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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Serger, Part Two

I bought the Huskylock Husqvarna S21 Serger and got it shipped to me, but I couldn't get it to sew.  I spent an entire day going through the manuals and DVD trying to get it to work, but NOTHING.  I read the reviews and had assumed that the people who complained about not being able to get it to sew just hadn't read the instructions.  I DID, so this MUST be a bum machine. 
Viking Huskylock S21


As an act of desperation after not being able to get it to sew anything, I stopped in the Viking store to sign up for classes. Maybe at least they would be able to tell me if I need to send the machine in for repairs.  (the store is inside JoAnn's) The employee told me that they aren't offering any classes because the manager just quit and they won't have any scheduled for months.

Of course.

However, she said if I wanted to come in with my machine, the she would give me a private lesson until my machine worked.  For free.  I fell in love with her just a little right then and there. 

And so, I found out that Friday during the day was her least busy time and I took the day off of work (I am well aware of how cool that doesn't make me sound and feel my 16 year old self hanging her head in shame), showed up with my serger about 30 minutes after the store opened and stayed for two hours.

The Viking employee was FANTASTIC.  It turned out that I was threading it incorrectly for one of the four threads.  Only slightly incorrectly, but it was enough to make it not function at all.  We talked about tension, cover stitching, blind hemming... everything the machine does.  I ended up buying a blind hem foot and a book I didn't really want from them because I was so grateful.  Thank you Viking!

Here is a bit of my handiwork on the lining of a dress I am working on.  It cut the edge and also stitched it at the same time.  Which is exactly what it should do, but I still find it amazing and very cool.  It is a complicated little piece of engineering.

Overlock stitch on cotton lining of a yellow retro dress.


The only complaint I have about this machine is the DVD and manual.  I really couldn't get it to stitch after diligently reading the instructions and watching the demo provided with the machine.  I didn't have any serger experience, but at some point, the instructions have to be to blame.

If you have experience with a serger, this will probably thread for you just fine. 

Overall, I think I am going to be very happy with the purchase and would recommend this machine.

2 comments:

  1. What weren't you doing right then???

    ReplyDelete
  2. I ended up here when googling that machine and what a coinsidence - I had exactly the same problem with my S21! I spent a whole day trying to sew but nothing. Eventually I was so frustrated that I even cried, cause it was such an expensive piece of machinery. Well, I got a glass of wine and sat down with the manual and decided to start the threading all over. Then it worked and it was fantastic, until it didn't work again and started breaking the threads.
    Then I figured that I should change the thread because I was using some old bad quality thread for practicing - not a good idea.
    I now really enjoy using this machine including the cover stitch. I think we have come to understand each other and I am happy about my purchase :)

    ReplyDelete

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