My new serger!
I’m sorry, I’m just cracking myself up at the thought of naming it Sergei, like he’s a sexy Russian figure skater (Wait, is that one big oxymoron?). Sergei. Whatever I call this bad boy, we are about to have a good, long, rollercoaster of a relationship I’m sure.
I actually thought I was getting a serger for my last birthday, 1 year ago. The day before my birthday last year, my husband told me not to give him a hard time about spending too much money on me, blah blah blah. To his credit, he is a VERY thoughtful and thorough gift giver. I figured he’d called my mom or Erin for ideas, and they’d told him about the machine. Wrong.
As I lay in bed, just about at my due date, eating breakfast with Jet and Avery (which was my only birthday request that year, besides wishing for a healthy baby), Pei goes off to get my real gift. He mutters, “You probably already know what it is.”
I mutter, “Is is a Serger?”
“A what,” he says?
Nope. It was a 47 inch flat screen TV!
“Wow, thanks honey.”
I’ll leave the story alone at that.
This year, with a little help from my birdies (thanks Mom and Erin), Pei nailed it! Yay, I am finally one of the cool kids. I’ve spent the last week getting to know Sergei, and just running it on the factory settings with those colorful threads. I grabbed a few knits from the to-be-upcycled stash, and played.
I wanted to see if I could make a Flashback Tee entirely on the serger.
Did it. This very Bert and Ernie shirt was made from an old baby blanket that I had for Jet. Yes, I do know my sleeve stripes should be horizontal, just didn’t have enough fabric. Once, I felt slightly confident with things, I pulled out this too-small sweater, and decided to hack it up.
I turned it into a sweater dress for Avery. It is basically just the Flashback pattern elongated, making use of the hems that were already in place.
The little bow, a barrette, is working to strategically hold that collar down. I’ll put a few more stitches in after she goes to bed, but I think she will make sure that the bow is here to stay.
Avery’s little Wonder Woman boots are by Kenneth Cole Reaction. My M-I-L just couldn’t help herself.
Since it’s always fun to see how these photo shoots really go, here are a few more shots…
That collar was tricky. I wanted to fancy the look up a bit by tacking on a gold-ish knit fabric that was sort of hard to manage. I attached it with the regular sewing machine.
Still workin it, but losing steam.
“Mind if I sit?”
“Ugh. Now can we play my game?”
Okay, okay.
This girl is a piece of work!
I’m defintely excited for my future with Sergei! If you are considering buying a serger, its time. Knits are where it’s at! Especially if you want your children to wear what you make for them. Thanks for visiting!
Enjoy your weekend!
~Caroline
HUNGIE GUNGIE 
Hey! What fun! Dress is so cute and stylish on Avery! My mom once told me, “I almost bought you a brand new serger in its box for $25 (she was yard sale shopping), but didn’t think you’d want it.” It is the only time I think I wished mom would shop for me at yard sales. BooHoo. 😦 Can’t wait to see what you and Sergei whip up together!
That is one of those moments when you go, “noooooooooooo”. 🙂
Haha, you are so funny! What a clever name!! 🙂 Yay! Glad you finally got your serger! My serger had been sitting in the box for over a year and I finally took it out a few weeks ago to experiment and I absolutely love it too! But I haven’t named it yet… maybe I should??!! 🙂
Love the two flashbacks you made. And love that you sewed the entire piece with a serger. I still haven’t tried that yet – I’m a little scared! I’ve only serged off the seams after sewing with the regular machine. The collar looks great too! And Avery is so cute in all those photos! 🙂
Thanks Jen! You are too kind! Good luck getting started with your serger. You should blog about it!
The name “Sergio” is still available 😉
How fun! I finally bought a serger also and I love it. I need a good name though. The sweater dress is so cute!
Would love to see some of your serged garments Darlene!
Love it. How cool is making something from start to finish with just your serger (or overlocker as they are called over here!). Love the last shot of avery!! what DOES she have on her lips?!!
Ya, that would be a very dark lipstick of mine that I never wear. She was trying to be a clown!
Looks like you and sexy Sergei are starting a beautiful friendship. Happy serging to you!
Woohoo! Welcome to the serger club! I love having mine both for knits and for how dang fast it is at finishing wovens. Same one as you. Boom.
Oh my, I giggled at Sergei! He does produce great knit makes…
congrats on your serger! yay! and wow, your knits look fantastic! and avery is gorgeous! i have that same serger and love it for finishing wovens, particularly gathered seams that are otherwise so messy with so many threads. i haven’t used it much for knits – i had a few fails that scared me off! and ha! my husband and i had a similar flat screen incident. he bought one that was h u g e for our bedroom. TA-DA!!! i don’t even really watch tv. he said it looked smaller on the tall wide tv store walls. haha. 🙂
Hilarious Rachel! I guess the men will have their TVs and we will have our machines. It was your ringing endorsment of your Brother serger that convinced me it was time. Looking forward to some professional finishes!
An adult sweater into a kid’s sweater dress? Yes, yes, yes!
(I’m off to find a sweater to hack up 🙂
Totally! Go for it!
I call mine Sergio…he is my best friend..I don’t know how I lived without him for sooooo long
Your serger must be from Latin America. Lucky.