It was NOT "Operator Error!"

Ever since I've taken my Babylock serger out of the box, I've had this feeling that I've been missing a guide or not threading it right. My stitches looked good, but I thought they could look better.

Today I had my "How-to-use-your-machine" serger class, and the instructor noted my samples were slightly different than everyone else's. She thought it was a tension issue. The owner was kind enough to test my machine and concluded it did have an issue. He took it right back to their top-notch service guy and...It was off by one whole turn! Which, according to the owner, is a lot. Boy am I ever glad I took the class today. My schedule is very busy, and I was thinking about waiting until December.

So, no. I'm not missing any thread guides. It wasn't "operator error." It was an issue with the adjustments done at the factory. Maybe tonight I can finish two more pairs of panties that are half done.

I have to edit this post. I will admit, rather embarrassingly, that I had an on/off problem with seams coming out differently. I'd sew a seam, and it was fine. Next seam would be all wonky. Today I figured out why. I was forgetting to put my presser foot down! Can you believe it? Rarely do I lift my presser foot up on the serger, but working with the different feet I was lifting the lever up and down a lot. The foot on the serger looks like it's all the way down, but it wasn't. It's not like a sewing machine where you can easily tell if the foot is up or down. On my Babylock, it looks like it's down all the time. So there you go. There WAS an operator error. I forgot about that. Probably because it's a silly, embarrassing mistake for an experienced sewer.

A Panty Party

I was itching to make some panties yesterday because I HAD to use my serger elastic foot! I cut two out of some Jumbo Spandex I had in my stash, likely purchased from either Spandex House or Spandex World. Don't know where my stretch lace came from, but the plush elastic was from Sew Sassy. Here they are:








As for the cotton crotch lining, do you know what I do for that? I take an old, 100% cotton, white t-shirt, find some nice areas, and cut the crotch lining from it. It would be great to stock up on colorful, 100% cotton t-shirts from ACMoore, but my preference is a white crotch lining due to dyes. I know, I know, black would look so much better, but you just don't see that when they're on.

I love them! They're a great fit, although the green/black ones are more like Spanx lol. I cut the pattern pieces on the crosswise grain, not the lengthwise--operator error. I wasn't paying attention and was trying to watch Harry Potter while cutting out the two pairs. Also, Jumbo Spandex is not my preference for panty fabric. It runs on the thick side, but when there is so much in the stash and you want to whip up panties using an elastic foot, you just use it.

Speaking of which, the elastic foot is WONDERFUL!!! No more measuring for a 3/4 ratio of elastic length. The elastic is fed into the foot, insert the fabric underneath, and start stitching! It stretches the elastic for a snug fit. I used a flat construction method to avoid stitching in the round because I was using the serger. Panty construction takes about 1/3 the time than what it would with a conventional machine, and most of the time savings is due to that awesome elastic foot.

I can only imagine how wonderful it would be on a bra. I think the green/black panties need a matching bra, don't you think?

Help Wanted! Flatlocking on BL Imagine.

(I posted this on PR but am going to link back to my blog because of errors when trying to link from Photobucket to PR.)

I just got my new Babylock Imagine and have playing with it the past two days. All the stitches were beautiful except for the 2-thread Flatlock, both seaming and decorative. I'm using white serger thread in the needle and Decorator 6 and Wooly Nylon thread in the looper.

Although I will try the flatlock again with serger thread in both the needle and looper. If it looks good, then I'm thinking some adjusting might need to be done with the screw. I thought I ask for tips and tricks first, however, before doing that from Imagine owners.

Here are pics of what it looks like. The top is the purple wooly nylon, the bottom green is Decorator 6. The ladder stitches on the needle side are beautiful, but the opposite side is not. The needle thread is being pulled too much to the other side.


Any tips for using decorative thread in the BL Imagine serger would be greatly appreciated!

***ETA*** I will hang my head low in shame. I found out in my how-to-use-your-new-machine BL class that I was forgetting to put my foot down, no pun intended. This is a no-brainer, of course, but on my BL I couldn't tell that the foot was up like a sewing machine. The foot appears so close either way. I usually don't raise the foot on a serger, but was doing so a lot because of the thickness of my fabrics, then I was forgetting to put it down lol. How dumb is that?!?! Anyway...this has solved my stitch problem.

Another issue the instructor noticed that my stitches were "off". They weren't like everyone else's in the class. She had the super tech at the store check it out before I left and it was off by a whole turn which is quite a lot according to the owner. Yes, it was a brand new machine right from the box, so someone wasn't paying attention at the factory.

Everything is good now :) .