After a lot of deliberating, today I finally took the leap to owning my first overlocker!
Even though I do a lot of sewing with jersey fabrics I haven't been sure how much use I would get out of one. I was also worried about how difficult they would be to use so it has taken me a while before finally deciding to go for it. With it being the bank holiday weekend I thought it was a good opportunity to have loads of time to play with it too.
I went to Crafty Sew and So in Leicester because when I had been in their previously they had been really friendly and helpful and supporting local business is really important to me - especially sewing ones. Before buying the machine the shop were really helpful in answering all my questions and showing me how to get started. They also offer a free 20 minute "how to use the overlocker" demonstration which is super useful too!
I did quite a lot of reading about different overlockers before choosing the brother 1034D. Mostly because it isn't very expensive but has a nifty threading mechanism to make it easier to get started - more expensive ones have automatic threaders. It also came with a range of different feet and adjustable feed pressure - two things that I really wanted given the type of sewing I mainly do.
The overlocker comes out of the box with some white thread to try it out with, so after reading the book from cover to cover I thought I'd give it a go with some scrap jersey fabric - wooohoooo it goes so much faster than an ordinary machine!!
For my first project I bought some cheap fabric from the "jersey man" on Leicester market - it's a great place for cheap bits mostly of jersey this piece I bought for £1 and it is enough to make a Megan Nielsen Briar T-shirt - so here goes!
The overlocker produced really neat shoulder seams although I went back to my regular machine to attach the neck band, I might finish the edge of the neck band with overlocking first next time to neaten it up.
Putting the sleeves in was a little tricky as controlling the speed was necessary to stop any puckering and I had to remember to take the pins out far enough in advance.
I trimmed off about 2.5 inches before hemming the t-shirt. I overlocked the raw edge before using a twin needle on my ordinary machine to make a nice neat edge. Excuse the picture as I only had white thread for the overlocker so it looks a bit messy but the finish is really neat!
And finished - my first project on the overlocker!
Just to add - I LOVE this pattern!! I really didn't think I would like the loose fitting T-shirt style but I have made several of them while it has been warm (and now they are even easier with the overlocker). I really like both the long and shorter views and I already have some thicker jersey and knit fabrics to try the longer sleeved version as a jumper.
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