I have finally taken the plunge and invested in an overlocker! Up until now I’ve resisted getting one because I don’t have a huge amount of space in my sewing room and because it is quite a big investment. But I’ve been feeling like I needed a new sewing challenge and it seemed to be the right time.
I did a lot of research before getting it. I wanted to get a mechanical machine – I like to have full control over what the sewing machine does and going from my vintage Singer to an all singing and dancing machine with electric display etc. seemed a bit of an unnecessary jump. I wasn’t fussed about an automatic threader (and that adds to the price a lot!). I also wanted to buy a machine that would be really sturdy and strong, and last me for a long time, so I wanted a metallic frame and fewer things to go wrong.
I read through various websites and reviews to get a feel for the type of machine I wanted, but then as a final step I went to my local sewing shop – I want to support small businesses and also I wanted them to be able to help me with the machine maintenance going forward. I went in with a preferred overlocker in mind – the Amber S 100 from Husqvarna Viking. I knew that the shop sold it. It is an overlocker which has been around for a while and so is tried and tested with lots of reviews. When I got to the shop they showed me a few different machines and spent a while with me demonstrating how they worked, their benefits/limitations. By the end of it I was still convinced that I wanted the Amber S 100. It wasn’t too expensive (£350), and fit my needs perfectly, so I bought it!
The only slight hiccup was that it didn’t come with a UK plug on it, so I had to buy an adaptor, but that wasn’t a big problem. The shop staff were absolute stars, and they gave me new threads for free to go with the machine (in two different colours!) because apparently the ones that came with it weren’t very high quality.
Once I got it home I spent a whole weekend playing with my new toy. I decided I would stitch all the stitches and I made myself a little book of stitches to use as a reference. It took me a while to get the hang of using the overlocker. There were quite a few frustrated moments of me sighing “why isn’t it working…?!”‘, followed by a cup of tea, followed by an “ahhhhh…. that’s why it isn’t working”. I’ve learned quite a few things, here are my main take home messages if you’re using an overlocker for the first time:
- take time over the threading and make sure it goes through all the right holes in the right order, if the machine isn’t working then rethreading can solve it
- listen to it – clunking sounds are bad! Get a feel for how a happy overlocker sounds
- only lower the knife with extreme caution, you don’t want to get the threads/fabric all caught in the machine
- if you are like me and don’t have a way to stitch zig zags, the flatlock stitch is really good for hemming and doing necklines – definitely worth playing with – I found that if I do a three thread narrow overlock, and a three thread narrow flatlock, the position of the needle etc. stays the same so I only have to change the thread tension, which makes it super-simple and speedy to switch between them.
Below is a picture of my lovely new machine and my stitch test book! I’m super happy with it.
The sewing resolution 