Sewing with a Serger: My First Impressions
After a long, long, loooooong week, all I wanted to do was check out some art on Main Street at First Thursdays on Main art crawl!
But what would I wear for this hot & humid evening?
The fit is lousy, and I hate those stupid side-tie thingies!
Time to take this dress from dowdy to darling!
First, I lopped off those stupid side ties!
Then, I stitched the two ends together.
I snipped off that extra little bit of fabric and put my new tie-thingy aside.
Usually I don’t chop off any length until I’ve taken my piece in, but in this case, I just didn’t feel like stitching down the side slits on this dress.
Sooooo…I just cut off the parts with the slits.
Now for the dress!
I decided to take it in exactly 1″ on each side.
First I pinned…
…and THEN I whipped out THIS AWESOME THING!!!!!
You’re looking at The Dreamstitcher, and my first serger! As it’s tagline proudly proclaims, “IT’S A DREAM! IT’S A STITCHER! IT’S THE DREAMSTITCHER!”
So what does this crazy thing do, you ask? Let me show ya!
This amazing machine actually cuts the fabric while locking that raw edge so it won’t fray! No more pinking shears for me!
I look forward to giving you a full review of this machine after I use it a good bit more.
The last thing I needed to do to complete this refashion was give it a new hem! Back to my regular machine I went!
After a quick press, my new dress was done!
I tied my sewn-together ties around my waist, had hopped down to Main Street!
There was much cool art to see!
Cheers!
30 Comments
Linda
I love what you did here. I’m on my third serger and third sewing machine. The machine that I was given for graduation died of old age. Too expensive to repair.
I’m one of those old ladies that swears by my serger. I always use my serger for cutting off hems of dresses or slacks.
Monica Fernandez
Hello..I´m from Tenerife, Spain. Many thanks because I´ve got a dress so similar and I need this tuto like water…jajaja. You´re really amazing.. Thanks for all…!!!
Deborra
I love your creations!! Fast and effective)
Victoria
I don’t even have a sewing machine yet but I’ve heard senior seamstress talk about how they LOVE their sergers! I love the dress!
Seams New
I am so happy for you!!!!! I watch Project Runway every year and just googly eye gaze at those sergers like they are foreign objects. I can’t wait to experience this new you are now enjoying. Thanks for all of the inspirations!
dawn
That material looks so familiar, I think I had that dress. Looks so much cuter in the refashion.
debi
just want to let you know it looks like your tensions are off. what I can tell from the picture the problem is in the loopers. check with your manual to adjust. I worked with sergers for almost 40 years. the tensions can seam scary but once you know how to adjust them it isn’t bad.
Rebecca
Awesome! I recently purchased a serger as well and I must say I am totally in love. No more pinking shears!
-Rebecca
Idealism never goes out of fashion
Beverly Willingham
Love all of your refashions and those of your followers. I’ve recently lost weight and you have inspired me to alter some of my clothes. I sewed years ago and have wanted to get back into it. I purchased a dress form and am presently having a blast!!! It’s nice to be able to wear a belt, since once again, I can identify my waist.
Thanks for your inspiration!!!!!
Cristi
I’ve always wondered whether the regular machine seams held up as well as serged seams will?
sewcookgardenrepeat
Ooooh nice serger! And cute dress, it really does match nicely 🙂
Barb
As Always…inspirational. I look forward to your adventures with the new serger.
Susan
You are such an inspiration and that dress is adorable! I love my serger so much that after 20 years of an old, simple workhorse I upgraded to a fancy one. I listed my original (now vintage!) one on Craigslist but when it came down to it I just couldn’t part with it after seeing how cute they looked in everyone’s descriptions of “vintage serger for sale”. I backed out of the deal! Tsk tsk. But I did research the same, updated brand new version for the people for only $20 more. Now I keep my old one threaded w/black or white for clothes & my new one w/multi-colors for dog blankets I donate to rescue. 🙂
afrugalspinster
I’ve wondered for a long time why you hadn’t purchased a serger You will love it.
Kathryn Roskow
I bought a used Serger two years ago and I’ve never used it because I’m terrified of the thing! You’ve inspired me to try…try again.
greta
You finally got a serger! I’m only a baby sewer, but I inherited a serger and love it. Glad you finally got one! I’ve been waiting for you to discover the awesomeness that is the server.
Amy
In case you haven’t found it in your serger instructions, there is a way to serge a rolled hem. 🙂
The dress turned out fabulously!
loudsilence99
Looks great. I love the print on that dress. 🙂 My serger is my sewing best friend. I use it for a lot more things than I thought I would.
Just an FYI: Looking at the close ups of the stitching, you need to adjust the thread tension. Try changing the tension on the lower looper from 4 to 5.
ReFashionista
Thanks!
kathy
Sergers are great! tighten your lower looper a bit so it doesn’t show on the top of the fabric. if you look on the right side of your dress, you shouldn’t see any ‘bars” of thread.
ReFashionista
Ooooh! Thanks for the pointer! 🙂
Deborah
You are so amazing and inspiring!! Go serger go!!
Charlene A
I used a serger for the first time a few weeks ago and am IN LOVE with it!! My fabulous local sewing shop let us rent them, and I plan on maying good use of it!!!
maryjosie
Sergers rox! I heart mine and use it for all projects… either for finishing edges or seams.
Nancy B
Wait till you see what you can do with Wolly Nylon thread an your serger (Actually I don’t think they call it Wolly Nylon any more).
Dress turned out very cute, as usual!
dee
You look beautiful in this floral tank dress! Very flattering length to accent your legs and shoes!
Kathy Boyd
Might just be my favorite yet!
Nicole
Oh I want a serger so bad! And your shoes really do look great with the dress
Barbara
Ok….from too big to small is fairly easy. Now, let’s see some too small to “just right”!!
Anna
Hooray for sergers! I have a baby lock and am still afraid to bust it out. There are so. many. threads. The dress is adorable.