Sergers are amazing machines and one of the things we LOVE about the Janome AT2000D is right in the name; Air Threading. A quick flip of a switch and push on the lever and each looper is threaded. If you have ever threaded loopers by hand you will understand what a magical timesaver this is!
But, once you have your serger threaded, what if you want to make some adjustments?
It is easy to become overwhelmed with the dials on your serger as there's many things, many techniques you can do on a serger. We often talk about tension, stitch length and differential feed, but I want to talk to you today about the cutting width, which is an adjustment made with the knife blade.
On the Janome AT2000D, this dial located just in front of the upper knife and it adjusts how close the knife is to the needle plate. This changes how close your cut edge of the fabric is to the needles so it will affect how your stitches look.
Why does this make a difference? As the Upper Looper and Lower Looper threads intersect around the cut edge of the fabric, the cutting width changes how close the loops of thread are to the edge of the fabric. In a perfect world, you would like these loops to sit right along the cut edge. Too close to the edge and it will scrunch your fabric up, too far from the edge and your loops will be sitting off the fabric completely.
If your fabric is scrunched then you may be loosing accuracy in your seam allowance and your seams may roll and be uncomfortable if it is part of a wearable item. Loops that are completely off the fabric can cause issues with snagging and become unraveled if one thread gets cut accidently.
To get the perfect loops you may have to adjust both the cutting width of the blade and the tension of the looper threads. Do not be afraid to adjust both. Writing down or marking settings before adjusting can help you reset everything in case you go way off track.
Why can't we just set a width for this cutting and leave it there forever? All fabrics and techniques are different. I cut the below fabrics at the same cutting width setting but the stitches are different on both. Having the ability to make these adjustments really helps get the best finish on every fabric. You might make a more narrow cutting width on fine, thin fabrics, and a wider cutting width on thicker fabrics, for example.
Top: Cutting Knife Blade is too close
Bottom: Cutting Knife Blade is just right
We would love to teach you more about using your Janome Serger, whatever the model as all Janome sergers have very similar adjustments. Leave a comment below letting us know what questions you have. They could be answered LIVE during one of our Janome HQ Instagram LIVE presentations! Check out more serger tips and tricks on the Janome HQ You Tube channel!
Stitch On!
AmandaBee
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