The Sewing Place

So glad to be here

Surest1tch

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #15 on: November 02, 2019, 19:48:28 PM »
Hello and welcome from me  :D

Catllar

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #16 on: November 03, 2019, 09:36:10 AM »
Hi and welcome from me too.

Overlockers need to learn who is boss.

 As the girls have said, arm yourself with a cup of tea and lots of patience and learn how to rethread on your terms. Once you've got that skill filed away nothing will faze you. ( A tip I was told for the pulling through technique  is to set all the tensions to 0, lift the presser foot and pull through. The loopers will slide right through but you may have to cut the knots at the needles. Reset tension, lower presser foot and chain off a length.)
If life gives you lemons, add to gin and tonic !

pip

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #17 on: November 03, 2019, 13:50:10 PM »
I've replaced 2 cones the knotting way, and one day, not sure when, I will do it the proper way. The part I was worried about was the last stage in the lower looper where the thread goes to the side of the machine then back, and I couldn't see where it was meant to go through, thinking it was my eyesight. But after watching a fantastic video demo today, I get it! You have to bring the wheel towards you, and then the little green part appears. I've never seen that before on camera, such a clear view.  https://youtu.be/CvIIGxhGQZI So I think I'll be right to do it (one day) :|

mums sewing machine

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #18 on: November 04, 2019, 13:12:50 PM »
Welcome from me too

I’m the same as you with the overlocker. Mine was a secondhand Babylock from a friend of a friend and it’s brilliant. But it came with black threads on. I wanted a different colour on each spool so I could see what did what! But I was (and still am) too scaredy to rethread, so I tied them all on and handcranked them through - worked a treat! But I’m dreading having to rethread for real  :S
xx
No such thing as too much fabric

Helen M

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #19 on: November 04, 2019, 17:35:48 PM »
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.

Agree! Get some good tweezers, some are quite useless I've found. I can honestly say I've never changed threads by tying on the new. Granted I only had a 3 thread Brother with the same underlooper gadget that the 1034D has, maybe I was lucky! I use tweezers for everything to thread the overlocker.
Stash Busting 2024 - Goal: 25 metres
So far:  1.5 metres  ------ Donated : 0 metres
Items decluttered: 55

Lilian

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #20 on: November 04, 2019, 19:56:54 PM »
I'm a bit late to this but welcome from me too  :vintage: :drink:
Willing but not always able :)

Vezelay

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #21 on: November 04, 2019, 22:32:08 PM »
Another late welcome from me. I've just bought a pair of curved surgical forceps which make the whole threading business much easier.

pip

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #22 on: November 06, 2019, 11:22:46 AM »
Thanks for all the replies, tips and welcomes. I'm starting to make some headway now :)

pip

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #23 on: November 08, 2019, 14:06:38 PM »
Another late welcome from me. I've just bought a pair of curved surgical forceps which make the whole threading business much easier.

What a good idea. I'm using 'dental flosser loops', very inexpensive and effective

Renegade Sewist

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #24 on: November 11, 2019, 11:26:12 AM »
More greetings @pip !

I did what someone else mentioned with my serger when I got it. Mine's a Singer and has color coding to show how to thread it. So I changed to matching thread colors so I could really study what each thread was doing.

Only being true to my name here I was brazen. Took a deep breath and cut all the threads and totally unthreaded the machine and started from scratch. I've only done the tie on once and didn't enjoy it so every color change is a complete rethread. I give it a good cleaning and floss out the tension disks while I'm at it.

It helps that Singer has an online, full color photo PDF tutorial on how to thread it. The tiny B&W photos in the manual are worthless.

So show it who's Boss. They're not really scary so long as you keep your fingers away from the blades.

Again, welcome!  :toast:
Hey Bill! Read the manual!  Hehehe.

pip

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #25 on: November 13, 2019, 10:55:17 AM »
Thanks Renegade
Well when I got the machine it was threaded, and I couldn't bear to do that because I just wanted to get some things on it while I could, in case I had problems later (which it did). I was too impatient to do it the wise way! Now it seems like I worried about nothing as I know what to do now and it was in fact quite simple :)

Catllar

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #26 on: November 13, 2019, 17:56:56 PM »
@pip Great to hear you've conquered the beast - nothing really scary about it was there?
If life gives you lemons, add to gin and tonic !

Renegade Sewist

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #27 on: November 14, 2019, 07:05:54 AM »
@pip I think it's a combination of the blades, speed and loudness that scares many people off. That and people you talk to who are terrified of them and try to scare other people.

I wanted to be able to construct garments with it, you know, like the RTW we see that's constructed on a serger. Yet most of the people zI knew only used them to neaten an edge and mostly after sewing the seam. That seemed silly and slow to me. My Fathers wife showed me her serger on a visit and actually laughed at me when I asked about sewing seams with it. "Oh Darlin' these are only used for finishing the edges. You can't sew seams with them." Har de har har.

My suggestion is if you have a library system where you live see if they have any serger related books. I found them a big help in understanding the beast.
Hey Bill! Read the manual!  Hehehe.

pip

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #28 on: November 15, 2019, 02:23:53 AM »
Before I got the serger I thought it was just for giving the seams a professional appearance. Then when I got it and was reading up about it I was pleasantly surprised to find you could do the seams with it. It makes things so much quicker. Mine came already threaded in white cotton, so I was wondering if that would matter on a dark fabric, but it doesn't seem to. I don't think I would want to be changing the colors every time I went from one project to another, or while having a few things on the go at once. I still wonder about that.

toileandtrouble

Re: So glad to be here
« Reply #29 on: November 15, 2019, 05:39:00 AM »
Unless it is a transparent fabric you can get away with any colour, but if I use it for a seam I change the  colour  of the left needle thread.at least in case a tiny bit shows on the right side.  I like to use toning colours if I can, but sometimes in an emergency I go with what I have in the loopers,
Yarn down:  1000g
Fabric down:  29m