[bright music]
- Hi, I'm Pam Mahshie with BERNINA USA.
I'm here today to share with you some great ways
of using some overlock stitches, maybe in a basic way,
but you know me, I can't just stop at basic.
So I'm going to show you some very creative ways too,
of using those basic overlock stitches
and maybe a chain or cover stitch too.
Now let's take a look at some of the basic stitches
and how you may apply them
or use them in your project.
The first we're going to look at
is a 4-thread overlock stitch.
With that 4-thread stitch,
you're going to find that you have two needle threads
and you have both your upper looper thread
and your lower looper thread to form that stitch.
Now, you may look at this
and say, "Wow, that looks like a really wide stitch."
Well, what you're able to do
is adjust the width of your stitch
down to a quarter of an inch,
an exact quarter of an inch stitch.
'Cause I know all of you quilters
are really interested in learning how to use your machine
for fast sewing speed
and accurate quarter inch piecing.
Now, there are some techniques
that we're going to look at in just a little bit
that you might say,
"Well, I don't know if I can use my overlock for that,"
and there are many applications
that you may not want to use your overlock machine in.
But when we get to long strips and piecing,
speed is important and also accuracy is important.
So we're going to look at, on the machine in a minute,
exactly how that's going to be done
and how you can adjust the stitch to a quarter of an inch.
Now, when you look at the stitch,
you might also wonder why would we use a 3-thread stitch
instead of the 4-thread stitch?
So when we look at this sample,
you'll also notice that we've used just three threads,
both in a little wider setting.
This again is our quarter of an inch setting,
and this is even a little narrower setting.
When you work with a 3-thread stitch,
the 3-thread stitch would allow for your seam
to be a little bit more full,
and we'll look more at the machine again.
And when we're working with heavier fabrics,
you may prefer four threads over three threads.
But again, it just depends how you like your stitch
and your seam allowance to look.
The other stitch that I have here
is a stitch that you may look at
and say, "Well, that looks just like a stitch
"on my sewing machine."
And I'm going to flip it over
because it might be a little harder to see
because it's yellow on this fabric.
On the back side, you'll see that we have a chain stitch.
Now that chain stitch,
just like it works on your sewing machine,
you can have a stitch that flat,
you could press a seam allowance open if you wanted to.
So when you look at setting your machine, you can set it,
whether you're wanting to have a straight stitch
or you're wanting to use an overlock stitch
for your different sewing applications.
You might also wonder what happens
when I'm going to do any stitching for quilting,
with the piecing of our projects I just showed you
using a 4-thread overlock stitch.
This quilt was actually strip-pieced together
using a 4-thread stitch,
and then the longarm stitching was placed
right on top of our quilt.
It does not add any extra bulk at all
when you're going to be using a 4-thread overlock
to join your strips together.
If you're going to be concerned about any bulk,
you may want to use that chain stitch
that I showed you earlier.
This quilt, as well as this quilt,
were both gifted to me from Nancy Zieman,
and are from her book Quick Column Quilts .
This quilt in particular is also a quilt-as-you-go project
or technique that is used.
And I'm going to show you a way of using
a 4-thread overlock for quilt-as-you-go,
and you're going to find that it greatly reduces
the bulk that you have in your seams.
So let's come on over to the machine and take a look
at how we're going to be setting up our machine
for making these different stitches.
All right, so let's take a look at the BERNINA 890 machine
that we're going to be working on.
You're going to look at the machine itself and say,
"Are you really sitting in front of an overlock machine?"
This is our newest machine in the line,
and I absolutely love it.
You're going to find that when you come to the screen,
you're going to have different types of stitches
that you can choose from right on the screen itself.
So we're going to start with the overlock stitch.
So I'll just simply select overlock,
and I'm going to select 4-thread overlock stitching.
All of your stitches are indicated here
on this touch screen,
and you can select any of those stitches.
But we're going to go to a 4-thread overlock stitch.
Here, it will give us the settings
that we're going to need
for the different settings of pressure on your presser foot
or your stitch width.
Now remember earlier, I said that our stitch width
was going to be set at 5.5.
So we set our cutting width and stitch width at 5.5
to give us that accurate quarter of an inch stitch.
Now, when I'm ready to thread, all I need to do
is thread the needles, which are already threaded,
and I'm going to thread the loopers.
And now I've used all the same color threads.
That's the way you would be stitching
on your project as well.
So to thread, I'm just simply going to place
the thread into the ports
and nozzles and just send that thread through
for both my upper and lower looper.
Now, once I have that set,
all I need to do is close everything up
and I'm ready to sew.
So I simply take my strips of fabric
and I'm going to rest them in front of the presser foot.
Now your feed dogs are long enough
so that it will pick up the edge of that fabric
and feed it through.
You'll also notice that there's a small notch
that's there on the presser foot.
I'm going to talk about the raised marks guides
in just a minute.
But the little recessed notch that's there
is actually the marking for your cutting blade,
which is a great place to position your fabric
as you're guiding it in.
So as I stitch, because it's set at a quarter of an inch,
I'm simply guiding my fabric in, skimming the edge of the fabric
[sewing machine whirring]
for that quarter of an inch stitch, okay?
Now, that's a basic way of using your machine for piecing
and putting your projects together.
But what happens if you're going to be working
with the quilt-as-you-go, as we mentioned earlier?
The quilt-as-you-go is a technique
that of course we start with your backing fabric,
your batting fabric,
and then the front, okay?
And we layer those all together.
Now, when we set the next piece of fabric,
we're going to be placing right sides to right sides.
Then I like to place my piece of batting
right on top.
And then we're going to flip this over
and take our backing piece,
and again, it's right sides together for the backing.
So now you're going to have six layers of sandwich
that you've created on your seam.
You do also have pressure adjustment.
So I can adjust the pressure on my presser foot
to accommodate for that added thickness.
And as I raise the presser foot and slide the fabric under,
I want to rest it right against that mark again
that we have on the presser foot.
So now as we stitch, you'll be able to see that
it's accommodating that added thickness.
And after I get this stitched out,
I'm going to show you the stitch.
[sewing machine whirring]
Okay?
Now, let's take a look at this stitch.
This stitch, the 4-thread stitch,
is actually going to compress.
Remember earlier, I mentioned
how a 4-thread stitch will compress your seam.
So this 4-thread stitch with all of those layers
is now compressing the seam allowance
so that when we open the back layer,
oops, let me separate that
'cause we have two strips here, okay?
So now when I open this up, I have a flatter seam
where I've joined together--
and it might be a little easier to see it on this side
because of that lighter-colored fabric.
But here, my seam is going to be much flatter.
If I would choose to do a 3-thread stitch,
before I add the other strip,
what I'm going to do is simply finish the edge
so that it's joining together all three layers.
Many times, what will happen is when you're stitching
and you'll see it happened right here,
see how I missed one of those layers of fabric?
To prevent that, what I like to do is simply stitch,
narrowing my stitch width, narrow down your stitch width,
and just simply stitch right along the edge.
[sewing machine whirring]
So now that I have this stitched,
it's going to be much easier for me
to place right sides together, back to back.
Back strip to back strip.
You're going to place right sides together on the front,
and again, place your batting
on top of all of those layers, okay?
Then simply move your stitch width
back to that setting of 5.5, which is going to give us that
quarter of an inch stitch.
And here, if you would prefer then
to use a 3-thread stitch,
you could simply cut the needle thread for the right needle,
slide that thread out,
and what I'm going to do is select a 3-thread stitch.
So I have a 3-thread overlock stitch
that I'm going to select for a wide 3-thread stitch.
[machine beeping]
3-thread wide overlock.
So now it's already adjusted
any of the settings that I would need,
and I have all of those layers together.
And with that 3-thread, as I stitch,
it's going to, again, encase the edge,
but I don't have the bulkiness
because I've already compressed the seam
using the 4-thread stitch.
[sewing machine whirring]
Keep your layers even as you stitch.
[sewing machine whirring]
And you may also want to increase your stitch length
just a little bit on the machine
when you're working with all of these layers
and thicknesses, so that it does feed through.
What you don't want to do
is as you stitch on your overlock machines,
you don't wanna pull the fabric through.
Just let the machine feed it for you.
[sewing machine whirring]
So here I've simply used that 3-thread stitch
to join the layers together.
And when I open my seam,
because I had finished those layers together,
I know I've caught all the layers
and I have condensed that seam.
If I would choose to use a 3-thread stitch only
and join another strip together,
what would happen is my stitch...
my seam would actually be thicker
and it would have more loft to it.
[sewing machine whirring]
All right, so now you would have
this quilt-as-you-go technique super easy and fast,
and the Quick Column Quilts book is a great way
and a great book to use
when you're wanting to make a quick quilt
to give as a baby gift.
Now, when we look at the 3-threads,
since we're on a 3-thread stitch,
you know me, I just can't wait to show you
some decorative ways to use your 3-thread stitch.
So here's an example of using that 3-thread stitch
that I'm on right now on the machine,
but using some decorative thread.
So by using decorative thread in your loopers
will really enhance the look of that stitch,
whether you're wanting to use it on the seam itself
or if you're wanting to use it for some decorative work,
maybe on a binding.
We'll show you that in a minute too.
But I do wanna share with you this.
So as you're stitching,
when you work with decorative thread,
decorative thread has different weights to it.
And with these different weights,
you're going to find heavier thick threads.
And remember, the higher the number,
the thinner the thread, okay?
Low number, thick thread.
So this is an 8 weight thread,
and that's what I used to stitch on this sample.
So when I stitch with this,
if my stitch length is too close together,
you'll see that the thread kind of bunches up
and it doesn't lay very nice.
Lengthen your stitch,
and your stitches will lay smoother
between each of the stitches that are formed,
and you're also going to be able to have
a much more attractive looking stitch.
Whether it's going to be this nine millimeter wide stitch,
or it's going to be the narrower.
This is that 5.5 stitch width
that we've been working with for our seaming.
But by using a decorative thread,
you'll see that it gives you a completely different look
to that stitch.
And that's really attractive.
Texture is also very important when you're doing your quilting.
So I mentioned, this is a 8 weight thread, okay?
You see how thick that thread is.
There are also threads that you can work with,
and I would recommend you start with using
a 12 weight thread.
So this 12 weight thread is going to give you
a nice decorative edge,
but you're not having to make accommodations
for the thread itself.
And it will feed directly through the machine
when you're threading,
and we'll show you that in just a minute.
So that was a very sparkly, metallic thread.
On the quilt that you see hanging in the back,
we used a 2-thread stitch
and we used a 12 weight thread again,
and with this 12 weight thread,
it is in the, either the needle or in the looper itself.
That's going to give you a very decorative stitch too.
There's also other types of threads
that you might have in your box to experiment with.
Just keep in mind
that when you're working with these decorative threads,
that they typically will go in your looper
when you're working with a 3-thread decorative stitch.
I wanna show you how you can use this decorative thread
in your loopers and create a binding edge.
This is something I think
you're really going to enjoy seeing.
So I'm simply going to clip my threads for both the upper
and lower looper, raise the presser foot,
and I'm just going to slide the threads out from behind.
And I'm going to replace them with the decorative threads.
So I'll place one in my lower looper,
and one in my upper looper.
And I'm just using two different decorative colored threads.
You don't have to use two different colored threads,
but sometimes, depending upon the technique
that you're working with,
it does give a very interesting look and effect.
So I do have my needle in the left sewing position,
and I'm going to simply engage the threading tubes,
pull the length of thread,
place my foot on the foot pedal.
You probably are wondering,
"How are you getting the thread through there?"
So I'm simply stepping on the foot pedal,
which creates the suction,
and it pulls the thread right through the machine.
Super easy and fast, even with decorative thread.
So now that we have this set,
I can leave the threads positioned in the machine
and with air threading,
you can thread your machine in absolutely any order.
So close up the doors
and I still am set with a 3-thread overlock stitch.
My stitch length is increased already,
so I wouldn't have to make an adjustment to that.
Then I'm going to simply lower my presser foot,
and I am going to shorten my stitch length
[machine beeping]
just a little bit too,
so you can see how that is going to look.
[sewing machine whirring]
Okay.
So can you see how beautiful that stitch looks,
whether it's a little farther apart,
a little longer stitch length,
or how the stitch lengths being closer together?
One thing that I've done also is used that
as a decorative stitch on the edge of a binding.
So here I've taken my binding strip,
let me just unpin this for you.
Here's my binding strip, 2 1/2 inch width of binding,
simply folding it in half
and stitching on the folded edge of your fabric strip, okay?
We're gonna take a look at one other technique here,
and it's adding our binding.
We've talked about the piecing, we looked at quilt-as-you-go,
and I'm going to share with you real quick here
on how you can attach your bindings.
Now, when you attach your bindings,
you again can use either the overlock stitch
or you can use a chain stitch.
I'm going to show you using an overlock stitch
because I'm also going to use another different thread.
This thread is a fusible thread.
The thread itself is made of a fiber that when we heat it,
it's going to join together with the other layers of fabric.
So I'm going to always use this in my lower looper, okay?
So I'll replace the thread, decorative thread that I have,
and you could, again, either use a 3-thread
or a 4-thread stitch when you do this.
I'm going to use a 3-thread stitch
because that's what I have it set up for right now.
The difference being, if you like to have your binding
that has more fullness to it, you would use a 3-thread stitch.
If you like your binding to be completely flat,
then you would use a 4-thread stitch.
Because that extra needle that's there
is going to help condense the seam allowance
and flatten out the thickness that you would have
with your batting, your layers of binding,
and with the layers of quilting fabric
that you would have there.
So again, I'll just simply remove the thread
from my upper and lower looper.
Position the fusible thread in the lower looper,
engage for threading,
[sewing machine whirring]
send thread through,
and we'll do the same thing with the upper looper thread.
This time, the upper looper thread
will just be the standard overlock thread.
And we'll send that through as well.
All right, so there you are.
Close this up, bring it back to stitching,
and I am going to widen my width just a little bit.
I like to have a little wider seam allowance,
and if I'm going to be using the decorative stitch,
the decorative stitch, I will place,
and I'm going to determine for our project here,
we're gonna determine that this is the right side
of our project.
This would be the back.
So we're going to position the right side of our binding,
the right side of the binding
to the wrong side of your project, okay?
Simply lay this underneath your presser foot,
lower the foot,
and as we stitch, we're going to be stitching.
And I'm going to reset this
to the standard stitch length setting.
And what I'm also going to do is make sure
that my needle rests in the down position.
So when my needle stops in the down position,
I can then reposition
and make sure my binding is going to be positioned properly
as I stitch.
So then simply stitch right on the edge.
You can skim the edge of your fabric as you stitch.
But every time you stitch
or anytime you stitch this, use this technique,
always have your binding on the top side
and I'll show you why, just as soon as we turn this corner.
[sewing machine whirring]
Okay.
So the needle stops down,
and we want to come right to a quarter of an inch.
All right, we want to stop with the needle up,
pivot our fabric out of the way, and stitch off.
[sewing machine whirring]
Okay.
So you've finished about a quarter of an inch
from the end of the seam.
So you're going to fold it back on itself again,
so that, let me lay this down so you can see it,
so that you've created your 45 degree angle miter,
fold it back on itself,
and then fold it so that the end,
the end where you stitched off, where you first stitched
is lined up with the folded edge.
And then we're simply going to pivot
and stitch down the other side.
So I'm going to raise the foot,
slide that up right ahead of the needle,
and again, we can lower our needle,
set it to stay in the down position.
[sewing machine whirring]
Okay, isn't that cool?
And now I can reposition the fabric just as I need it.
[sewing machine whirring]
And I'm just going to stitch
right off the end for this corner.
[sewing machine whirring]
Because what I'd like to show you is how we're going to
turn this binding over.
So we're going to take the seam allowance
and we're going to press it up toward,
well, not press it, because remember it has fusible thread,
we're finger pressing.
We're gonna finger press that seam allowance
and then simply turn the binding over,
turn the binding over,
and then I'm going to give it a nice press with my iron
and that's going to hold it in place.
All right, so didn't you love that decorative binding?
So we're going to do the same thing
and show you how to add your standard binding on a quilt.
Remember, we looked at this
and we determined this was our right side,
this being our wrong side.
So whether you like to have your binding wrap
from the front to the back
or from the back to the front, it really doesn't matter.
But what you want to do always is have your binding
on the opposite side you are wrapping it to.
I prefer to have my binding wrap from front to back.
So I'm going to position my binding on the front.
Let me raise my needle,
and I simply tap the back of the foot pedal,
and that raises the needle up.
I can slide the fabric right underneath the presser foot,
and again, I'm going to stitch all the way down to the end.
[sewing machine whirring]
You can lower your needle down and actually go stitch by stitch
until you get to that quarter of an inch setting.
Raise the needle up, raise your foot,
and stitch off.
[sewing machine whirring]
All right.
Then again, we're going to fold our binding back
to create the 45 degree miter.
Fold it back on itself,
pivot to turn your corner.
[sewing machine whirring]
All right, so again, you have your seam allowance
where you have your fusible thread in the lower looper,
and we're just going to turn the binding over the edge
and with it being fusible, it's going to hold it in place.
And that creating a really nice binding.
And again, because this is a 3-thread,
your binding is going to be a little more lofty.
If you're wanting a 4-thread, using a 4-thread stitch,
it will be more condensed and flat.
So let's come on over here
and I'll show you how we're going to press this.
So let's start with the standard binding.
So we have our fusible thread in the lower looper,
and I'm simply going to take the binding,
fold it over the edge,
take the iron, rest it on top.
[iron hissing]
Give it a good press.
Love the steam that we have there with our Laurastar.
And that's going to help hold it in place.
And when you create your miter on the corner,
find the side that has the, on your miter,
use the underside and fold it under first.
So see how this side has already held,
it's already holding in place.
[iron hissing]
Okay, let's just rest that down,
and then fold your miter
and press it in place. [iron hissing]
Now I get asked all the time,
"How is that going to be secure enough?
"Is that going to be secure enough
"to hold your binding in place?"
You do want to stitch this
and topstitch it in place to hold it.
That fusible thread is strong enough
to hold it a temporary hold, until you would come back
and you would stitch it again in place.
But what it does prevent you from having to do
is put a whole bunch of clips around the outside
or use pins to hold your binding until you either hand stitch it
or sew it by the machine.
The same thing with the decorative binding.
This time, when you do your decorative binding,
you're just simply going to press the seam,
press the decorative edge over the seam
so that as you stitch, you're going to be stitching
right next to that decorative line of stitching
with your sewing machine, okay?
When you're pressing with the decorative thread,
also make sure that you have either a press cloth
or you have a protective shoe on the iron itself.
Because the decorative thread could be a little more fragile
and it could melt depending upon the kind of thread
that you're going to be working with.
So then simply fold your mitered corner.
[iron hissing]
And give it a nice press to hold it in place.
And again, when you come back,
you will topstitch right next to that decorative line
of stitching to hold it in place, okay?
That was easy, wasn't it?
So you can see how you're going to be able to
do your stitching, your piecing, I should say.
You can also add your bindings.
You can create your entire quilt on your overlock machine.
Now you might also wonder, how do you do this
decorative line of crosshatched stitching?
That can also be done on your overlock machine.
Simply changing it to a chain stitch
will certainly give you that decorative option,
but you can also use your chain stitch
as we showed you earlier for actual piecing.
So when we move from an overlock stitch
to a chain stitch,
you may find that you don't remember how to do that.
But one thing that you'll find on the 890,
is that we can go into our guided mode.
And through this guided mode,
being able to select the chain stitch,
it will lead us through step by step
on how to make the change from one stitch to another,
and it actually does make the tension change
and adjustment for you.
Okay, this time we're still going to be using
the same threading path,
but this time we're going to be going
over to the cover stitch needles.
So we'll come over to the cover stitch sewing area,
but I still use the same path.
Oh, my needle's in the down position.
So all I have to do is tap on my foot pedal
and it brings it up to the sewing position.
I'll move my needle from the overlock position
over to the cover stitch.
And I like to use the center needle position for that.
And we'll remove the extra needle
that we had for the 4-thread overlock.
Just stick it right in that little needle pad.
Now you do not want to cut with this,
but you can, if you want to.
Lower your cutting blade,
and we're going to lower the upper looper.
Simply turn the knob
and step on the back of your foot pedal,
and it will disengage the upper looper.
I'm gonna bring this back out of guided mode,
back into expert mode and select my chain stitch.
Now when I'm threading,
I should say, once I have the needle threaded,
what you're going to do is look at the markings
that are on the toe of the presser foot as your guides.
So when we stitch with a chain stitch,
it's a simple, straight line of stitching.
When I look at the position that my needle is in,
you'll see that all of these guides are marks
that are on the toe of the presser foot
line up with each needle.
And the center needle is the one that I'm working with.
So if I want a quarter of an inch stitch, what I will do,
and I know kinda from memory,
but I could take my seam gauge and I could lay this down
and I could see which guide I would want to use
on the toe of the presser foot for my seam allowance.
So I know that I would skip guide number three,
and I would guide the edge of my fabric with number four.
So I'll simply place a standard overlock thread
in the chain looper.
And wow, the chain looper thread comes right out here
and inside part of the door, easy to access and see.
Now, when I'm going to be working with the chain stitch,
I have the flat sewing table placed on,
and you'll notice that it has these
different markings or guides
that you could use for a different seam allowance
or width.
But as we were stitching
with the quarter inch seam allowance,
and keep in mind, I'm not sitting
right in front of the presser of the machine.
So as I stitch, I'm going to be using the fourth mark
that's on the toe of the presser foot as my guide.
[sewing machine whirring]
All right, so there you go.
Now you have your quarter of an inch stitch
that you've created using the chain stitch
and using the markings that are on the toe
of the presser foot.
Another way to create that crosshatching, as I mentioned,
is to take your layers of fabric,
and because you're stitching in the middle of your fabric
and you have this grand sewing space, you can simply stitch
to create random lines of stitching on your fabric.
[sewing machine whirring]
Whether it's going to be spaced inch, two inches,
or you're going to be creating
some decorative lines of stitching on your fabric,
like you would see on this bag,
or simple wavy lines of stitching
right here on the side.
Thanks for joining me today.
I hope you enjoyed learning some new tips
and tricks along the way, using your serger or overlock,
whatever you call it, on your quilting projects.
Stop by your authorized BERNINA dealer
to see this brand new machine and get some great information
about how you can join that club.
[bright music]