Last weekend I finally took the plunge and bought a serger. I've debated "needing" one for quite a while now, but the sales lady at my favorite Hancock Fabric store was so helpful and genuinely enthusiastic about the Janome New Home model 7933 that I had it up at the checkout before I had time to mentally form my "cons" list and talk myself out of it again.
So far, I love it. It was already threaded, and I ignored the warnings I'd read about the included thread being of poor quality and jumped right in. I made a cover for a couple of plastic drawer carts that I was tired of looking at and a pair of pajama pants. I did not experience any broken threads or other issues. It was ready to go out of the box... just plugged it in and stepped on the pedal.
The only issues I had were operator issues. I inadvertently ran a pin under the blade, but I think that I saw it in time, stopped, and manually backed it out. The pin did not seem to be cut or bent, so hopefully any damage to the blade was minimal. I also had trouble disengaging the blade for overcasting, but that is just me being "directionally impaired". It's an issue I run into quite often. Sad to say, but sometimes I - JUST - DON'T - GET - DIRECTIONS. Lucky for me, I have a husband who reads manuals cover to cover sometimes and is there to help when asked (sometimes even when not asked but it's okay, really).
I sewed the plastic cart cover from some Everyday Value Home Dec fabric from Hancock. It doesn't hang as prettily as I imagined it would, but I was just winging it, and I think it is an improvement overall.
The pajama pants are from Butterick B4406 with some modifications based on a pair of store bought pajama pants. I added some pockets and a wider, pieced waistband, rather than the folded over waistband the pattern called for.
I tried lowering the waist in the front, as I've made these once before, and the original pattern front comes up higher than my belly button which I really dislike. This pair is a little better, but I need more practice in pattern adjustment to get the front waist where it feels comfortable.
I also added a drawstring just for fun, but it may be a little much. I was improvising, trying to fill in the big waistband I'd created, but did not have elastic wide enough. I didn't feel like making the trip to the fabric store for the right elastic. If it isn't working out after a washing or two I can always find wider elastic and replace what's in there.
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