Friday, July 29, 2016

Serger Savvy - It Wasn't a Tension Problem!

How Do I Fix This!!!
What a Pain! My Serger was not operating properly.

Have you ever started a sewing project, eager to go and Wham! the Serger isn't doing it's thing properly?  Frustration!

This is what my Serger was putting out ..........

Maybe a Tension Problem?  OK, get out the manual.

No matter what I tried, still not right!

After a nights sleep ( it was late night already when I tried to fix it first time), I went at it again.

What else could be off?  Well, the needles are fairly old.  Maybe they need changed.

When I looked closely at the needles in the Serger I noticed one thing right away.  They were a size 90.(Good thing they were color coded or I'd never be able to read the size)

My Fabric for this project was  very lightweight!  Could that be contributing to the problem?

So I changed the needles to a 70 size, gave the Serger a spin and looked what the result was...

Perfect Finish!





A Perfect Finish!!

I could hardly believe it!!  That's all that was wrong, the needle didn't work for that particular fabric!

Lesson Learned:  Always check if the Serger needles suit the fabric I'm using!





While perusing the Serger Manual one other thing caught my eye.

It was recommended to oil the Serger after every 10 hours of use!  Wow!  Was mine overdue.

Now She's (my serger is a she!) running Smooth as Silk.

My Husband gave me a great tip for keeping track of  oiling etc.  A  Maintenance Log Book!!  He swears by this for all tools that need regular maintenance.  Eveytime you do a particular upkeep on the Serger write it down in the Log Book and you'll always know if something needs done and when.  I even wrote the needle size change down in my New Maintenance Log Book for future reference.

The Tools of the Trade, our Sergers and Sewing Machines etc.  will serve us much better when well  maintained.  It's worth the Time, even if you'd rather be sewing right away!

And I'll never forget to check if the needle size in the Serger corresponds to the type of fabric I'm using just like I do with the Sewing Machine!

Happy Sewing!



4 comments:

  1. hi there thank you for the tip on changing the needle! What kind of serger (model & make) do you have? I won't even tell you how long I've had mine ok 18 mos. I'm terrified of it...mine is a Singer ProFinish 14CG754

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  2. Hi Regina,
    My Serger is a Janome My Lock634D. She's a Real Oldy, probably at least 20yrs or more.
    I've only had her for just over a year. I wanted a Serger for a long, long,time and last year a Dear Older Friend gave me her Serger since she didn't think she would be using it much anymore. ( she still wants to sew though Thank Goodness!)
    It need a small repair done and so I took the opportunity to quiz the repairman on how good of a Serger this was. "Should I trade it in for something better?" ( my friend said she was fine with it if I chose to do so,a real non strings attached gift)
    The repairman said my Serger was a real little workhorse and I likely would not find any better. Wonderful
    So, go for it and just start using your Serger. The first time you need to thread it is a nightmare but after that you will most likely be at peace with it.
    Happy Serging!

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  3. Hi thanks for getting back to me...sorry I don't know your first name lol Janome is the BEST my primary is a Janome 3160QDC and I love them, when I trade up my dealer gives me 1/2 of what I paid for my trade!! Stay with Janome for sure! Thank you again! Regina

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    Replies
    1. You are so right,Regina. My Sewing Machine is also a Janome. I agree they are Great Machines🙂🙂

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