7 Clever Overlocker Tips

Hi, I'm Lucy from So Essential and today I'm sharing with you some of my favorite overlocking

tips

, so I'll help you solve some of those really annoying problems you're dealing with, but I'll also show you some lovely inspiration for some great decorative techniques you can do. create on your

overlocker

Have you ever had a hard time sewing your neckband with that weird part at the end where you need to line up the stitches and it's always a little uneven and bulky or have you had a hard time getting over a bulky seam? or I was wondering how can I hem if I don't have a sewing machine, how could I do that on my

overlocker

?

Well today I will answer these questions and more in the video, everything I talk about today is available on our lovely website. where you will find a wide variety of overlockers and the accessories to combine them, so check it out and if you like what you see today, like and subscribe. One of the things I've had the most trouble with when using my overlocker or cover stitch. The machine is overcoming those bulky seams, you hold your breath as you approach it and then the machine starts hammering as you pass it and it doesn't progress properly with this handy little tip being eradicated, so here I've sewn my joint the collar on the shorter edges the normal way and then you would fold the wrong sides to attach them to the top, but here you would have a lot of volume where those seams are a lot of layers of fabric to go through, so to reduce that make a little fold where you are going to fold and then cut up to the seam line, be careful not to cut into the seam line of the sleeve, this will allow you to push the seam allowances in opposite directions which will cut the volume in half and make it much .

It's easier for your overlocker to overcome that bulky seam, so you finally got the technique right for adding a neckband to a t-shirt in jersey fabric. You know how much to stretch it and how to pin it in place, but what about that pesky part? at the end, where you have to line up the points and it never turns out right and you always end up with a little bit of volume and a little bit of unevenness in that section, well, let me show you how you can prevent that from happening. This is happening again, so here I've pinned the neckband to the top of the mockup in the usual way, pinning it all around, but it's usually very difficult to maneuver the stitches in and out of the fabric because it still You haven't cut any fabric. so here I have cut out a section of the ready fabric, I have cut out the neck band and top and the cut out section is as long as from the needles to the front of the foot or a little longer and then I have calculated how much excess of fabric will be trimmed which is governed by my seam allowance and that's how wide you want that section to be and then you'll see why because this will allow me to get the fabric under the foot so I can start sewing. in exactly the right place and then I can line up the blade and make sure it continues to trim the excess fabric in exactly the same place and then I don't have to maneuver the stitches over the fabric to the right place. they're already starting in the right place and that makes everything a lot neater, it makes everything line up beautifully, you're not going to have that weird bulky part at the end or a uniform part at the end, so I'm just going to start sewing and I'm using my guides exactly the same way I normally do, the guides to know where the needles are placed and just trimming off the excess fabric by sewing the normal way, stretching the neck band and it's going to give me much better results that if you were just trying to maneuver the stitches on the neckband and this can be used anytime you're sewing in the round on an overlocker, it's a really useful technique to master and you know the more you practice it the more you'll get better and better at it. sure and then I'm going to slow down because I want to show you this section, which is the bulky seam that I showed you in the previous video, how easily my overlocker sews over that. bulky seam, I know it would be difficult to get through normally, but because I divided those seam allowances like I showed you in the previous video, it makes it much easier for the overlocker to get through it and it doesn't hammer. ending that problem at that point, we're almost back to the beginning where I first started sewing, so this is the crucial stage, so just slow down here, make sure everything is lined up precisely, you want to make sure that the points are going to line up with where you initially started them and then also that the sheet is going to line up and just trim the excess fabric to join with that original trim section, so we'll continue sewing, line everything up now that you know how much they overlap, I like to overlap with a few stitches, I just like to make sure everything is nice and secure and then I find that if I run the chain of stitches almost at right angles by maneuvering the fabric, this allows me to have better control of that excess chain of stitches and then I just use a tapestry needle to run them through the stitches that are on the neck band just to tidy things up and trim any excess, but you can see everything is fine and even there is not a big lump which I have tried putting it on and taking it off and it just gives you really great professional results.

If you're like me, you love pretty ruching or pretty ruffles and it's great that they've been so popular in recent years, but sewing gathered stitches can be a little time consuming, a little messy and annoying. Well now I will show you a technique where you can sew them in just a few minutes on your overlocker. It will be the easiest technique. that you've ever used to sew gathers, so I have my overlock machine set up for a standard four thread overlock stitch and I'm going to increase the differential feed by two and I'm going to increase the stitch length to the maximum, which is four in my machine and then you literally start sewing and it's as simple as that, you're going to create beautiful gathers in this fabric.

Now the gathers are quite subtle here, so if you want to exaggerate them or manipulate them in some way, just gently pull on the middle thread and that will allow you to increase the effect and exaggerate the effect, it's most effective on woven fabrics, but you can also do it on jersey fabrics very successfully and if you use this method of pulling that thread to exaggerate and manipulate the gathers, oh my goodness, how easy is that, much easier than sewing rows of stitches. A rolled hem is a beautiful decorative finish often used on particularly delicate fabrics, but it can be time-consuming to sew by hand or very complicated and difficult to make. sew on a sewing machine well now I'm going to show you how you can create it using your overlocker faster than ever before and get that beautiful finish so we're going to use three threads to create this beautiful roll. hem effect I'm using a needle.

I chose the stitch width and chose the rolled hem option on my machine. I selected d on the stitch selector and then threaded the loops. Now your machine may not have some of these features, so you will have to consult the manual, you may have to remove the left or right needle and you may have to work with a narrow stitch and possibly adjust the tensions as well of the loop, so consult the manual and practice with pieces of fabric first, but once you've got it right, see how easily you can create that beautiful rolled hem effect.

This time I used standard threads, but you can use decorative threads like the woolly nylon that we sell on our website for thicker, more decorative stitches, and if you run a chain of stitches, you even have little belt loops here that you could use too, and Have you ever heard of a lettuce edge hem. No, it gets its name because it replicates that beautiful ruffled edge of a lettuce leaf and you can create this. in your overlocker with such ease. I've seen this technique used on so many garments on the high street this year. It looks great worn on a turtleneck, perhaps double layered to give it more ruffles, and it's also a lovely way to finish the edges of your sleeves. let me show you how you can create that feature quickly and easily on your overlocker, so here's a beautiful lettuce border that I made earlier on a stretch fabric.

It just uses the same setting as the three thread rolled hem, but you have to hit your differential feed down so it stretches the fabric as you sew through the overlocker, so we just start, sometimes it's a little hard to start because the stitches are very short and dense, but if you just sew there the normal way. I've used a contrasting thread so you can see the effect, but if you were doing it on a garment I would probably use a matching thread and as I say, I've seen this effect on so many garments on the street this year. and it looks really pretty it's a lovely feminine effect to wear so I just run the fabric through the normal way and you can see it's very gently ribbed now if I stretch the fabric which just exaggerates things and creates this beautiful feminine lettuce border.

Going through straps, especially those small and complicated ones that you put on blouses and dresses, is very annoying, right? Well, this technique will show you how to do it on your overlocker faster and easier than ever before, so here you go. I have the fabric for my strap and I'm going to run a chain of stitches much longer than the strap itself. I'm only using a full thread overlock so the machines just set it up for a standard four thread overlay and then we'll lay out the strap fabric with the chain stitch running down the center of the right side of the fabric and then we'll stitch it together. the long edges together to fold them right sides and place the chain of stitches in the center. of the strap so now you can guess how this is all going to work and then what we're going to do is make sure that the chain stitch is right in the center of the strap so it doesn't get caught.

At the stitches we are about to sew, we will place the fabric under the foot and then start sewing the fabric right sides together and as you sew, be very careful to make sure the chain of stitches is placed correctly down. the center of the fabric, make sure it doesn't get caught in the stitches you're sewing because otherwise the technique won't work so you have to be very careful and aware of that, but again, it's another one of these techniques once you If you do it a few times you know you'll have them ready in no time and it's a lot easier when you're trying to create those complicated papers and straps and that kind of stuff for some of the garments that you make and that gives you a beautiful finish as well and neat and it's nice to see that there are so many different uses for your overlock besides finishing the seams so we run the chain and cut it and then you're going to pull the stitch chain. that runs down the center of the fabric, just pull gently and then you may have to tuck the ends in to start.

Things never go that well when you're filming, I can tell you that, but yeah, just gently pull and tuck the end in and then you'll see the strap start to spin. You want to be careful not to break that chain of stitches as you pull on it. Be gentle, but you can just pull it through and your strap will be flipped and sewn all in one, so you finally got an overlocker and sewed a beautiful t-shirt on it, but you really don't want to go for that double-needle hem look that you're never with completely happy. the results you get with your sewing machine with that technique, why not try this alternative way of hemming a garment using your overlocker for a fun way to finish those hems.

So I pressed my hem up onto the fabric and then I'm going, I've activated the safety on my overlock to make sure the blades don't work and I'm going to fold the hem over on itself and work from the wrong side of the fabric, lining up the hem edge with the I fold the fabric and then I'm going to place it under the foot of my overlocker and I want the stitches to catch the folded edge of the fabric as I sew so the right needle stitches just go. To catch that and I'm going to go through the fabric, I'm using a woven fabric, but I really think this technique would be better on a jersey fabric.

If you don't have a sewing machine, you can make a blind hem. also an overlocker, but I just wanted to show you this fun little technique so you have a nice row of stitches on the inside and then on the outside you have this fun little band that I think would look great on a t-shirt. -shirt and it's a really quick and easy way to get a nice finish on those hems, so I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope it gave you the confidence to give it a try and try some new techniques with your overlocker.

Do much more than just finished stitching and you can have a lot of fun with them. All of today's clips were filmed using my Baby Lock Wish 3 Cover Lock machine, which is a combination cover lock and cover stitch machine. You can find it on our website. and I will show the linkbelow but we also stock all the other big brands and have all the accessories to go with them so hop on over and check them out and if you like what you see today please like and subscribe and I hope to see you again .