used it to blind hem a pair of my daughter’s sweat pants today. And I nearly had a heart attack when I inadvertently pushed the button that releases the stitch finger. On this model, the stitch finger comes completely off as a long lever-type piece and flew into my lap! I thought I had broken it!

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  2. I had a serger for a while. Couldn't wait to get rid of it. Too many threads to balance. I'll stick to zig zagging thank you! More power to you!

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