nycbgirl

My friend told her friend that I sew quillows and she wants two. She wants to trade me a brand new in the box ,never been used or opened, serger for 2 quillows. I like the idea I will do it but I'm not too sure how much I will use the serger. I don't know the brand either. What do you all think?

Greenheron

Hmmm, haven't used a serger since my factory days (30 yrs.ago) but at that time I practiced piecing double knit squares--what we were using at that time. Could have made a nice tied coverlet that way. Today's woven cottons?? :?:

litacats

I love my serger it can be so useful but it would depend on the style of quilt you are making. if it is just squares or strips it would be ok but for more intricate quilts you would need you normal machine

thepolyparrot

I made a toddler quilt in the snowball pattern entirely on my serger. The back of that quilt was the prettiest back I've ever seen. :)

I used to wonder what the heck I would ever do with a serger, but having tried one, I realized that I'd never want to be without one, again. I use it all the time - mostly in garment construction and other sewing, but I always trim my quilts right before I add borders (to very large quilts) or binding to any of them.

One thing to consider about this trade is the ease of use of this particular serger - I had a used Huskylock and a Baby Lock 400 and those were enormously frustrating to thread. The Brother 1034D which I've been using for a couple of years is quieter (though still quite noisy) and I can thread it in just a minute - almost with my eyes closed.

Does the serger have a differential feed? If not, its usefulness is going to be drastically limited. Will it do anything but simple edge finishing? Finding out a little more about this proposed trade would be helpful in deciding what to do.

If the serger is a pain in the neck to thread or switch from narrow rolled hems to flat edge finishing or gathering, you're not going to use it as much as if its easy and quick to set up and put to work.

Good luck! :)

leatheflea

Sewing with nancy has a pattern for one and fons and porter does also. you might check out their websites.

elizajo

I have the Brother 1034D serger, which I use in garment construction. I was a novice at using one when I bought it on the internet. Found it surprisingly very easy to use, especially after watching the enclosed video.

The only thing I use it for in quilting is trimming and overcasting the edge of a quilt before binding. I love this, it keeps the edges tidy, provides a guide for stitching the binding on, and gives a little padding to the finished binding. Differential feed on the serger is necessary to do this, however. The quilt on my bed still has a serged edge because I couldn't find a fabric that was just right for the binding!

I also prepare my ravelly fabrics for prewash by serging the raw edges. I would only do this on homespun or possibly flannels in quilting. Good quilting fabrics don't usually need serging.

katesnanna

Google 6 hour quilts by Kay Wood.These are meant for charity so if you make charity quilts you would certainly get plenty of use from the serger with these. A new unused serger for 2 quillows is a bargain in my book.

amma

I would make this trade :D Sergers are handy for many things. Nancy Zieman (Sewing With Nancy) has made shows using the serger for quilting and many other projects too :D:D:D

mpspeedy

Sound like a great deal to me. I use my serger to make Linus quilts. I make them envelope style and use the serger to make the intial envelope. I then Machine quilt them on my regular sewing machine. I love my serger. While I don't do a lot of garment making anymore I use it when mending etc. Even if it turns out to not be a real nice one you could trade it in on a better one at a local dealer. I have a Bernina 1150MDA and it is easy to thread.

JanetM

I think this would be a good trade. Yes, you can make a quilt top with a serger. I made the quilt in the center on a serger at Eleanor Burn's Quilting Academy event in March of this year.

I really was doubtful about the the points matching up well, since we were using a serger. Surprisingly, the points matched perfectly.