Serger

I have secretly wanted a serger for a very long time. Even when my kids were very young I wanted one so I could have professional looking seams with finished edges. But that desire was never fulfilled. Just a year or so ago - JoAnn's had a serger on sale for $200 - half off the original price. I drove over and looked it over and almost got it (for an early birthday or Christmas gift). But when it came time to take it to the counter and plunk down that much money, I just couldn't make myself do it. I left empty handed.

I unexpectedly turned into the Goodwill store last week for no apparent reason. I had told a lady in the ward that I would keep my eyes opened for a used scout uniform. I figured I would stop and give a look for a uniform shirt. But that's not all I looked for. I always wander around the housewares - hoping to find an old large pressure cooker/canner in great condition. Right! That'll never happen. But anyway back I went to take a peek.

And my eyes spied some court stenographer machines. I opened the case and took a look at the machines. They were pretty cool. Then when I closed the case I saw something curious. It was a small sewing machine - pretty tiny really. But I inspected it and realized it was a Baby Lock serging machine. It had pieces of red thread in it - so as to show the proper threading sequences. The owners instruction manual was folded and tucked into the top handle (bonus). There was also a cord and foot pedal attached. Wow - complete package. The price was $14.99. There was a sign taped to the serger in a very visible area that said, "This item sold as-is - repairs may be necessary." Oh oh - that is not a good sign. But for $15 - I think I could at least clean it up and if it doesn't work and/or costs too much to repair I could probably get that much out of it on Craig's list. Maybe. It was worth the chance. So I bought the Baby Lock 3 - 426 serging machine. (Man that thing was heavy!!)

I brought my treasure home and parked it in the living room until I had time to work on it. I told Doug about my purchase and about the possibilities. He was probably thinking, "Oh boy - what was she thinking?!!"

Here is the machine - just as I bought it.

So eventually I opened the doors on the machine and figured out how to take some pieces off and began cleaning it. The machine itself wasn't too bad but there was a "plate" underneath that was coated with dried dark liquid. I noted that there were several holes on top for oiling the serger. So I figured the "plate" was probably coated with years of excess oil drippage. I wiped and scraped - scrubbed and polished. All of this was done through very small openings. I used q-tips for some of the reaching. It was hard work and took quite a while but at last I had it as clean as it was going to get.

I let it sit for another few days and finally got up my nerve to take it down the hall and thread the machine and plug it in and give it a try. But first I gave it a careful oiling. The serger is missing the elevated thread stand - it should hold 3 spools of thread. But I decided I could use the one on my hemstitching machine but just taking those spools off and putting on new ones for the serger. Bright idea! I carefully followed the threading instructions: through A, under B, past C, around D, etc. But there was a very tricky last two places. I couldn't see it well. I couldn't reach it well. I was getting frustrated. I got some stronger reading glasses and a head-mounted light to try again. When that didn't work at all I had a flash of inspiration. Somehow I thought about tying the new thread onto the red threads that were left threaded in the machine. I got excited - tried it. And Voila! Success!

Now I had everything ready for a trial run. I plugged in the serger and got some scrap material ready. OK - press on the foot pedal. Wait for it (was it going to be a huge bust?) But wait I heard a faint humming. Yes there was power and the machine was responding. The needle began to move up and down. No grinding, or popping. No needle rubbing or bunching of stitches. The machine was actually working. It was working really well. I even moved the material over to see if the material cutter worked as well. It did. So success! No - HUGE SUCCESS!!!

Here is a video of the first sewing on my new serger.

I just saved myself at least ( let me see . . . ummm $200 - $14.99 = $185.01) $185.01 dollars - and I didn't pay any additional taxes.

So in the end it looks like my impulse purchase of the serger

was as Martha Stewart says,

"It's a good thing."