I'll start off by saying I am DEFINITELY no expert on this. I learned by trial and error and error and error. And I'll likely continue with the errors until the end of time but that's okay.
Stretch sewing is unfortunately a little more complicated in terms of skill levels when it comes to sewing. But if you break it down to it's most basic form, it's still sewing through two or more layers of fabric to create a seam just like sewing with non-stretchy fabric.
The first thing we're going to tackle here is machines.
This is a typical, mid range serger. This is in fact the model I have. I've had this machine for over 10 years and I've never had to have it repaired. I've literally sewn through most everything with it, including neoprene. This price here is in Canadian and is pretty close, if not a little less than I paid for it. I originally purchased a Singer, which, as it turns out was not a good choice. I am a big fan of Juki's (one of my sewing machines is also a Juki) but truth be told, they are almost always higher priced than is necessary just due to how their sales to North America happen. Having said that, I'd buy one again in a heartbeat because this has never let me down.
Serger's are typically divas. They are picky about thread and how much dusty bunnies have congregated on the inside. When they get in a snit and whispering sweet nothings to it doesn't fix it, completely unthread it and start over. If you must say something negative, don't say it in front of a serger. They absorb that bad juju and will eat your next project. Of course, with practice, all of that happens less and less but it still happens when you least expect it if you aren't paying attention. Sometimes it's a simple as the serger thread being too dry and dusty. While you don't have to buy the most expensive thread, do consider buying quality thread. Your machine will work much better.
A serger does a few things at the same time. You can use a serger with 2, 3, 4 or 5 threads, although most machines are only capable of going up to 4 threads, which is what my Juki is. The different thread combinations give you different stitches and different levels of "sturdiness" so to speak. I generally use 4 thread which I believe is called a basic or overlock stitch. A serger also uses 2 needles instead of one like a traditional machine when using a 4 or 5 thread stitch. you only use 1 needle for the 2 or 3 thread stiches. Two of your threads - those on the left hand side if you're looking at the front of the machine thread through the tension knobs and then through the needles. The machines generally will have colour coded paths for each thread. The two threads on the right of the machine are going to go through the tension knobs and down through the loopers. If you compare this to a standard sewing machine - the two threads on the left are much like the top thread and the two threads on the right that go through the loopers are like the bobbin.
The 4 thread stitch gives you a sturdy but still stretchy stitch whereas the 2 thread stitch gives you a much less visible stitch and would be used on fine fabrics like a chiffon to do a tiny rolled hem. The difference is that you'd want the sturdy 4 thread stitch on anything that is going to be under tension, like a seam and especially on a seam on a close fitting garment.
When sewing, your two looper threads will form the zig zaggy stitch that goes over the end of the fabric (more on this in a moment). The left needle will catch the looper threads and lock them in. The right needle does an extra stitch that gives your seam more strength. Most commercial garments are going to be made or finished with a serger. If you've ever had a seam let go, you've likely seen that it doesn't always rip right open, but sometimes only the first row of stitches does. That's where that extra line of safety stitch comes in to make your seam more durable. Plus, it helps take some of the load off of the most outer line of stitching which helps to prevent any unwanted display of your undies.
Take a moment to look at the shirt you're wearing right now. If you look at the inside of the seams, you'll see threads that wrap around the seam and you'll see straight stitches along the inner edge of the seam. That's what a serger does. On the outside you'll just see the seam but no stitches. If you look at the hem on the sleeve or on the bottom of your shirt, you'll see similar looking zig zags on the inside, but the outside will show 2 or 3 lines of straight stiches with no seam. This is done by another machine called a cover stitch. You won't be able to do that with a regular serger on it's own but never fear, there are other ways.
The zig zag part of the stitch also serves the purpose of preventing fraying of the fabric. I use my serger to serge all fabrics, even non-stretch ones, before sewing so that my seams end up looking finished and professional and I don't have to worry about the fabric fraying. Now.....you may be thinking at this point - how do you consistently get your looper threads to encase the edge like that. Must be some magic perfect straight cutting and perfect straight sewing, right? Well, those definitely are things to strive for but the real magic of a serger is that it also cuts as it sews. There is a knife that is located right along the side of your needles. As the fabric passes through it first goes through the blade and gets cut and then the needles take care of getting those threads to loop around the edge. The knife makes things looks really great but it also means things can go sideways fast. You cannot let an item "out" should it be too small. When using a traditional machine you can pick out your stitches and sew a little closer to the edge to make the garment bigger, but with the serger, once it's cut, there is no going back. You can disengage the blade but then you are negating some of the purpose of a serger in that you'll still have a raw edge.
I highly recommend watching a bunch of YouTube videos about the specific machine that you'll be using. As well, look up blogs, like this one I found tonight, that set out examples of what each type of stitching looks like etc.
Serger Stitches
I learned before there were a zillion YouTube videos so I have a big collection of books that I reference. I also have made sure to keep the manual that came with my machine at hand for any information I need about how to do something specific to that machine. One option to keep your eye on is the Humble Bundle. I think once (maybe twice??) a year they will offer a giant bundle of books about costuming for incredibly low prices and they usually will include at least one or more general sewing and tailoring books. You choose the price you pay - either the lowest price possible or additional amounts as you deem fair, and some of that money ends up going to charity and you get a great digital costume construction library.
I'm going to update this post over the next few days to include a few more photos. The next posts will include what you need if you don't have access to a serger, types of stretch fabrics, fit, and patterns.
Stretch sewing is unfortunately a little more complicated in terms of skill levels when it comes to sewing. But if you break it down to it's most basic form, it's still sewing through two or more layers of fabric to create a seam just like sewing with non-stretchy fabric.
The first thing we're going to tackle here is machines.
This is a typical, mid range serger. This is in fact the model I have. I've had this machine for over 10 years and I've never had to have it repaired. I've literally sewn through most everything with it, including neoprene. This price here is in Canadian and is pretty close, if not a little less than I paid for it. I originally purchased a Singer, which, as it turns out was not a good choice. I am a big fan of Juki's (one of my sewing machines is also a Juki) but truth be told, they are almost always higher priced than is necessary just due to how their sales to North America happen. Having said that, I'd buy one again in a heartbeat because this has never let me down.
Serger's are typically divas. They are picky about thread and how much dusty bunnies have congregated on the inside. When they get in a snit and whispering sweet nothings to it doesn't fix it, completely unthread it and start over. If you must say something negative, don't say it in front of a serger. They absorb that bad juju and will eat your next project. Of course, with practice, all of that happens less and less but it still happens when you least expect it if you aren't paying attention. Sometimes it's a simple as the serger thread being too dry and dusty. While you don't have to buy the most expensive thread, do consider buying quality thread. Your machine will work much better.
A serger does a few things at the same time. You can use a serger with 2, 3, 4 or 5 threads, although most machines are only capable of going up to 4 threads, which is what my Juki is. The different thread combinations give you different stitches and different levels of "sturdiness" so to speak. I generally use 4 thread which I believe is called a basic or overlock stitch. A serger also uses 2 needles instead of one like a traditional machine when using a 4 or 5 thread stitch. you only use 1 needle for the 2 or 3 thread stiches. Two of your threads - those on the left hand side if you're looking at the front of the machine thread through the tension knobs and then through the needles. The machines generally will have colour coded paths for each thread. The two threads on the right of the machine are going to go through the tension knobs and down through the loopers. If you compare this to a standard sewing machine - the two threads on the left are much like the top thread and the two threads on the right that go through the loopers are like the bobbin.
The 4 thread stitch gives you a sturdy but still stretchy stitch whereas the 2 thread stitch gives you a much less visible stitch and would be used on fine fabrics like a chiffon to do a tiny rolled hem. The difference is that you'd want the sturdy 4 thread stitch on anything that is going to be under tension, like a seam and especially on a seam on a close fitting garment.
When sewing, your two looper threads will form the zig zaggy stitch that goes over the end of the fabric (more on this in a moment). The left needle will catch the looper threads and lock them in. The right needle does an extra stitch that gives your seam more strength. Most commercial garments are going to be made or finished with a serger. If you've ever had a seam let go, you've likely seen that it doesn't always rip right open, but sometimes only the first row of stitches does. That's where that extra line of safety stitch comes in to make your seam more durable. Plus, it helps take some of the load off of the most outer line of stitching which helps to prevent any unwanted display of your undies.
Take a moment to look at the shirt you're wearing right now. If you look at the inside of the seams, you'll see threads that wrap around the seam and you'll see straight stitches along the inner edge of the seam. That's what a serger does. On the outside you'll just see the seam but no stitches. If you look at the hem on the sleeve or on the bottom of your shirt, you'll see similar looking zig zags on the inside, but the outside will show 2 or 3 lines of straight stiches with no seam. This is done by another machine called a cover stitch. You won't be able to do that with a regular serger on it's own but never fear, there are other ways.
The zig zag part of the stitch also serves the purpose of preventing fraying of the fabric. I use my serger to serge all fabrics, even non-stretch ones, before sewing so that my seams end up looking finished and professional and I don't have to worry about the fabric fraying. Now.....you may be thinking at this point - how do you consistently get your looper threads to encase the edge like that. Must be some magic perfect straight cutting and perfect straight sewing, right? Well, those definitely are things to strive for but the real magic of a serger is that it also cuts as it sews. There is a knife that is located right along the side of your needles. As the fabric passes through it first goes through the blade and gets cut and then the needles take care of getting those threads to loop around the edge. The knife makes things looks really great but it also means things can go sideways fast. You cannot let an item "out" should it be too small. When using a traditional machine you can pick out your stitches and sew a little closer to the edge to make the garment bigger, but with the serger, once it's cut, there is no going back. You can disengage the blade but then you are negating some of the purpose of a serger in that you'll still have a raw edge.
I highly recommend watching a bunch of YouTube videos about the specific machine that you'll be using. As well, look up blogs, like this one I found tonight, that set out examples of what each type of stitching looks like etc.
Serger Stitches
I learned before there were a zillion YouTube videos so I have a big collection of books that I reference. I also have made sure to keep the manual that came with my machine at hand for any information I need about how to do something specific to that machine. One option to keep your eye on is the Humble Bundle. I think once (maybe twice??) a year they will offer a giant bundle of books about costuming for incredibly low prices and they usually will include at least one or more general sewing and tailoring books. You choose the price you pay - either the lowest price possible or additional amounts as you deem fair, and some of that money ends up going to charity and you get a great digital costume construction library.
I'm going to update this post over the next few days to include a few more photos. The next posts will include what you need if you don't have access to a serger, types of stretch fabrics, fit, and patterns.
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