TinaCollins Posted September 20, 2005 Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 Have any of y'all toppers ever pieced quilts with a serger??? I bought a serger last year (No, I haven't even unpacked it from the box yet, let alone learned to use it -big sigh-) just to finish the edges of home decor items and casual jackets and such, but the idea intrigues me. I have a client who is very proficient with hers, and her tops are extremely accurate. The seams are nicely finished, which means that I don't have to chase threads when I quilt them, and home-spun tops are much easier to handle with serged seams. Sooooo, since I am very new to sergers- I was wondering if anyone out there has an opinion to share about the difficulty of keeping accurate seams when piecing by serger??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lottie Posted September 20, 2005 Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 Tina, I've done a number of children's quilts this way, and I must say after 15 or so years of dragging them everywhere, the owners tell me they're still holding up very well. Easy, quick and painless. Accuracy was always 'dead on'. good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaCollins Posted September 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 Charlotte, That's wonderful to hear!! Can you also do accurate curved seams with your serger too??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lottie Posted September 20, 2005 Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 I use to work for Singer and McCall's well, way back when and I designed garment patterns , some specifically for the serger. It can't be beat for any knit fabric, anything with a little stretch is it's forte. But I have done home dec projects and I can remember making an applecore patterened quilt with lot's of small tight curves that turned out very well. Lots of pinning, obviously, and remembering you CAN'T sew over pins with a serger! It makes quick work of most things I've tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuilterSue Posted September 20, 2005 Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 Tina, I haven't pieced a quilt with a serger - I do have one but have only used it once or twice and now I need to learn all over again:o However, I keep hearing that you don't want your customers to piece using a serger because it makes it harder to quilt. I would love to hear from those who have quilted a top that was pieced by a serger. Is this really true or just a fallicy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaCollins Posted September 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 I have quilted several tops pieced with a serger... and I had no problem with the bound seams at all - I was using a size 18 needle (MR4). HOWEVER, (keep in mind, I do NOT know a lot about sergers yet...) I am assuming that it depends on the type of serger stitch used as you have a choice of the stitch type and number of threads?? Maybe my customer uses the minimum (is it 2 or 3??) number of threads in her serger stitched seams?? I wonder if using a size 16 needle, whether you might run into problems if the piecer used a heavy stitch with several serger threads??? HHHMMM??? Good question!!! I would also like to hear some answers to this!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thequiltqueen Posted September 20, 2005 Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 I, too, have quilted a serged top - in flannel no less! No problems at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwelsh Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 I have owned and used sergers for over 15 years so I'll see if I can offer some help here. Sergers are great to use of you are sewing loosely woven or knit fabrics. I have a friend that made a quilt from satin, if she had used a serger to piece it her job would have been much easier! I use the serger to piece backings all the time but I do not use it to do normal piecing. The serger runs at a high speed and you are lining up you your fabrics just ahead of the presser foot - not near the needle. That can make curves difficult to do - espeically small curves. I would never get rid of my serger, I use it for lots of things but I really do not use it forpeicing anything bu difficult fabrics with straight seams. Doesn't mean you can use it for more but you need to PPP using that serger first! Get it out of the box and use it. The serger is more difficult to learn than a swing machine because you are dealing with several tension points, threading, etc. but there are times when the serger is the best tool in your sewing room - just plan on having a learning curve. I seem to remember that several years ago that kaye Woods had a pattern for a charity quilt that was done completely on the serger. It was like a giant log cabin and you sewed the front back and batting all at the same time. If you could find that pattern it would be excellent practice for your serger. Vicki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlene Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 I have quilted several quilts that were pieced with sergers. No problem sewing over the stitching. Quilted like regular sewn seams. The only problem that I would see is if the serger stitches are not balanced real well, when it is loaded on the LA, the seams would pull apart some and you would see the stitching. So, Tina, does this mean that you have learned how to use your serger? For a quick quilt, you can use the serger to do the piecing and quilting as you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaCollins Posted September 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Nope.... sad to say, my serger is still not unpacked from the box it came in <sigh!!> I have absolutely no idea of how to actually use it.... I can only speak from what others have told me. My only experience with serged seams is on the tops I have quilted for others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaCollins Posted September 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Here's an update-- I NOW know how to use a serger!! Carol came to my house to teach me the basics and it is MUCH easier than I thought!!! WooHoo!!:P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carola Posted September 24, 2005 Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 Kudos to Tina!! I drove to Tina's home to show her how to use a serger in exchange for some one-on-one free hand lessons. I definitely got the better of the deal. Besides being an energetic and fun person, Tina is an excellent teacher. She explained the techniques clearly and gave me so many helpful suggestions and ideas and showed me the stitches on her machine and then let me practice with her machine. I learned more than I had hoped to and am excited about using what a I am practing on customer quilts. If you ever get a chance to take a class from Tina take it and you will truly enjoy it. Thanks again Tina! Cheers Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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