Quilters! Gather around. Let's talk about sergers for a few minutes. Yes, you heard that right, sergers. I had been quilting for 2 years when a serger came into my life. I had zero clue what a serger was, I had even less clue on what I could use it for.
Sergers are this magical machine which wraps the edge of fabric with 2, 3 or 4 threads and can cut and sew all at the same time. 2 things at once! See magic! We often hear about sergers being used for garment making and you may be thinking to yourself "I have zero interest in making my own clothes so why is Amanda bothering me with this? I just want to make quilts!?" Stick with me here, sergers are a game changer for your quilting and I'm going to tell you why.
- Speed.
What is the quickest quilt you have ever made? I've made a throw in a day once and I'm still surprised I managed that. Imagine being able to cut a quilt, piece it and bind it and that's it, no basting and no quilting. This "quilt as you go (QAYG)" technique is the quickest way to make a quilt that will hold up to the test of time and look amazing! Mini sandwiches of backing, batting and top fabric are serged together with the seams exposed on one side. This exposed seam is beautifully finished and the seam secure because of the 4 threads of the serger used. The knife blade trimmed off the excess batting and fabric as the seam was created, so everything is neatly finished. Sew fast and simple!
2. Reduced time clipping stray threads.
When we're ready to sandwich our quilt layers together, we often spend time cleaning up any loose threads on the back of our quilt top so those stray threads don't shadow through lighter fabrics. Or if you are like me, you pretend you don't need to do this and then realize too late that a red thread is now quilted under a white patch and you will be forever reminded of your laziness for years to come. When using a seger to piece a quilt there are a few areas that reduce the possibility of this happening to your quilt top. Since the serger wraps each seam allowance with threads and trims away the excess "pokies" or "whiskers" of the raw fabric edge, you are less likely to have issues with any fabrics which may fray which reduces stray threads. When it's time to take the rows you pieced to assemble them into a quilt top, you don't have clip your stray threads. As you put the rows together your serger will do the clipping for you! Magic!
3. Precision for borders.
Borders can be tricky. When working on larger quilts it is often hard to make sure you attach your borders evenly. If you serge the edge of the quilt and the edge of the border fabric before sewing together, the edges are more stable and you're less likely to stretch either too much to achieve a better fit.
4. Edge reinforcement.
You won't want to piece every quilt on your serger but there may be times where you may want to use your serger periodically throughout the quilt making process. Some blocks or even whole quilt tops have a lot of seams on the outside edge. Not only does that mean there is more potential for those seams to pull apart but there are also probably threads along the edge you need to trim. When you serge around these blocks, you are trimming those threads and securing these seams so they won't pull apart during assembly or while quilting. This is especially important if you're sending your quilt top to a longarm quilter for them to finish for you. They will love you for securing those outer edge seams!
5. Top notch binding.
You finish a quilt and the binding is the last step. This binding is going to take a lot of wear over the life of a quilt. Using a serger at this point can really help your binding last. By running your quilt top edges through the serger before putting on the binding you secure all the layers together, trim off the extra threads and make a nice consistent edge for wrapping your binding around.
Pink Binding isn't serged and Yellow binding has a serged edge under it. It lays flatter.
Have I convinced you? I hope so! Janome Canada has a large range of sergers with various features and price points. Talk to your local Janome Canada dealer so they can help you find the one that is perfect for you!
Please note: there are no active links in the above photo. Please click on the link above.
Please note, there are no active links in the above photo. Please click on the links above.
Stitch on!
~ AmandaBee
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