So this post has been a long time in coming, but I just haven't had a couple of spare hours together to dedicate to the next step in the process before now. So tonight I finally got up the courage and opened up the nifty Serger I got for Christmas.
I immediately regret this decision.
I spent about forty-five minutes reading over the instructions. Since my sewing has largely been self-taught, most of this is absolute gibberish to me. I never learned the terminology. I could have made learning to use this stupid thing take up the entire five weeks of the 20% Project--blankets or no blankets.
Oh look, they have handy dandy CDrom guides! For Windows. Oh wait, I don't even HAVE a drive to put CDs into anymore. (Which is one of the only things that have really, really annoyed me about Apple over the last few years.)
The first problem I had was getting the tension wheel to move. I couldn't tell if it was jammed or if there was some kind of factory lock on it. So, I turned to google. Here is the most helpful suggestion I found on some outdated forum:
And then, as if by magic, it unjammed!
Clear to move on to the next step. Plugging it in. But wait, what's this? DANGER?! The only thing I know about AC and DC is how much they rock my world with Thunderstruck. Which one lives in my living room wall socket? I have no idea. This was not covered in 7th grade Home Ec!
The machine comes pre-threaded, which is nice. The threads they picked coordinate with the colored nobs, and it allows you to see which thread ends up where in your sewing. Each thread has its own tension settings and has to be threaded and adjusted separately. Just to help simplify things, there are also two different needles, and everything is packed in so tightly that they actually give you a pair of tweezers because your fingers can't fit in there to do the threading.
Using the factory-provided test sample, I try running a little line down the open side. It cut and pierced the fabric, but didn't actually stick.
Obviously, something is not threaded right. I found this instructional Youtube video very helpful for walking through the rethreading steps.
And it worked! Time for test #2.
Holy cow, this thing is fast.
Now, time for a REAL test, I bought this Pokemon fabric for my son at the same time I bought that last round of fabric for my friend's baby. Since I don't have enough thread in the right color to finish off my current blankets, doing something with this seems like a good tester alternative. And actually, the rainbow thread that came from the factory with my serger matches the Pokemon fabric perfectly. So, I decided to whip up a quick pillowcase for his little travel pillow.
So, technically I did not get to the actual blankets this week, but learning how to use this serger is a really important step in achieving my ultimate goal of streamlining the quilt-making process. Based on the pillow case, I have a feeling that this little guy will save me hours over time compared to doing everything on the sewing machine.
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What is a 20% Project?One of the reasons why Google comes up with the most innovative new technologies is because they allow their employees one day a week (or 20% of their paid time) to pursue their own passions: to work on ANY development that they want. Click to set custom HTML Follow Daydree's board 20% Project on Pinterest.
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