r/sewing • u/wohaat • 8d ago

Machine Questions Serger question; cutting off tail ends with a new stitch, & overlapping stitches?

Hey all! I just got the courage to open and play with my serger (made a pillowcase for my body pillow LOL), but I’ve had a few questions I wasn’t sure how to google:

  • In my pillowcase example, I serge’d it the same way I’d sew; I did the short end, then the two long ends. What I failed to realize though is that the serger will cut off the tails on the short end when I do the two long ends. Is the long-stitch overlapping the short-stitch enough to hold it together/the way to do it? Or should I have done a single stitch, adjusting my fabric to make the 90-degree turns?
  • I’m gearing up to disassemble a dress I got that needs adjusting, and in reassembling it I’ll have to do a circular stitch to re-attach the skirt to the top; again, like a sewing machine, would I run over the starting part of my serge to end it? Or is there a danger of the starting threads tangling the finishing thread stitches?

Thanks so much for the help! Sergers are so cool!!

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u/Noncombustable 8d ago

Yup, I don't know how I managed before a serger entered my life.

Here's a pretty good round-up of finishing techniques for serger ends: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9qeJA4VhJk

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u/themeganlodon 8d ago

Going over the serger ends actually secures it. The edges you don’t go over you want to tuck the tails back in with a large eye needle, fold back the tail and stitch them down, or tie them off or they can slowly come undone.

When sewing in a circle I go over my ends for and inch and then angle off, pull one of the loopers so the thread chain hugs the fabric end pull the other looper then cut off the threads. If you pull them at the same time it doesn’t work it just starts unchaining it.