Congrats to you!
Susan

Congrats also. Classes are definitely helpful. I have the Viking 936 and love it (also have an older White w/o cover stitch). I'm finding more and more uses for it. "Serger Secrets" is a great book for the basics as well as more creative garments...amazing what the pros can make with their sergers! Good luck and have fun with it.

Mary

Mary, I actually purchased Serger Secrets before I bought the serger, because I thought it would give me some great ideas of just how useful the serger would be - one of the girls (ha, we are both in our 60's) at work is considering a serger and I lent it to her so she could 'take a look'.

I suspect she'll come over and we'll 'play with it' a bit, but getting ready for vacation takes priority (along with work) right now....plus I need to de-clutter the office/sewing room before I can even unpack it!

Carolyn

While you declutter, find storage space for the cone thread and other supplies the serger uses. Right now my extra cone thread is stored in a small cooler next to my serger. I have clutter from last week so I'm cleaning up today as I prefer and work better in a clutter-free workspace.

I would open the box to make sure everything is in the box with nothing damaged before going on vacation and pull the machine manual out to read.

You might want to take your serger manual to read several times--which reads like mud the first time through--while on vacation so you can go to class prepared. Although you have the one book as a general reference, every machine has its operational quirks and procedures that makes each brand a bit different from other brands and why machine manual reading is a necessity.

Hi, Carolyn,

Check out the hot pink square dance dress I made, largely with the serger. It's in the Gallery (click on Gallery at the top of the Sewing Forum). I used a ruffler attachment on my sewing machine to gather the ruffles (I just like it better), but all the ruffle hems are two-thread rolled hems done on the serger with wooly nylon (it automatically expands and fills in the blank spaces on the hems).

I thought of some tips you might be interested in: the dental department at WalMart has some very useful items for the serger seamstress. I bought one of those hinged dental mirrors to see if/when I've got the needles way up where they should be. A curved dental pick-type thing is useful for getting thread into the thread carriers on the serger. Little plastic loops for threading dental floss under peoples' bridges are useful for threading the lower looper eye.

My Viking came with one separate Quick Start sheet of paper (8 1/2 x 11") with the threading protocol on both sides. I took it to Kinko's and had it laminated and kept it handy, especially when I was first becoming familiar with the machine.

Don't be put off about the manual. I have found that the Viking manuals are generally very good. People all learn in different ways and different speeds. Some learn readily by visual, others by touch (tactile), others still by hearing. There's no "one size fits all" of learning style. "Serger Secrets" has really good information on proper stitch formation and what each ideally looks like...this doesn't change from serger brand to serger brand. Also techniques like attaching beadwork, serged zippers, etc. don't vary between brands but are pretty much alike for all types. Another good book is "Creative Serging" with good pictorials and cute ideas (toggle buttons made with a serger is just one).

Buy good quality serger thread (like MaxiLock) on cones...but what I do sometimes is buy one cone to match my fashion fabric, then wind thread from it onto three spools with a gadget called Darr's EZ-Winder (available from nancysnotions.com). The EZ-Winder has a little peg that fits on the sewing machine's bobbin winder, then the EZ-Winder's extra spools go on top of that. That way you can wind many spools from the same large cone of thread. The loopers take the most thread, the needles take less, so you can kind of plan how much to wind on each spool. If you buy an EZ-Winder, tho, check to make sure it's compatible with your sewing machine. I think they have different types for different machines.

Just suggestions...

Happy Serging!!

Mary

I wish this was a 'relaxing, lay around, read and eat bon-bons vacation' but it isn't....If you have heard of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and the various 'trail rides' that preceed the Rodeo, (or you check out the Internet for info on same) we will be on one of the trail rides for a week (no, we don't ride horses - -we are on the 'support' or behind-the-scenes team.) Moving camp (every day), shuffling the riders back to their horse, running errands and helping cook supper for 30-40 people.

I just don't see me having time to read the serger manual (at least uninterrupted!) - I might get a chance to read thru the manual this week, but I'm not unpacking that baby until I clean up in here.

Carolyn

I don't blame you...sounds like you've got plenty on your plate, so to speak, right now! The serger will wait til you've got time to sit down with it. BTW, my boss's daughter does high school rodeo here in FL and expects to have a full college scholarship from it (she's very good).

Mary