Book review: First time sewing with a serger: the absolute beginner's guide

This is the second of two books that Quarto sent unsolicited for me to review.

I have found I quite enjoy reviewing books, and will be doing another one next Wednesday.

Books are pricey. So I think it is worthwhile to read a bit more about the contents before you invest. I hope I was able to do that for David Coffin's book, that has a very clear and specific focus on custom shirt fitting, - a person would know right away if that was something they are interested in or not.

This next book has been very clear to set expectations about its content. 

First time sewing with a serger: the absolute beginner's guide makes it clear that this its audience is very specifically those who are staring at their new serger in the box (or the older serger still in the box - I still run into those ladies in my sewing travels) and not a clue what to do with it.

When I first started reading this book my mind went immediately to one of my sisters, Dawn. 

Now Dawn is an amazing quilter. She churns out quilts and wall hangings for the whole family that are completely faultless. 

I mean this. 

I couldn't do what she does, and don't.

Once many decades ago we decided to collaborate on an anniversary quilt for our parents. We were each supposed to make half the blocks. Dawn was going to put it all together and quilt it.

I made my blocks and sent them off.

Dawn mailed them back.

"You do know what a 1/4" is don't you?"

What?

This was me measuring.

With my most accurate and well-used measuring tools and that would be my own eyeballs.

I can do 5/8" in the dark.

Again I digress.

I am fairly certain, and she can back me up on this, that Dawn has been making the same New Year's resolution for a fair number of years now. 

That resolution would be to finally get over her fear of sewing with knits, and maybe even do something other than seam finishing on her serger.

Sure enough I got the annual text again this year.

My sister was about to embark on a T-shirt, but that facing something this scary in itself she was going to do it on her sewing machine, because she really doesn't trust her serger.

The operative word here is trust but what she really meant is that she doesn't really understand her serger, understanding of course being different than trusting.

When I go home this is a book I am going to send her.

Before I get into specifics I have to say in general I am not a fan of most how-to serge books. Maybe I am jaded by the rash of them that got published in the '90s in all their decorative thread glory. Outfit after outfit edged with metallic serving. Miles and miles of it.

I even got myself mixed up in the enthusiasm for a bit. Made a vest made of woven strips of decoratively serger edged strips.

I wore it once. Outside of the sewing workshop it didn't have quite the same allure. In fact I distinctly remember thinking "what the hell do I have on my body" before taking it off in the car.

To me that's what most serging books tell you - that you would look great with exposed lame serged edges on every thing.

Those books of that time also didn't tell you too much about sergers, just that they could do it.

This book is a totally different creature.

The explanation of what's going on in a serger, and the wonderful explanation of how it is different than a sewing machine, clear throughout the book, is just what people like my sister need.

Once you understand the mechanics of a serger the rest sort of becomes more manageable.

There is also a brilliant section on tension (I always say for the sewing community nothing causes tension like tension) and a very empowering explanation of why tension needs to be confidently adjusted and readjusted for variations in stitch length, stitch width, foot pressure, and differential feed.

It's all so clear and makes so much sense. 

The trouble shooting tips are terrific and would pretty much answer all the numerous "my stitch looks like this, what am I doing wrong?" posts that populate my Facebook feed every morning. 

And you have to love a section with the header "getting the hang of it."

There are of course projects too at the end of the book, which are useful to those who feel now they get their serger but what are they going to do with it.

Most of these projects are very practical, like a knit tunic up-cycled out of a knit dress, and a tiered broomstick skirt that shows how a serger can gather, one of my favourite functions.

The authors are both Singer related and their facility with a variety of serger products shows. 

Clearly they are able to comfortably talk about different features on different products. This is useful and helpful to a new serging person for example who needs to know that the stitch finger can be located in different places in different machines.

This great familiarity with the range of products however might have lead to the one weakness of the book, particularly given the intended readership serging novices.

There is a bit too much assumption that everyone appreciates that there is more than one kind of serger. You know this in the business, might not be true if you operate outside of it.

An explanation of the different types of sergers available, illustrated, would have been so useful.

Many new serger owners, or prospective buyers, have no idea of what the different capabilities of different machines might be, and what they actually need, or even what they have actually bought.

Many people purchase sergers without this information. Many first sergers are bought second-hand.

The difference between a 3-thread only, a 3/4 thread, a 2/3/4, a 2/3/4/5 thread and of course a cover stitch machine (two or three needles too), which may be a function of a combo machine, or a dedicated stand alone machine needs to be more fully explained.

To simply list the different stitches (the cover hem and chain stitches are listed as something some 5 thread machines can do - confusing as this can be done on both stand alone and combo machines) all together as serging stitches is strictly true but to my mind still confusing. This just might mystify some sew serger owners. I can see some folks looking to for the cover hem stitch on their 3/4 thread, or not understanding that the cover hem only machine they see on eBay can't sew seams.

I think picturing the stitches possible under the different classes of machines would have been really useful.

I might be over thinking this, but listen I have my sister to consider. I will still send her this book but will explain that part myself I think.

This one issue apart, I think this is still among the best serger orientation books I have seen out there. 

A frustrated new serger owner would most certainly find the solution to any issue that I could anticipate, and that is worth so much.