The Sewing Place

So glad to be here

pip

So glad to be here
« on: November 02, 2019, 01:48:08 AM »
It seems like such a friendly place, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who isn't an expert! I'm from Australia. I just recently bought a Janome overlocker, which I'm very thrilled with. However it's getting to the stage of needing re threading so I'm slowing down a bit with my sewing, in anticipation of that :o I'm enjoying watching online tutorials and getting simple patterns to make stuff for my grandchildren. Look forward to joining in the discussions.

wrenkins

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #1 on: November 02, 2019, 07:01:22 AM »
Hi @pip and welcome.  :drink: :cake:
I too am new to my overlocker and although I have no problem threading mine I know that some people tie the new threads on and pull them through by sewing on a piece of scrap. I've never tried it and I wonder about knots but apparently it works.
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

Ploshkin

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #2 on: November 02, 2019, 07:45:44 AM »
Welcome pip.  At some point a thread will break on your overlocker and you will have to rethread it so don't get to rely on tying threads on.  Just set aside an hour, arm yourself with the instruction manual, a cup of tea and a torch and work your way through it.  Once you've got it, it will get quicker each time you do it.
Life's too short for ironing.

snoozi soozi

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #3 on: November 02, 2019, 08:07:05 AM »
@pip welcome, hello  :) I don't have or never used an overlocker, they scare me.  But I said that about the sewing machine I'm currently using and now I love it.

Please show us your makes when you've settled in   :loveit:
Let it sew, let it sew, let it sew

toileandtrouble

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #4 on: November 02, 2019, 08:12:38 AM »
The knots go through the loopers, although I find they need a helping hand on a couple of the guides, but you have to cut the knot and rethread the the needles. Might just as welll thread the needles from scratch After the loopers though.
Yarn down:  1000g
Fabric down:  29m

Nevis5

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #5 on: November 02, 2019, 08:45:10 AM »
Hello, @pip  and welcome!  Definitely sit down in a calm mood and spend some time learning how to thread the overlocker.  Seriously, once you have it sussed, it will change your sewing life.  Good luck!  xx

Greybird

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #6 on: November 02, 2019, 08:45:33 AM »
Hello and welcome!

I find that, as long as I do small, very tight knots, most of the time they will go through the needles as well. Mine is a Janome overlocker and it was a Janome lady in John Lewis that told me I could do it.

BrendaP

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #7 on: November 02, 2019, 08:50:26 AM »
Threading an overlocker is fiddly, but it is worth while taking the time to learn how to do it, it has to be done sometimes.  I'm another who knots then pulls the looper threads through but starts afresh with the needle threads.  The thing that makes that awkward is the lack of space to the right of the needles; it needs a pair of tweezers to get where fingers won't.
Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.

Bodgeitandscarper

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #8 on: November 02, 2019, 09:37:28 AM »
Get your instruction book out and follow the threading order, it's really dead simple once you've done it a couple of times.
I'm always changing colours so I can thread mine up with my eyes shut now - well maybe not with my eyes shut!  Tweezers can be very useful for grabbing the thread behind the needles and pulling it through, and even for threading some of the eyes.

Greybird

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #9 on: November 02, 2019, 09:50:25 AM »
My overlocker instruction book is wrong. I once spent 2 days trying to thread mine in the order it says and every time the lower looper thread broke. It took a You Tube video to convince me that you start in the middle and do the upper looper first, then the lower looper, then go back to the middle and do the right hand needle then the left hand needle. I've had no more problems.

Ohsewsimple

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #10 on: November 02, 2019, 10:15:09 AM »
Welcome @pip I’m sure you’ll find lots of info on here. 
When changing threads and tying them on don’t run them through as you do risk breakages.   Could be expensive. 
Just pull them through. 

Kenora

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #11 on: November 02, 2019, 11:42:19 AM »
Welcome from me too @pip . I agree with what's been said about pulling the threads through carefully. I have a Janome overlocker and find it OK to thread, but I'd practice doing it - it does help for the times when the thread breaks unexpectedly. :)
Minding my P's & Q's in Portreath

pip

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #12 on: November 02, 2019, 12:38:53 PM »
Thanks everyone for the welcome, and for the tips re threading. The thing is, the machine came already threaded and                                                              I couldn't bear to try doing it myself yet in case I can't get it.  It'd be so upsetting to be without the machine just when I've started using it and in the middle of things. I will though, one day, definitely, and you will be the first to know! I did get one of the spools threaded today with the tie on method and it was such a relief when it worked. Actually I've studied tutorials on threading the upper looper, the hard one, and I can't even see the hole you have to go through in the last stage 'from the outside in'. Yes I will definitely show some of the little garments I'm making once I've settled in.                 

Tamnymore

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #13 on: November 02, 2019, 14:29:02 PM »
For my overlocker, and maybe for most overlockers, the secret is to thread from right to left (as you face the machine) - so the loopers are threaded before the needles. When I'm changing threads I knot the new thread onto the old and sew it through, one cone at a time, as it were. That usually works fine.
'One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.' Oscar Wilde

Ohsewsimple

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #14 on: November 02, 2019, 14:56:28 PM »
They are all slightly different @Tamnymore in their threading.  However, after demonstrating and teaching countless people over the years to thread them it’s not too big a deal, as long as the needles are threaded last.