serger flower Archives - over the edge

Decorative Serged Seams

Posted on May 5, 2020May 5, 2020 by jghuiz

Adding decorative serged seams to your garments is as easy as serging a seam. Just use pretty thread and serge your pattern pieces wrong sides together so the serged seams become exposed on the right side of the garment!

In recent years the inside-out look has become popular. Exposed serged seams can be found in many ready to wear garments. It’s fun to duplicate that look in garments you make yourself.

I made this cute little girl’s dress with a basic serger, long before I had my Babylock Evolution. The dress was made with a soft cotton interlock knit, a wide three thread overlock stitch and Maxi Lock serger thread. The flared skirt panels are very twirly, perfect for the little girl who likes to twirl! This project is proof that you can make great garments with a basic serger. (However it does take a little more work and time because you have to do more testing of your stitches and spend more time threading.)

The Dress – Kwik Sew Pattern K3944

I made this cute dress many years ago, and so the pattern is now out of print. But I searched the internet and found it still for sale on various sites like Etsy. What I liked about this Kwik Sew pattern (besides the cute dress) was that the instructions were written for a serger. As you can see from the pattern envelope, I pretty much made view A exactly as pictured – similar yellowish green fabric, and pink and blue thread. I used a 3 thread wide overlock stitch for all the exposed and internal seams. The sewing machine was only used for top-stitching the elastic casing on the sleeves and neckline. And I did design my own flower for the skirt, instead of making the one included with the pattern.

Here are a few closeup photos of the stitching.

decorative serged seam — Neckline Casing

Notes on Construction

I changed the order of construction to minimize changeovers between the pink and blue thread. I used a shorter than normal stitch length on the exposed seams, making the serger thread more visible. At the time I made this dress I didn’t have any thick decorative thread, so I just used standard serger thread. I did some testing on scraps to determine the best combination of fabric, stitch and thread before beginning the project.

My Flower

I took a long strip of knit and serged both long raw edges with a 3 thread overlock. Then I twisted the strip like you would twist streamer decorations for a party. Then I coiled the strip and glued a piece of fabric to the back to hold it together. I safety pinned it to the dress so it could be removed for washing.

Adding Decorative Serged Seams to Your Garments

I hope you enjoyed my post about adding decorative serged seams to your garments. For another example of decorative serged seams check out my Cozy Sweater Shirt post link below.

Cozy Sweater Shirt – 100% Serger Made

Resources

Kwik Sew has several patterns in its current collection called “Kwik Serge.” These patterns were written for use with a serger. Here is the link: https://mccall.com/kwik-sew/collections/kwik-serge/

Serger Roses

Posted on February 21, 2020February 21, 2020 by jghuiz

I love making fabric flowers, especially when I can use my serger! Serger roses are just gorgeous when you begin with a beautiful satin fabric and some fun decorative thread. A typical way to finish the raw edges of the satin with a serger would be to use the 3 thread rolled hem or the 3 or 4 thread overlock stitch, which would work well. However, for these roses I chose to use the 8 thread stitch on my Babylock Evolution to really emphasize the edges of my rose petals.

How to Make a Serger Rose

Here is what you need to make a serger rose like mine:

3″ wide by 58″ long strip of satin fabric
8 spools of machine embroidery thread (or as needed for your desired stitch)
3″ square of felt for the backing
heavy duty hand sewing thread for finishing the rose
hand sewing needle
2″x44″ long strip of poster board to use a folding template
iron and ironing board
serger, set up for an 8 thread stitch (or your desired stitch)
a few wonder clips
hot glue gun and glue sticks

Step 1: Serge

Begin by serging both raw edges of the fabric strip from the right side. Trim off just a little of the raw edge with your blade so you have a nice neat edge to your rose.

Step 2: Fold Strip Around Template

Draw a 45 degree line near both ends of your poster board strip, and one near the center. These lines serve as guidelines to help you fold your strip at the proper angle to create your rose “petals”. With right side showing, begin at one end and wrap your fabric strip around the template until you have wrapped it all. You can use a wonder clip to hold the ends and keep the strip from slipping off the template. See photo below.

Step 3: Press Folded Strip and Remove from Template

Press one or both long sides of your folded strip while still on your poster board template. If you would like a crisp edged rose, press both sides. If you would like a softer edged rose, press only one long side. After strip has cooled, carefully slide out the poster board template, and orient the folds of the strip just like they looked with the template inside. See photo below.

Step 4: Gather Strip and Form Rose

Thread a hand sewing needle with heavy duty thread. Sew a running stitch along one long edge and up one short edge at the end of the strip. Gather up your rose as desired. I gathered my fabric strips to about 12” long and then formed the rose by wrapping the gathered strip around itself. After each turn I took a stitch to tack the layers together. I made a base for my rose from a piece of felt and I used hot glue to secure it. Cut the base large enough to cover your tacking stitches, but small enough not to be seen from the front of the rose.

Step 5: Add to a Project and Enjoy!

A serger rose would look equally beautiful on a garment, bag or home decor item. I choose to create a gorgeous pillow from this textured silk fabric to showcase my roses. And yes, in case you are wondering, I used my serger to make the both the pillow cover and the tassel.

Resources

I was inspired to make serger roses by the book, Fun-to-Wear Fabric Flowers, by Elizabeth Helene Searle. My method is very similar to the one used in her book on page 57 to create the “grey folded rose”. Instead of using a piece of fabric with the raw edges folded in, I used my serger to embellish the edges with thread. And instead of free-hand folding the strip into 45 degree folds, I created my own folding template to make this task much easier.