How to Do a Coverstitch on a Serger?
If you are a beginner who has just started to get the hang of sewing, then you have certainly landed on the right page. Here, we are going to provide you an in-depth, detailed guide on how to do a coverstitch on a serger.
Before we get started with walking you through and explaining how it’s done, we will first briefly explain what a cover stitch is. Next, we’ll also let you know a little more about sergers.
What Is a Cover stitch?
A cover stitch is a professional-style hem that is mostly present on garments that you buy from stores. They are used to offer a more tidy and professional look to your dress. We will describe both sides of the cloth separately. This will help you to reflect on what your end result should really look like with cover stitch.
The coverstitch from the top resembles two (or sometimes three) parallel lines. On the back, the cover stitch resembles a serger stitch where it makes a loop.
If you use two needles to sew a cover stitch, then you will obtain a double-stitch look. Using three needles will result in a triple-stitch look. Moreover, if you use two needles to do a cover stitch, then it may be narrow or wide. This depends on the fabric you are choosing and the final look you desire.
On thinner garments, a narrow coverstitch works well. However, if you have a thicker, more solid material, then a wide cover stitch is better suited. Commonly, the narrow cover stitch is used more often in pajamas and T-shirts. This is a purely a matter of preference, though.
About Sergers
A serger is a sewing machine that is used to overlock cloth to prevent it from fraying at the edges. Passing the garment through the serger hems the edges so the garment can have a finishing stitch.
In addition, a serger also consists of needles and loopers that are set according to the design and final look you want.
Quick tip: You can add numbers to your sergers as this will create no confusion. The numbers can be added in the order you have to thread the machine in (upper looper, lower looper, right needle, and left needle).
Do not forget that sergers come with tweezers too. These help you to get a hold of the thread from different angles, which are tough to handle otherwise.
Learning the Basics
Before you actually move on to learning how to do a coverstitch on a serger, let’s go through a few starter’s tips first. Here are a few reminders:
- Make sure the garment that you have to work on is properly ironed
- Make sure that you are working on the right side of the fabric
- Flip the fabric about one and a half inch and iron it again
- Remember that a coverstitch starts from the right side
How to Do a Coverstitch on a Serger
After taking care of the basics, the next step is to decide the type of hem you desire and the number of needles you are going to use. It can be a chain stitch (one needle), two-thread, or three-thread.
If you want your cover stitch to stand out and make a statement, then your looping thread should be colored. On the other hand, if you want the hem to be blend in the garment, then choose a thread of the same color preferably.
Once you have decided, simply follow these steps to do a cover stitch using a serger:
- You have to turn the hand wheel a full rotation once your serger is ready. The rotation is made towards you. The tip of the tweezers then slides under the presser foot.
- Next, you will place the cloth right side up, under the foot, and start sewing.
- Now comes a very important precautionary measure that you have to take—chaining off. Do not attempt to sew off the fabric to create a chain. While using a standard serger, you will need to sew off the fabric naturally.
- However, if you are attempting to do a cover stitch, it is important to note that the sewing is stopped at the end of the fabric. If you do not stop at the end of the fabric, then the threads will break. The thread also tangles if you do not stop sewing.
- Once the thread breaks off, you have to re-thread it again. Thus, it is vital to make sure that you follow this step very carefully.
- After stopping at the end of the fabric, turn the handwheel towards you. Keep rotating the handwheel until the needles are in their highest position. This step will make sure that the stitch becomes well secured. You will release the thread after this.
- Then, using the tip of the tweezers, pull the needles towards you. However, make sure that before you pull the needle towards you, you have lifted the presser foot.
- To obtain a starting thread for your next hem, you have to leave a four-inch tail. Make sure that you clip the threads of the needle to leave this tail.
- Next up, pull the fabric very gently from underneath the presser foot. This pulls the looper thread up so that you can now cut off the looper thread. The needle thread pulls to the wrong side, and now, the cover stitch is secured.
Quick tip: If, for instance, your cover stitch seam goes wrong, then there is a side benefit. Do not panic! All you have to do in this case is to pull the loop on the back, and the stitch will just remove itself.
Final Words
There are a number of serger machines available in the market, and this means that there is a wide variety of cover stitch styles that you can choose from. The basic concept, however, remains the same.
Whether you opt for a chain stitch or a two-thread stitch, it all depends on the outcome that you are expecting and the results that you need. Therefore, it shows that you can create a range of cover stitches by just playing around with the number of threads you are using.
While doing a cover stitch on a serger might seem a bit tricky in the start, the results are worthwhile. No matter how tricky it is, though, if you want to bring detail to your stitching, this is how you do it. Happy stitching!