Hello fashion sewers and welcome to our Fashion Sewing Blog.
In today’s article and FREE online fashion sewing video tutorial, I’d like to take a quick look at the basic maintenance of a serger (overlocker).
In particular, I’d like us to concentrate a little on the cleaning and upkeep of your machine to ensure it keeps in perfect working order.
As with a sewing machine, your seger over time, will need to be cleaned on a regular basis.
Just imagine the scenario -
You’ve spent a nice relaxing day fashion sewing. By the end, you’ve created a wonderful piece of clothing that you’re really proud of. Now look at the floor.
We’ve all been there. You notice little tiny threads, small pieces of material and other remnants of a days sewing.
So just imagine the build up of such material inside of your sewing machine or serger.
Now I hope you understand why it needs to be cleaned.
The cleaning of your sewing equipment plays an integral part in your fashion sewing routine. Make it a regular occurrence.
This cleaning helps keep all of the moving parts of your machine working smoothly and will no doubt assist in its optmun performance.
Note – Before you begin cleaning, I’d recommend that you refer to your machines manual. More so when oiling as manufacturers will guide the user in where to use and apply it.
Cleaning Your Serger – Your Tools
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In my video tutorial below, we will look at some of the tools needed to give your serger a basic clean. I’d also like to list them here so you can get a better idea of what will be required.
NB – Your serger should come with all of these basic tools at the time of purchase.
• Large screwdriver and a small screwdriver
• A lint brush
• Tweezers
• Machine oil
• Small cleaning cloth
Once you’ve collected these tools together, before beginning the cleaning process and as a point of safety, please remember to -
• Unplug the lead from the mains and the machine itself
• Remove the threads
• Remove the pressure foot
• Remove the needle(s)
• Remove the throat plate
Cleaning Your Serger with Colleen G Lea
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If you find the following video tutorial useful, please do let me know and subscribe to my FashionSewingBlogTV for FREE.
Do you clean your machines as often as you should? If you’re anything like me, probably not.
But I hope this quick video tutorial demonstrates if nothing else, how much ‘gunk‘ a machine can pick up over time, and how, without basic maintenance, it can really effect its overall performance.
So, before we conclude, do remember to -
1 – Open the front and side door to access the inner workings of the serger / overlocker
2 – Remove any large build up of lint first with the tweezers
3 – Use the lint brush to remove the smaller particles, using a sweeping and dabbing motion
4 – Clean the feed dog area and dust down the throat plate, pressure foot, front of the serger / overlocker and the thread stand
5 - Put just a drop or two of oil onto the moving parts
I’d also recommend, dependant on how often you use your serger, to book it into a reputable dealer once or twice a year for a full service.
If you want to produce professional looking clothes, then you’re going to need a fully functional machine to do it from.
If you have any questions regarding this post, then please do get in contact with me.
Happy fashion sewing
About the Author: Colleen G Lea is the founder of Fashion Sewing Blog and co-owner of DC Media Productions. Get more from Colleen at YouTube and Google+.
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