Customer Reviews

Serger Secrets: High-Fashion Techniques for Creating Great-Looking Clothes (Rodale Sewing Book)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Susan Huxley and crew have done it again. Like their earlier "almost a textbook" classic, "Sewing Secrets from the Fashion Industry," their new book covers introductory basics and proceeds through an alpha section on specific techniques. The introductory section includes pages and pages of charts on threads, stitches, needles and special use stitches. All include clear photographs, careful descriptions and appropriate uses. The photographs of current machines get right IN there better than you can right in front of your own machine. To whet your appetite for decorative serging there follows a photo gallery of dozens of gorgeous garments serged with techniques explained in the encyclopedic section. The encylopedic section covers just about every decorative serger technique conceivable plus some. There are twenty-one pages on heirloom sewing alone and seven different decorative uses for flatlocking. Each entry provides the details on machine settings, feet, fabric, threads and notions. The detail is summarized for each in a sidebar; the accompanying text goes into more detail and the photographs are actually helpful. The five authors of this book have produced some absolutely gorgeous wearable art - that is actually wearable. Agnes Mercik's bomber jackets will have you all running to the fabric stores to get your own jackets started. Linda Lee Vivian and Mary Griffin's heirloom sewing make make me give up Victoria's Secret - I'll do my own lingerie now thank you. Ok so there are some 'goofyisms' in the text -- probably the editorial team should have made sure the whole thing was reviewed by at least one of the five authors. For example, the caption under one photograph of the guts of a five thread machine (I happen to own the same model) states that all three loopers are never threaded at the same time. Oops. Of course they are -- you don't get a five thread stitch otherwise. Just as in "Sewing Secrets from the Fashion Industry" you chalk some stuff off as endearing oversights. ("Sewing Secrets" advocates trimming most seam allowances BEFORE sewing. And how, one asks, would one do any fitting adjustments then?) So what?! You wouldn't be referring to this book if you didn't even know how to thread your machine. Are you ready to really push the serger envelope past overlocking edges? Grab this book at this great price and get your serger screaming!

Subtitled "High fashion techniqus for creating great-looking clothes" the illustrations and instructions are thorough. There are two drawbacks: a substantial amount of decorative stitching described is not available on the average serger. In fact, one of the more attractive decorative stitches in the book was for a Bernina serger that wasn't yet on the market at the time of publication. There are a lot of creative suggestions anyone can use, but you may feel "left-out" because much is geared to coverlockers that also do chainstitching and a lot of the decorative work is chainstitch-based. After reading it, I felt like I needed a new serger and the one I have is less than a year old! Second, the "Garment Gallery" is too long, my opinion. The seamstresses are rightly proud of their work, but it was more than I wanted to see. That said, if you are well acquainted with your serger's basic stitching, and want to explore its creative potential, this is a great book full of tips and ideas.

I got my first serger a few months back, a high end Husqvarna Viking Serger, the Huskylock 936, which has 5 thread serging as well as cover stitch (incl chain stitch) capabilities. I must admit, I felt quite intimidated, since there is a huge step from understanding and mastering an ordinary sewing machine to understanding and mastering such a 5 thread wonder, with all it's parts, threading etc. The Huskylock 936 is wonderful in that it is computerized and when you pick which seam you want to use and the type of fabric, it tells you which tension etc. to use. But, no matter how much automatic stuff, if you sew quite a bit, the time comes where you have to adjust settings to get the result you want, especially if you want to sew on challenging fabrics using challenging threads, ribbon, yarn etc. for special effects. No matter which year model of serger you have, whether it is computerized or not, sergers are pretty much the same. When I look into mine, I see the same basic parts as on other brands and models and also have no problems understanding the explanations in Serger Secrets, even if they show it on different/older sergers. For that reason I strongly disagree with the reviewer who gave a super low score saying that "Sergers has come a long way in 10 years", indicating that the sergers in this books were obsolete and that this book won't be of help if you have a new serger. I could not disagree more! I must say, after getting the book, I read it quite quickly, as it was so easy to read and understand, everything felt really useful and for that reason it was even fun and excited reading. I could not put it down and got read eager to start trying out all the techniques etc. that the book shows you, amongst others because I started feeling like I really understood how this machine works. That help is really good to get, it really gives you a lift. I must add though, that when I looked at serger books here on Amazon, I found it difficult to choose, I felt like getting a few, as several seemed really nice. I had to decide on getting one basic book to learn me how to work the machine and how to be able to get everything out of it that it can do. I have not regretted at all that I chose this book for that! I chose to add one other book though: The Ultimate Serger Answer Guide: Troubleshooting for Any Overlock Brand or Model (Creative Machine Arts Series). I felt that it would be useful to have that one as a reference book in handling problems that could arise. The latter one is IMO not the type of book you just read through, but when I find myself having to handle a challenge, I look the problem up in that guide and easily (every time) finds the solution. The book list several possible answers, but most of the time the first option has solved it for me! It simply lets me solve things without any frustrations, which is worth a lot. When I start a project and I'm unsure about something, I quickly look it up in Serger Secrets to remind me of what I already read - just love this book for that. It really gives me all the answers I need. The intimidation I felt at first, was gone after reading a bit of this book, since it quickly gave me the confidence to start experimenting, and when I was done reading it, I felt real confident that I would be able to learn the ropes necessary to have a ball with my new serger, creating clothes and other things for myself/others. For any person new to serging, or those that never got started with the serger they got quite a while ago, I can't recommend this book enough and the same goes for the other one I mentioned. They are a perfect pair and no doubt a must have, as I see it! Since I mostly sew with knits and would like to learn all the techniques used for such fabrics, I ended up adding a third book after a while, Singer Sewing with Knits (Singer Sewing Reference Library), also a super easy to read book which has so many useful techniques for creating clothing from knit fabrics. Couldn't put that one down either when I got it and use it to look up things when needed. That book is also an older book, only available used (from only $0.97-2.71, I got mine at $0.99 and to my surprise it was new even if it was sold as used), but it really does not matter that it is 18 years old! What it shows you, are techniques as usual and useful today as they were when the book was new in 1992 (it really doesn't matter that the photo's show outdated clothing!). These three books really has been great, they're giving me the results I want! Getting that professional finish without going through the frustration of having to figure things out by trial and error (or not being able to do certain things) or having to go to a course to learn, is really great! Can't ask for more!

And, real important to me, nothing has been too complicated for me to utilize, including language wise (with English not being my native language). I really appreciate it when books are as easy to read and understand as this one (and the other two I referred to)!

Can not recommend this book enough, IMHO it is even a steal at only $15 (or down to $8 new/used from Amazon affiliates)! :)

Truly excellent, I refer to it all the time for creative ideas. Just like other books on sewing, some ideas are a little cheesy for my taste. Having said that, I still think this is the best creative serging guide out there. I love the serged toggle buttons, flatlocked zipper, chain stiched details, serged French seam and the keyhole back placket serging guide. My clothes have never looked better! As for the machine, they have suggestions on how to adapt sergers with fewer stitches. I bought my machine used & factory serviced--it was a much better buy than paying the same money for a new machine with fewer options.

I just bought my serger, and so far I've been so afraid of it I haven't even taken it out of the box! I've purchased about 7 books on serging, and out of all those this is THE one. Don't let the title intimidate you with the phrase "High-fashion"; it's very easy to understand, even for a newbie, and every technique is fully illustrated with plenty of photos. Rodale is known for their clear, concise, and well-written books, and this one is no exception. It is amazing how much info they packed into this book. It is truly comprehensive, covering every technique, and on every page there's a tip-box that offers wonderful little tricks to make life easier. If you have a serger, you HAVE to have this book; if you're a sewer without a serger I guarantee you'll still learn a lot from this book. Every page is inspiring, filled with beautiful garments and projects that will have you running to your sewing studio. Now, I'm going to go take my new baby out of that box!!!

Depending on what type of serger you have (3/4, 2-3-4, five thread, coverlock) you can do a variety of stitches. Ok, then. What do you DO with those stitches? You can do more than seam and overcast and trim. You can do more than coverstitch hems.

This book has a great set of photos and ideas for each type of stitch, from flat lock, to rolled hem, to three stitch overlock to coverstitch. There is a gallery of garments demonstrating their use in creative projects.

If you read this book carefully, you will find ideas for your serger. For example, I have an older 2-3-4 thread machine that can do a rolled hem, a flatlock, a three or four thread overlock but not a coverstitch or chain stitch. (For that, you need a five-thread with a coverstitch attachment, and a way to block the upper looper.) Well, until I read this book, I really didn't understand all that.. Newer machines have, in some cases, LCD's that display the stitch types you can do and how to set them up. But many machines just have a manual and unless you take a class, you have to figure all this out. So now, I have ideas on how to use the stitches on my machine, which is a rather out-of-date machine bought almost 20 years ago, but which is absolutely a solid performer.

I liked in particular the ideas for faux piping. Piping is done normally by inserting a covered cord into a seam. This embellishment makes for a very finished look along a seamline, or accents the lines of a garment or the edges of upholstery and slipcovers and pillows. If you DON'T have a the right color piping or want to bypass the lengthy process to make your own piping, you can stitch a rolled hem using the right thread (something that provides denseness to the stitch) and then using a zipper foot on your standard sewing machine, stitch a seam along side the rolled hem. Voila--piping or what looks like piping. To get the color you want, simply buy the right color and type of thread. There is also an idea for piping using bulk, discount zippers, the ones you can pick up at warehouses or sales in bundles. The coil of nylon can be used to pipe along a seam. (Metal zipper, no, nylon zipper, si.) This can be a very appealing accent on sport clothing and outerwear.

Heirloom stitching is covered, as well as lace, elastic and ideas for various uses of flatlock and chain. The gallery garments may look a bit dated; this is a difficulty of all sewing books. Eventually, high button shoes and bustles are going to go out of style--that is, until they come into style again. Meanwhile, you can see the echoes of the elegant and overly ornate 80's in some of the work in this book. The sassy and gothy New Millenium designs have a different vibe, so you, the young and stylish designer and sewist, will have to adapt them to your own ideas. But--you WILL. For example, a cute, 70's inspired print jacket could benefit from faux piped pockets. Or perhaps you would pipe your boned goth corset with zippers.

The only thing that annoyed me in this book was a lack of a table showing what machines can do what stitches --not all machines of same type can do all stitches, but there are general rules for sergers; ie you need a 5-thread to do chaining, you can't do certain stitches with a simple 3 or 3-4. I wanted to see some kind of appendix listing this kind of information. Instead, you page through the various stitch types and look at what they can do and read a box in the corner left that shows the stitch set-up and materials needed. That's great--this info box is helpful. But if you don't realize that your machine cannot do a chain stitch, then it's annoying to look at all the goodies, then realize that technique is something you are not going to be able to do unless you upgrade your machine.

But this book is excellent reading and a great jumping-off point to learn creative ideas for what you can do with your serger. I came away with many ideas, and this is one of my favorite serger books.

I am fairly new to serging; I had accomplished the basic skills and purchased this book hoping to discover some new techniques and to get step-by-step directions for other techniques I had seen or heard of but wasn't quite sure of how to accomplish them. It wasn't quite what I expected - there aren't too many creative, innovative techniques you won't find elsewhere, but what you will find is very detailed and easy to follow information on basic techniques of garment construction. I was amazed at the ease in which some of the tasks you've traditionally done on the sewing machine can be converted to a serger in techniques that are much faster, less trouble and with really professional results. The writing is clear and concise and very easy to follow and the pictures are remarkable. Although I don't make a lot of clothing projects, I'm sure I'll get a lot of use from this book. For anyone who primarily sews clothing and is learning to serge, this book will be an absolute treasure. There's also good information on some other basics that we all need to know - how the serger works, care and maintenance, thread choices and much more. This is a good book to have on hand and I'm sure I'll refer back to it often.

I'm new to serging and wanted to know what kind of tasks my new machine will accomplish. This book fills the bill very well. Although I'm not necessarily going to try to repeat some of the featured projects, they do offer a good selection of ideas and demonstrate how much you can do with your serger. For home sewers used to only a sewing machine, it's an eye-opener.

Absolute beginners will want another book to supplement this one; it doesn't have much to say about set-up and mastering basic stitches.

Unfortunately when reading all the rave reviews about this book I failed to notice the posting dates, most before 2000. I have a new serger and was looking forward to learning from this book but sergers have come along way in 10 years and this is out-of-date in every way. Don't bother.

I ordered this book because of its description and because I wanted to determine my need for an updated serger machine. Serger Secrets: High-Fashion Techniques for Creating Great-Looking Clothes gives very clear directions, multiple photos of cut pieces, stitching, and the finished product. It uses insert lists for settings and materials, with Fast Fix notes for troubleshooting. I am finding it very helpful in seeing all that I can do with my present serger and hope to purchase a new serger after I've saved more money. The High Fashion techniques show how the professional readywear is made. It was just what I was looking for in this book.