Bernette Serger

It's time for a walk down memory lane. I have many fond memories of my grandmother teaching me to sew. My sisters and I would spend part of our summers with her. We would work long hours making outfits for ourselves and Christmas gifts for our parents. She taught us at a very young age how to use and care for a sewing machine. As a result, I am very comfortable with sewing machines.

The serger, however, scared me to death. If you don't know what a serger is, you should look at some YouTube videos. It's a machine that cuts and/or does an overlock stitch to finish the edge of piece of fabric. Suffice it to say it took a long time for me to get used to those knives and needles chopping away at the dress I had just spent so much time and love on. What if my hand slipped and I made it crooked? Or the fabric got bunched and I cut a big hole where there shouldn't be one? (I have made that fatal mistake on several occasions.)

When I inherited my grandmother's serger years ago, I was still unsure of it. When I was young and it came time to hem a project at Grandma's house, the serger would magically be threaded with the right color. So, when I tried to use it the first time on my own, I had to reverse-engineer how to thread it. At this point, a picture or two might be helpful:

Dealing with 4 threads, 2 knives, and 2 needles takes some serious skill

After a few years of practice, I grew to love this machine, even depend on it at times. Though, I never did learn how to properly clean it. I think that was my biggest mistake.

Grandma always took immaculate care of her machines. She would oil and clean them frequently and take them to get serviced regularly. I, on the other hand, have trouble remembering just to take out the trash. So, here we are about 6 years after I was entrusted with the care of this wonderful machine, and I'm just now getting it in for service. And that's only because it's not working. I'm a horrible person! I know!

Well, the nice man at the repair center told me it's an expensive fix. It has a broken drive gear, which will apparently be an expensive part. AND there is no guarantee he'll be able to find one, as this is such an old machine. I am just dying inside right now! How could I let this happen?

Well, I'm not sure if Grandma would be upset, or excited for an excuse to go buy a new one. I still haven't decided what to do yet. I might try to fix it, or I might trade it in for a new machine. I need to think on it a while.

There is one last cool thing I want to share about this machine. I hadn't given it much thought until the woman at the sewing center commented on it. Grandma's serger had a mat for the pedal, so it would stay in one place and you wouldn't have to chase it around the floor with your foot.

I always thought it was one piece, that it was built like that. But the woman at the store took off the mat so I could take it home (fewer items means less liability for them, I guess).

It's called a "pedal stall." She put velcro on the pedal to hold it onto the mat. I've looked and can't find anything quite like it. The woman at the store thought it was a car mat. I suppose you could use a car mat if you could find one small enough. I thought it was an odd little thing, but useful. Might be something worthwhile to investigate for my other machine.