Do any of you have favorites brands of sergers?
I have borrowed my mom's White, but it is the only one that
I have ever used. I am not in the market right now, but I am curious...
(((((

Janome! (or New Home--same folks)

I have a new babylock that I am in love with. It's the one all the women who work at my sewing store own so I figured that was a good sign! It's air threading and NO TENSION knobs!!! woohoo
Carrie

I LOVE my Bernina. It serges like a dream! I had a Singer before and will never go back!!! Oh, and Juki actually makes my machine (Bernina just sells it).

Sorry, I know I asked about this a while ago, but I can't find the post now. Plus a few of us here have purchased more recent models, so...

1. What make and model serger do you have?
2. Would you recommend it? Why/why not?
3. Does it work well with thicker fabrics? (I work with a lot of hemp canvas type fabric, 3-4 layers, so it would need to do that, as well as thinner fabrics -- am I asking too much??)

I'm :juggle: between getting a used one that needs repair ( :heart: suzanne), saving up a little more and getting a new one (like the Janome 504D everyone's mentioning lately) or just putting off purchasing one for another year or so til I can save up and get one like my MIL's. My MIL has a Babylock Imagine and she and I had a talk this morning. She said that I'll be unhappy with a cheaper model, that they are finicky and need a lot of attention, and that for the amount of sewing I do, I really need to invest in a better model. I tried out the used industrial Jukki serger, and while it would be good for most of the stuff for my biz, I really would like the options of different stitches because I'm doing a lot more personal sewing now.

TIA!

(edited so it makes more sense lol)

I have a 20 year old White 534 that I bought used from a lady I met in Walmart (LOL, yes I talk to EVERYONE, even total strangers). Works fine, no differential feed, no bells & whistles, but it's all metal and I haven't broken it in the 4-5 yrs I've had it (nor has it ever been serviced aside from dh oiling & cleaning it twice).

If/when I upgrade I'll go for the White 2000ATS (or was it 1000ATS?). That one we were talking about a few days ago. Of all the machines I've seen mamas here link to that's the one I actually told DH I wanted some day.

Of course by then there may be a new one out but that's my current choice :)

elna 614
yes, I'd recommend it. sews great, goes through thick items

This is my second elna serger. First one was 15 years old and I used it for 3 years with the biz and it is still sewing for another amity mama. I upgraded because I kept through the timing off. It was just too much usage for an older machine.

Don't get the elna 744 though, it sucks!!!

ok thanks ... I'm gonna cut and paste the responses into my own files so I don't lose this again!

Anyone else? :)

Brother 929d - I think it works fine! Once I finally figured out how to use it, I've had no problems at all. Had it a year I think. Works well on thick fabrics although I think its time for new blades.

Really, it seems like you CAN get a nice machine at a low price and it can be reliable and strong for you.... I think with the babylock - it's nice b/c of the extra features (threading/tensions, etc) but I don't think it's any more reliable.

I also wonder if alot of serger complaints aren't due to operator error (I know mine were).

I have a Simplicity Frontier SL390. It was easy to get to know, handles multiple layers of fairly heavy fabrics, isnt too hard to thread. I think that its a good machine for home sewing and has all the options that I could ask for. I cant see having a huge problem with it anytime in the future and dont see a need to upgrade, at least for quite some time.

I think I paid $232 via ebay.

I have the Babylock Evolve. OMG, that thing does everything I ask it to except keep my coffee/tea warm. Thick fabrics are no problem. Its an amazing piece of machinery. I just wish that the foot was a bit narrower, but it has to be wide to accomodate the coverhem.

Heather

Thanks guys. Anyone else??

I'll add. I borrow my friends Janome mylock (can't remember the number, on of the cheaper ones) when I need a back up serger and it works great. I highly recommend Janome if you don't want to spend much. I think she paid $300 in the store. You could probably get one cheaper on ebay.

Also, she went through 3 brother 929 before demanding her money back from walmart. That thing was a hunk of junk. It would cut (not break) the thread while serging. It had a design flaw (all three!).

had a white 1934d, liked it.
upgraded to a viking 905, then for $50 more to a 910. i'm definately happy with it, but the white really was just fine. if you go for the white, get the 2000ats online rather than the 1934d from JoAnn, unless you're planning on upgrading at some point. i would recommend any of the above, they all handled dipes and soakers and garmet construction quite well. they also did fine with thin stuff (like muslin), but i did have a problem with trying to hem 5mm playsilks. could have been operator error, though...
-sarah

i have a viking huskylock 340d that i just *LOVE*. i got it at the salvation army for $75, serviced for $60 and it was as good as new. i asked the viking dealer if i should buy a newer one and they told me unless i was going to buy the 905 or 910 to keep the one i have cuz it's a reliable machine.

it bit the dust last summer (or so i thought) so i bought a janome harmony from sears for $318 (i bought the 3 year warranty). i like it but i don't love it. i think i was too comfortable with my viking kwim?

i found my viking manual and viola! problems are fixed! so needless to say i have a janome harmony sitting here collecting dust. lol

I have the White 2000ATS and I love it! I've sewed everything from very thick (burly knit terry, layers of hemp french terry in mama pads) to very thin (5mm china silk and single layers of sheer stuff) It's really user friendly...easy to thread too.

It's not *that* much more expensive than others in that price range. I got it at allbrands.com for $369 with free shipping. When I was shopping around the viking lady at joanns said it was almost identical to a viking serger that cost much more...the only difference was the computerized display.

I never have to fiddle with the tension settings...I only adjust them to change stitches. It's very easy to do a rolled hem...no machine surgery needed.

I can't say enough about it. I use it so much in my sewing that I am really glad I spent the little bit extra on it.

:heart:

But I'm sure your MIL told you that. ;) I don't mind changing thread, or to a rolled hem. Tensions are never an issue, either. The only thing I could ask for is a coverstitch...

Originally posted by AnaYoga
She said that I'll be unhappy with a cheaper model, that they are finicky and need a lot of attention, and that for the amount of sewing I do, I really need to invest in a better model.

I mean no disrepect when I say this, but IME your MIL is wrong about this. I've owned 3 sergers, 2 of them high-end models and both of them were HORRIBLE. Were you around to remember the saga of my Elna 744? What a peice of you-know-what. Now I don't have any experience with that Babylock machine, but I know a few here have it and really like it. That said, I think you can find a VERY GOOD machine for less than $300 -- easily. The New Home 104D, 504D or the White 2000ATS come to mind.

HTH!

I have been looking and researching these all week... and I finally drove a few towns over today to 'test' the two I had picked out.

I tried a Janome 504d and a Juki 644D, and I LOVED both of them. They both went through 4layers of HFT with no problem, and they both cut like a charm.
(However, that's my extend of serger knowledge. LOL)

I decided on a Juki though, because I have a Juki walking foot (industrial) and a zig zag machine (industrial) by them, and they are awesome!

My parents are in Alabama this weekend on vacation, and are picking mine up from Easyterms seller as they are in the next town over. LOL
Mom will of course, test drive the one I am buying, before she brings it home.

Cool Jodi! Tabitha (of tootsweet) told me Juki has an awesome cutting mechanism. I *think* she even traded in her pfaff for a juki if I understood her right! Have fun!

I have my choices narrowed down to the White 2000ATS and a Juki. Given my last serger buying experience (cough Elna 744 cough), I NEED to test drive before buying. Sadly, I haven't been able to locate a Juki dealer within 60 miles and I *believe* the 2000ATS is an internet only model. :rolleyes:

Jodi lives in IL - maybe it's not too far from you M?

I :heart: my New Home 104D. Price is right and never a problem.

Tara

Meagan...I got to check out the white 2000ats before buying. JoAnns doesn't carry it *but* if you have a JoAnns near you that has a Viking kiosk they should have it. It was over $500 there though. I tried to get them to haggle on price since it was my birthday present and I had cash and wanted it NOW but they couldn't/wouldn't meet allbrands.com's price

Meagan, if you can wait 3 weeks, you can come test drive mine. :D

I would say come on now, but honestly, I would D-I-E if anyone showed up right now, my house is GROSS.
I will be so happy to get these boxes out of the middle of my floor, and get moved. LOL

Had a high end expensive machine (Bernina) with coverstitch. Didn't like it. Was sad to sell it at the time but in all honesty I'm much happier with the Walmart Brother 1034 (I think that is what it is called). I've heard people who have had problems with it but I've got one and my friend just bought one from Costco online and hers is good too. I really liked Jenn's 10 yr old Bernette except it doesn't have a free arm. I had a simplicity... too lightweight for dipes, struggled with more than two layers of hemp. I borrowed a low end white... it sucked. I've used the New Home.. Chenning has it, liked it but still prefer my Brother.

Jenn and I met a lady in L.A. who manufactures leotards as a WAHM sort of person. She has several older jukis, she told us the model but I forget it. She said the older jukis are wonderful but the newer ones aren't as good.

Anyway IMO, the expensive ones aren't always better than the cheap ones. It was my very expensive one that was fiddly and a PITA to alter.

So for those of you who have bought one over the internet, did you try out a model "in person" first, or did you just order it and cross your fingers and toes that it would run well? :)

If you're going to buy over the internet, make sure it's somewhere with a good reputation, and that has allows returns/exchanges, in case you don't like it.

I really like Kevin (Easyterms guy) I spoke to him on the phone NUMEROUS times with tons of questions, and he was as sweet and helpful as he can be.

FWIW: I know alot of IRL stores don't carry the same models that are sold online, because the vendors don't allow it.

Good luck, and if you need this Kevin's phone #, pm me and I can give it to you.

(I test drove the one I wanted first, but it was only because the guy happened to have one in for servicing)

I have a PFAFF COVERLOCK 4852. I love it so much. I upgraded from a Janome/Kenmore.. which was a fine machine, but not as "strong" as the PFAFF. I serge many layers of fabric with no problems at all. Sometimes I run this PFAFF for long periods of time. The motor seems to stay cool and I never have to stop to give the machine a rest like I did with the Janome.

Am I the only one here with a PFAFF?

I have the White 2000ATS
It is the only serger I have sewn on, so I can not compare

I think it does fine, but it does get 'chokey' (for lack of better word) when going through heavy layers.
I sew lots of patchwork and when I sew through layers of corduroy, it does not want to go...
I had to take it in to fix the timing and the lower looper had something wrong with it. (Bent?)
I admit, I am hesitant to bring out the corduroy.
I have killed two sewing machines sewing through patchy cord and I sure would hate to kill my serger!

I bought mine online, did I try it out?
No.. I knew nothing of sergers, I just crossed my fingers and jumped in.
Whenever I am able to upgrade (Are the pigs flying yet?) I WILL test drive my next machine.

Hope

This is a great thread, so many mamas ask this same question here, weekly it seems. Maybe it should be made a sticky???

I think so Kelly! And I've bookmarked similar ones which have disappeared with purging (oops!). Of all the ones I've searched, this one has had the most responses ... so THANK YOU everyone!!!

I used to have an Elna (964 or something...? had coverstitch) that I liked, but I got it into my head that I needed a 5-thread serger. So I bought a Bernina 1300 (5-thread, coverstitch, LCD display) since I absolutely adore my Bernina sewing machine. I definitely made a mistake with this one. It's a royal pain to set it up for coverstitching. And the stitches skip a lot in coverstitch mode when going over seams. My Elna never did that. I actually dread coverstitching and don't do it much because of this. And I never use the 5-thread feature. The seam is larger than 1/4" when using 5-thread, and most of my patterns are Kwik Sew which call for 1/4" seams. It also needs a topstitch needle if you try to go over too thick fabric even in a regular overlock stitch. The tension I need to use never matches what they recommend. The manual sucks. I'm thinking of selling it and buying a simpler machine, but I have to look into whether I can cover the cost of a different machine as we're pretty broke right now. (I had to sell a lot of stuff to pay for this Bernina, which kind of gets to me...)

I kind of wish I had a coverhem (or is it coverstitch?) machine and a simple serger, but not sure if I'd go that route.

I bought the new home 104d and have been happy with it but this is my first serger so i have nothing to compare it to.

I have a Babylock Imagine and LOVE it. Truthfully, I bought it because I figured if Shecki can sew as much as she does on one and it doesn't give out, then it will be fine for me, LOL! I also wanted to spend NONE of my sewing time messing with tensions or threading loopers. I just love my machine! It was $$ but we were given a very nice moving allowance by dh's company when we moved here, and part of it went to my serger. :D

Originally posted by warneral
Brother 929d - I think it works fine! Once I finally figured out how to use it, I've had no problems at all. Had it a year I think. Works well on thick fabrics although I think its time for new blades.



My first serger was a Brother 929D. I had no complaints with mine. In fact I still like it for the fact that it has a removable plate & you can do sleeves & pants legs easily on it. My Elna 683, while nice & free with the purchase of my Elna sewing machine, does not have that feature, unfortunately.

I've got to echo the sentiments from Alison and Barb on the 929G - I have one and I like it, though I, too, had a heck of a time learning how to use it! I got into the groove of it, though, and it hasn't given me any problems. But, like someone else said, I don't have any frame of reference because it's the only one I've ever used.

Oh, I got mine off eBay from allbrands.com - a refurbished Wal-Mart return - about a year ago. She's going in for her first spa treatment next week :)

Brother 929D (walmart online) Not bad liked the freearm but was serging along when it went pop and the upper looper arm broke! Sent it back.

White 200ats (sewnvac direct online) Good machine sold it with good concious to another aw mama. Wanted to upgrade

Pfaff 797 (local pfaff dealer) machine has never worker right from the start dealer has replaced with another faulty machine ugh!! thing is a beast it takes 6 layers of hemp fleece like butter but it gets all pissy with 1 layer of light woven. Can't get rid of the thing because I paid $1200 for it which was way to much

Juki 644d (online/ebay) nice little machine quiet, strong, happy. Juki makes most of the bernina sergers if you go on to allbrands they mention that the 644 is the same as the bernina 08 or something

Edited to add~~~

I just recently picked up a Juki 735 nice machine that does a cover hem. I am very happy with it so far, haven't gotten to use it much but it was esay to setup and thread. I still have the 644d and have it setup for a 4 thread and the 735 will be left setup for a cover stitch.

Had a kenmore serger - it was a bear to thread and rethread. Now have a babylock evolve and I wouldn't trade for all the riches in china.

I'd suggest looking at the sewing machine stores at the used models to see if anyone traded in a babylock, if that is what you have your heart set on - you might be able to get what you want for much less. Make sure that the dealer will give you some kind of service with it.

Definitely go in a try a few models before you get to that place where your definitely set on one model. I tried brothers before I looked at babylock and they were a close second for me, but after all the grief the kenmore gave me on threading, I chose the babylock for ease of threading.

I'm leaning towards a "lower/mid-range" dependable model, not sure which just yet. As much as I'd like one like my MIL's, it's not realistic for me at this time. My only concern is that with the amount of sewing I do, a cheaper model might not hold up... but it sounds like more expensive models aren't necessarily more reliable. I think I'm more confused now than before! *sigh* Lots to think about!! Thanks again everyone. Gonna go look up all the models mentioned and overanalyze this to death ;)

Originally posted by warneral
Brother 929d - I think it works fine! Once I finally figured out how to use it, I've had no problems at all. Had it a year I think. Works well on thick fabrics although I think its time for new blades.

This is what I have, too, have used it from thick to thin for 3 years no problem

I bought it because Jennifer, the lady who had Poochies diapers, did all those years of those wonderful diapers on a Walmart 929. I figured if it could handle her biz (and I had some of her dipes; the serging was like art), it was sure the right price for me :)