Don't Be Afraid of Your Serger

Perhaps my relationship with my serger will offer some insight to someone else: I bought mine a few months ago, and until last week, it served as a stylish metal sculpture, decorating my sewing room table. Because I wanted to move forward with my doll clothes design business, I didn't want to take the time to learn my serger; so there it sat.

I have spent so much time trying to make the inside of my garments pretty with my regular sewing machine. I simply don't want my name attached to something sloppy.

After bumping "learn serger" from my TO DO list several times, I made a commitment to be mature about this wonderful machine that I'd yearned for. When I read the threading directions, I fell asleep. Fortunately, my Brother 1034D came with two instructional videos. I was serious about learning, so I turned off the TV and my iPod. I closed my window shades and put my telephones in another room. No distractions.

But what happened? While watching the video on learning to thread, I kept nodding off.
B-O-R-I-N-G. Geez, this was painful.

Fortunately, I'm a resourceful person, especially when it comes to getting sidetracked and goofing off. I thought I'd do better with sewing lessons. If I could find a real person, a warm body, demonstrating how to thread the machine and watching me thread the machine, I'd have better luck. Unfortunately, I found no sewing classes in town or even nearby. We have a Michael's. No Joann's. I found a local woman who teaches children how to sew. I sent her an email, asking her if she taught serging. Or did she have any recommendations for me?

No response. The good news is that once I get the serger figured out, there is probably a demand for a local sewing (and serging) instructor, if my doll clothes pattern business doesn't fly.

Finally, some light at the end of the tunnel: I went to YouTube, looking for better instructions, and I found a woman who posts as "ArtistKae," with updated instructions for the Brother 1034D. While listening to her describe her relationship with her serger, I realized that my "sergerphobia" was common indeed. She had also been frustrated with the Brother instruction booklet. After watching her video, I realized that I was only confused about one small part of the procedure, and she cleared up the fuzziness for me.

If you are having trouble threading your serger, I suggest searching the internet, especially YouTube, to find up-to-date instructions on your exact serger model. Then consider these thoughts:

1. The serger uses two needles and two loopers. The thread from the loopers is not part of the actual seam. These two spools stitch the outside of the seam. Understanding how the machine actually works helps to make sense out of threading it.

2. Most of the actual threading is easy. Only one of the loopers is confusing, and it's only one of the steps of that particular looper that creates confusion. In other words, out of 30 or so threading steps, only one step is confusing.

3. The looper compartment is difficult to see for someone with old lady vision. Once I realized that my vision was contributing to the "fuzziness" of my brain, I looked at the compartment through a magnified class to get a clear view of what ArtistKae was describing. Once I got a clear view, I didn't need the magnifying glass.

4. Threading a serger is awkward. I have two left hands while threading my machine (apologies to my two sisters who are "lefties"). Pulling the thread through the needles and loopers feels especially strange during the last step. All threads must flow in the same direction, underneath the feed dog to the left. Long tweezers are helpful here.

5. Last of all, you can put pedal to the metal and off you go, even if there's no fabric between the presser foot and the feed dog. The serger doesn't tangle like a regular sewing machine with a bobbin.

Here's my first attampt at stitching. Kinda pretty, isn't it?

But I still need to make adjustments. This stitch is a bit wide. I ordered a book that will help me adjust the tension nobs, and the width and lengths of the stitches. I'm determined to MASTER this machine. My goal is to be able to actually sew several doll garments in one afternoon so that I can spend my time designing clothes. (To be continued....)

Finishing Doll Clothes Seams

My long-term goal is to design doll clothes and sell digital patterns. I decided to reacquaint myself with sewing doll clothes first. This blog is about this process. I learned to sew by making doll clothes, but I'd left the world of doll clothes behind until my granddaughter came into my life.

My recent forage into sewing doll clothes has been time well spent. Here are some examples of what I've learned so far:

1. Avoid choosing patterns with set-in sleeves whenever possible. A doll's arm hole is so small that this process is tricky at best, especially if you don't want your sleeves to pucker. Gathered full sleeves are something else all together; they are still a challenge.

2. Avoid working with velvet and other fabrics that can't be ironed, if the pattern is complicated. Ironing seams is usually one of the keys to good sewing.

3. Make sure that a pattern fits the doll--no matter what measurements are on the envelope--by testing the garment at various stages. Make sure to keep the seams at 1/4 inch.

I learned to set in a sleeve of my own clothing when I was 14 years old. No puckers. I also made myself a beautiful velvet dress my senior year of high school. Numbers 1 and 2 above are recommended for those who want quick success without having potential problems.

Here is the biggest challenge--for me. I like the inside of my garments to look neat and finished. To understand this preference, look at the inside of some doll clothes. The quality of doll clothes vary, depending on the manufacturer. American Girl doll clothes are expensive, but the quality is first rate. Some Target and Walmart doll clothes that can look cheap are acceptable for children, but not for someone like me who notices everything and not for someone who wants to sell their finished product.

The above photo shows the inside of two garments. The checked dress by Madame Alexander is finished with a professional machine. The small hem is turned under one time. The polka dot skirt is sewn by moi. In order to get a clean look I turned the hem under twice before I stitched it, which made it bulkier than I prefer.

Giving doll clothes a finished look is a challenge--for me. If I leave the inside seam raw, it will look ugly, and it will ravel. If I zig-zag the seam with my regular machine, the seam puckers. (I have tried various types of zig-zag stitches on my computerized machine.) If I turn the seam under and stitch it, the garment becomes too bulky. And I end up using more than 1/4 inch for my seams. By the way, general clothing patterns have 5/8-inch seams. Doll clothes patterns have 1/4 inch-seams.

My solution: I recently purchased a Serger at a very reasonable price. The Serger will give my seams a beautiful finish, and I'll be able to make tights, pajamas, underwear and garments that stretch. Although the Serger will help to streamline all my future sewing, it can be a complicated, intimidating machine. (More about mastering the serger in my next blog entry.)

Fabric, Color and Model Choice

This skirt and top (Simplicity no. 2296) look like a three-tiered dress. The coordinating pieces were easy to make. I hadn't planned to use trim like the sample on the envelope because I'm generally not a fan of Rick-Rack. Unfortunately, the pieces didn't look right without a trim, so I set this project aside until I found this somewhat unique black trim; it's a bit lacy close up.

My Asian Madame Alexander doll looks stunning in black and any prints that contain black. I generally choose my models with color in mind. For instance, the colors in this print would do nothing for a brunette or red head. Blonde would be okay. But black is awesome.

Love Me Some Polka Dots

This simple skirt is from Simplicity no. 4347. The bulkiness of all the gathers made the waist band of the skirt far too tight. Fortunately, I'd basted the skirt to the band with a loose running thread before permanently joining the two pieces. I was shocked that the fit was tight on both American Girl and Madame Alexander. No problem. I just made a longer waist band.

I added both the white top-stitching and buttons to the pockets before affixing them to the skirt. Then I added the pockets using a slip stitch with black thread.

My dolls need more plain blouses as separates. This top--a different and separate pattern Simplicty no. 2296--was supposed to include short sleeves. When I had difficulty keeping the puckers out of the sleeves, I realized that this particular pattern called for "knits only." I removed the sleeves and finished the arm holes with bias tape.

This is my "Brandi" doll, as she has an uncanny resemblance to my daughter-in-law. She is rocking some black and white saddle shoes with flirty ankle socks. Her rhinestone shades complement her fifties ponytail.

Vintage Fashion in Doll Clothes

I lean toward three periods of time when it comes to costumes or doll clothes:  the forties, fifties and late sixties (early seventies). Since I began sewing in the late fifties, and I made all my clothes in high school, I am well-acquainted with clothing styles from my school years. This blog will eventually show my love for "hippie" clothes. As Susan St. James once remarked in Kate and Allie, "My husband wanted to live like a gypsy; I just wanted to dress like one." Her comment sums up my love for that period of time.

But my favorite fashion is clothing from the forties. I particularly love dresses that are cut on the bias. I am curious to see if this book I just ordered, called Blueprint for Fashion: Home Sewing Patterns of the 1940s, will address the bias cut, and how it came about:



Please note: I only provide links to books that are special to me. The Amazon Associates program provides HTML code for the links that I need. You will not find me selling coffee makers and fertilizer on this blog.

Still a Learning Blog

This blog entry continues the coat story from my last entry. This coat has been an exercise in patience. But hopefully I've learned something that will benefit me.

Many people say they don't have the patience for sewing. My mother taught me how to use a seam ripper almost immediately. A seam ripper makes it possible to remove stitches without ripping the whole seam--usually. A good seamstress must be willing to remove stitches and start again. A good seamstress should try to make something out of a big mess when necessary.

I decided to line the red velvet coat pictured in the previous blog. Lining a doll coat is on the silly side; who cares if the coat is lined? Certainly the doll doesn't. Certainly my five-year-old granddaughter doesn't. My idea was to have Christmas outfits for all my 18-inch dolls, and I could eventually sell the coat on eBay if I wanted to trade the time I spent for a few dollars.

Once I found a shade of red or maroon that slightly matched the red velvet, I put together the lining rather quickly. I used the coat pattern, and whileI began to tack the lining into the inside of the coat, I trimmed the lining to fit the inside. I thought this was a full proof method that would allow me to make adjustments if needed. Unfortunately, the lining didn't improve the way the velvet hung; it made it worse. See the following photo:

I don't like the way the velvet puckers down the front, and I didn't want to tack the facings to the velvet itself. I'd hoped that the lining would somehow make the inside smoother. But it did not. In addition, the ripple of the side seams might be an odd feature of the velvet, but I think my lining is a bit too long. As I contemplated shortening the lining--after spending way too much time on this coat--I discovered a hole under the arm in the sleeve seam where the fabric had unraveled.

If I do post another photo of this coat, I will have found a safe way to set it on fire without burning down my house.

My doll clothes pattern business is off to a slow start. I hope I've learned something from this time-consuming experiment:

1. Don't work with velvet unless the pattern is very simple;
2. Keep set-in sleeves--when working with small armholes--to a minimum.
3. Keep patterns simple in general--at least until I develop some kind of rhythm in my sewing and work habits.

I promise to feature some doll clothes worth sharing very soon.