The Sewing Place

Reception => Hi, I'm new... => Topic started by: pip on November 02, 2019, 01:48:08 AM

Title: So glad to be here
Post by: pip 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: wrenkins 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Ploshkin 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: snoozi soozi 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:
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: toileandtrouble 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Nevis5 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
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Greybird 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: BrendaP 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Bodgeitandscarper 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Greybird 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Ohsewsimple 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. 
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Kenora 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. :)
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: pip 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.                 
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Tamnymore 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Ohsewsimple 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. 
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Surest1tch on November 02, 2019, 19:48:28 PM
Hello and welcome from me  :D
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Catllar 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.)
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: pip 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) :|
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: mums sewing machine 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
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Helen M 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Lilian on November 04, 2019, 19:56:54 PM
I'm a bit late to this but welcome from me too  :vintage: :drink:
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Vezelay 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: pip on November 06, 2019, 11:22:46 AM
Thanks for all the replies, tips and welcomes. I'm starting to make some headway now :)
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: pip 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
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Renegade Sewist 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:
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: pip 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 :)
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Catllar on November 13, 2019, 17:56:56 PM
@pip Great to hear you've conquered the beast - nothing really scary about it was there?
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Renegade Sewist 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: pip 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.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: toileandtrouble 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,
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Greybird on November 15, 2019, 09:17:27 AM
I find that dark grey will do for black, navy, brown, dark green or grey fabrics, whereas cream will do for most lighter colours. I don't use light on dark colours or dark on light. Wherever possible I line the jobs up according to the colour I already have threaded.


Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: pip on November 15, 2019, 13:19:53 PM
Those are good ideas thanks Toile and Greybird. I didn't realize I could just change the thread on one of the needles.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Renegade Sewist on November 15, 2019, 22:10:51 PM
One of the serger books that I ultimately bought after getting it from the library several times talked about getting colors that blend with what you sew. I seldom sew on white fabric or white backgrounds. They suggested a sort of dark rose/mauve tone, a grey and a dark navy as working with most fabrics. If you're sewing the seams and worry about show you can just use regular thread in the needles on that garment.

Some people are fanatic about an exact match of thread to fabric. I have been known to intentionally use something that contrasts. With the serger I might sew a black garment with black in the needles and red or gold in the loopers.

I have about 6-8 sets of thread and several are unopened, like white. Mostly I've used black, red, medium grey and a cream/off white on really light fabric, as those are what best suit my fabric colors.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Sara-S on November 18, 2019, 22:01:24 PM
Hi and welcome @pip !  I don’t know a thing about overlockers but I do know what it’s Ike to try to grab thread ends that are short or hard to see. My favorite tool for this is a pair of hemostat pliers.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Marniesews on November 19, 2019, 00:58:00 AM
I thought I'd already said hello...but apparently not so I'll say it now  0_0 and offer a little info on the question of thread colours. This blog .article and video makes some good points but I tend to succumb to 4 matching threads in quite a few colours. It's partly because I can get decent (but not expensive) overlocker thread locally on both big cones and smaller cops so I have a mix depending on what I gauge as its likely popularity.

Grey, rose and ivory are often quoted as the most adaptable colours across a wide array of fabrics and this image (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bb/37/66/bb3766e9ff4244a5ce8fa32dfe5cbbf3.jpg) demonstrates that well.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: Renegade Sewist on November 19, 2019, 03:10:13 AM
@Marniesews , that photo's from the book I have that I was referencing. Then another one said for blacks and most deeper blues a navy was good.

It really works to blend them. For you though, IIRC, as you do sewing for others I would do as you do and match the threads. It's only on things for myself that I get to indulge in other colors.
Title: Re: So glad to be here
Post by: toileandtrouble on November 19, 2019, 18:53:34 PM
If you sew for others, I would keep a rag bag of offcuts from shortening things.  Then you can test stitches on a similar fabric before you tackle the real stuff.