allorache
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Date: 1/20/13 10:04 PM SO I did my first tablecloth using a rolled hem with my bew Babylock Evolution. (actually 2 tablecloths and 4 napkins) Yay! But I had trouble with the serger tails at the corners. I tried folding each end under as I started the new side, but apparently that didn't work as I still wound up with the tails. I tried the big double-eyed needle where you slide your tails under the stitches, but the rolled hem stitch is just too narrow to slide under there. I didn't want to use fray check. I thought I could just fold over the tails and sew a couple of stitches with my sewing machine, but I couldn't seem to hit the right spot, I was stitching off the edge entirely or inside of the tablecloth from the rolled hem. So I wound up folding the tails down and hand-stitching them at the corners....but now I still have 2 napkins to go and the corners are taking me more time than all the cutting and serging. Any other ideas?? Thanks ------
Now a Babylock girl almost all the way - Ellegante 3, Evolution, and Melody. Plus a Sailrite LSZ-1 for those heavy duty projects |
Pj3g
 
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Date: 1/21/13 3:33 PM I saw Nancy Zieman (Nancy's Notions) do this on TV. Then tried it myself and it worked.
Nancy put Fray Check on what she didn't want to come undone, and then ironed it till it was dry. She said if you iron Fray Check dry it will dry soft instead of it's usual hardishness (is that a word?) I tried it and it worked--it dried soft! So I would put Fray Check on your corners, iron dry and then clip the tails after the Fray Check is dry. And then you won't have crispy Fray Check corners on your napkins. A rolled hem is too small to bury thread tails in.
Nancy just plopped her iron down on whatever she had Fray Checked without a care in the world. I was afraid to do that and so I used a teflon ironing sheet above and below what I was Fray Checking and ironing.
Next time I would curve your corners so you'd only have to deal with one thread tail. Use a small glass or cup and set it in the napkin corner, trace the curve and serge it off.
Before I hit the 'Post Message' button I did a quick search and found a tip about ironing Fray Check dry to make it soft She says to steam but I don't recall Nancy saying that.
-- Edited on 1/21/13 3:40 PM -- ------
Thank you Lord for my Mother who taught me the joy of sewing. |
Doris W. in TN
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Date: 1/21/13 3:42 PM Quote: Pj3g
Nancy put Fray Check on what she didn't want to come undone, and then ironed it till it was dry. She said if you iron Fray Check dry it will dry soft instead of it's usual hardishness (is that a word?) I tried it and it worked--it dried soft!
I Fray Check rolled hems, too, but I've never heard to iron it for softness. I am going to have to try this. Thank you for the tip! |
Doris W. in TN
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Date: 1/21/13 3:44 PM Quote: allorache
.but now I still have 2 napkins to go and the corners are taking me more time than all the cutting and serging. Any other ideas?? Thanks
ON cloth table napkins, I knot that tail (overkill, I know ...) always put FrayCheck on it, then snip next to the tail once it is all dry. The other four corners of the napkin just get a small drop of FrayChek. I've got some cloth napkins I serged that have been washed & dried for years, and the corners have held up quite well. |
allorache
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OR USA
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Date: 1/21/13 10:47 PM Thanks all. I hope to get better at corners so I can at least reduce the amount of tails.... ------
Now a Babylock girl almost all the way - Ellegante 3, Evolution, and Melody. Plus a Sailrite LSZ-1 for those heavy duty projects |
nitsel
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AR
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Date: 1/21/13 11:33 PM Thanks for passing that tip along! Fray Check is great, but some things just don't need a stiff, pokey place. |
tourist
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Date: 1/21/13 11:41 PM You can curve the corners as mentioned, which makes it much easier. But the real trick is just going very slightly past the corner - maybe only one stitch? - lightly pull the stitch off the stitch finger and turn the corner. It takes a bit of patience and practice, like anything.
But you are starting your rolled hem on the side, not the corner, right? Much easier to manage the ending tails that way than on a corner. ------
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Doris W. in TN
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Date: 1/22/13 10:40 AM Quote: tourist
But the real trick is just going very slightly past the corner - maybe only one stitch? - lightly pull the stitch off the stitch finger and turn the corner.
I turn my corners that way, too.
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Jodi B.
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VA USA
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1 member likes this. Fray Block (sometimes found in the quilting section instead) works as well as Fray Check and dries soft naturally. I use it all the time now instead of Fray Check. |
allorache
Advanced Beginner
OR USA
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Date: 1/22/13 10:41 PM total serger newbie....no...I was starting at a corner and then doing each side. So better to start somewhere in the middle? I really have to get doing corners right that way.... ------
Now a Babylock girl almost all the way - Ellegante 3, Evolution, and Melody. Plus a Sailrite LSZ-1 for those heavy duty projects |
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