Serger Secrets: High-Fashion Techniques for Creating Great-Looking Clothes
All books in the category Sergers
by: Mary Griffin, Pam Hastings, Agnes Mercik, Linda Lee Vivian, Barbara Weiland
Topics include: heirloom serging, upper looper, flatlocked zipper, looper thread, upper knife, looper side, serger secret, puffing strip, liquid seam sealant, couching material, rolled edge chain, stitch finger, needle thread shows, serger techniques, lower looper, differential feed, heirloom fabric, flatlock stitch, rolled edge stitch, heirloom techniques, heirloom garment, looper tension, serger trim, zipper coil, stitch width
Book Description:
From pintucking and piping to quilting, shirring, and inserting a zipper-- this book has the step-by-step instructions and detailed photographs sewers need to get the most from their sergers.
Reviews:
The introductory section includes pages and pages of charts on threads, stitches, needles and special use stitches. All include clear photographs, careful descriptions and appropriate uses. The photographs of current machines get right IN there better than you can right in front of your own machine. To whet your appetite for decorative serging there follows a photo gallery of dozens of gorgeous garments serged with techniques explained in the encyclopedic section. The encylopedic section covers just about every decorative serger technique conceivable plus some. There are twenty-one pages on heirloom sewing alone and seven different decorative uses for flatlocking. Each entry provides the details on machine settings, feet, fabric, threads and notions. The detail is summarized for each in a sidebar; the accompanying text goes into more detail and the photographs are actually helpful. The five authors of this book have produced some absolutely gorgeous wearable art - that is actually wearable. Agnes Mercik's bomber jackets will have you all running to the fabric stores to get your own jackets started. Linda Lee Vivian and Mary Griffin's heirloom sewing make make me give up Victoria's Secret - I'll do my own lingerie now thank you. Ok so there are some 'goofyisms' in the text -- probably the editorial team should have made sure the whole thing was reviewed by at least one of the five authors. For example, the caption under one photograph of the guts of a five thread machine (I happen to own the same model) states that all three loopers are never threaded at the same time. Oops. Of course they are -- you don't get a five thread stitch otherwise. Just as in "Sewing Secrets from the Fashion Industry" you chalk some stuff off as endearing oversights. ("Sewing Secrets" advocates trimming most seam allowances BEFORE sewing. And how, one asks, would one do any fitting adjustments then?)
There are two drawbacks to this book: a substantial amount of decorative stitching described is not available on the average serger. In fact, one of the more attractive decorative stitches in the book was for a Bernina serger that wasn't yet on the market at the time of publication. There are a lot of creative suggestions anyone can use, but you may feel "left-out" because much is geared to coverlockers that also do chainstitching and a lot of the decorative work is chainstitch-based. After reading it, I felt like I needed a new serger and the one I have is less than a year old! Second, the "Garment Gallery" is too long, my opinion. The seamstresses are rightly proud of their work, but it was more than I wanted to see.
Possibly the best creative serging guide book ever. We like the serged toggle buttons, flatlocked zipper, chain stiched details, serged French seam and the keyhole back placket serging guide. Clothes have never looked better! As for the machine, authors have suggestions on how to adapt sergers with fewer stitches. We bought our serger machine used and factory serviced--it was a much better buy than paying the same money for a new machine with fewer options.