There is some really good advice on using a coverstitch here
NB. The Elna Easycover is identical to the Janome the author uses
 

After much online research, my neighbour bought a Necchi overlocker advertised, I believe, as 'easy to thread'.She did manage to get it threaded after about 3 hours and a nervous breakdown but the tension wasn't looking right so I went to have a look at it with her. 
I sorted out a couple of minor things and it was working ok until a looper thread broke and I went to rethread the loopers.
What a bastard!  The manual just has a smallish diagram with no step by step and there is a coloured thread path diagram in the front of the machine.  Nowhere does it tell you how to get to the lower looper which has a hook at the back that the thread needs to go into - it doesn't tell you that anywhere but my neighbour had discovered the hook via you tube in her 3 hour threading marathon.  I discovered that the hook on the back of the looper could be accessed reasonably easily by taking off the end piece of the machine and turning the handwheel until the looper was at its far left position (why couldn't it have mentioned that in the manual?)  The handwheel then needs to be turned again to take the looper to its far right position but it is nigh on impossible to get the thread end back through from the left side of the machine.  I ended up doing it by threading it into a needle and carefully poking the needle through and catching the end with tweezers.  For some reason the machine also has a hulking great bit of metal on the top alongside the foot which makes it extremely difficult to get the threads to the back of the machine to get them under the foot.
Once threaded it ran quietly but didn't go for long without a thread breaking so it would appear to be picky about thread.

I think the long and the short of it (my opinion) is don't touch Necchi with a bargepole.

The Lining Company Not cheap lining fabric but excellent quality, very fast delivery and free samples.

Somebody asked rcently (but I can't find the post) if there is a supplier that does printed jersey cheaper than Art Gallery.

I have jusut found some very nice looking cotton / stretch jersey on the Stof and Stil website It's not particularly cheap but is not as expensive as Art Gallery.  As a service to fellow members I have ordered some as market research.   You cant have the pink rabbit one as I have ordered the last bit.

I spent a fair part of yesterday, on and off, FMQing and whizzing up and down a ruler without any problems (apart from my lack of skill).  By the time I got to do a sample block things were going quite swimmingly so today I went and got some thread to do the actual quilt.
I got YLI cotton quilting thread (40 weight) which I have used for most of the quilting things I have previously done including a bit of FMQ.

The machine was still set up exactly as yesterday (ruler foot on, feed dogs down, stitch length 0) so I threaded up with my new thread and stitched a bit on a sample.  To start it was skipping a lot of stitches then when I was going sideways it wasn't picking up the bobbin thread at all.
In brief, I have rethreaded my machine numerous times, used a different bobbin, taken half the thread off a bobbin in case it was too full, and used the top thread reel vertically and horizontally, tried with the feed dogs up, tried with the feed dogs down, but am getting no stitches forming.  I can bring the bobbin thread to the top ok but thereafter it just won't pick up the bottom thread at all or at best about one in 10.

I went back to the thread and bobbin that I used yesterday - same weight thread (40) but polyester, not cotton.  It stitched perfectly.  Went back to the cotton thread - nothing.  I tried other cotton threads that I had previously used with no problem - nothing.  I took off the ruler foot and put on the 1/4" foot - perfect stitching!

As it was stitching ok with a standard straight stitch I thought I would at least do the stitching in the ditch along the sashing strips.  After 6 rows of stitching I noticed a couple of loops on the top of one of the rows.  I looked at the back and the last 3 of the 6 rows had a tight bottom thread and a loopy top thread.  I checked the threading and nothing had jumped out.  The bobbin was nearly empty so I changed the bobbin and it is stitching perfectly again.

I just can't fathom why it will stitch fine with a normal foot but won't with the ruler foot (but will with the polyester thread).  My machine (Pfaff Ambition) has never, ever been picky about thread.  Of course it might just do something completely different tomorrow.

Any clues anybody?  I'm tearing my hair out here!

Those of you who make for littlies may be interested to know that StyleArc have just started to do childrens' patterns

I don't do ironing - max one or two garments but I always have the iron switched on when I'm sewing (sometimes for days if I forget it  )

I have a cheapy supermarket Tefal iron which is ok for sewing purposes but as my space is a bit restricted it frequently takes a dive on to the floor when the cord gets snagged.  I've never thought about a cordless iron until I noticed my mum's ancient Phillips one yesterday, in fact I don't think I knew of their existence.  Reviews seem to be very mixed.  Do any of you have experience of one or a recommendation on what is best to have and best to avoid.