Hello, I'm thinking of getting an overlocker but am completely bewildered! Any advice on which to get (I live in the UK)? I've seen cheap (£50) second hand sewland overlockers on ebay - has anyone got one and would they recommend it? Thanks
Hello Cookiewoos, I felt exactly like you a few weeks ago - I knew I wanted an overlooker, but didn't know anything about them, and was scared to spend a lot of money in case it was a complete disaster. I tried bidding for one on ebay which went for £95, with no guarantee, and no indication of its age, so decided to go for new. The cheapest John Lewis had was the Janome 9200D for £199. I checked on the internet and Cooper's Sewing Machines had the same model for £168 'for one day only', so I went for that one. It came with a DVD and manual, and I am gradually teaching myself to use it, although a couple of lessons would be really good. John Lewis described this as a 'good entry-level machine' and it seems to do everything I need, but I suppose it depends how serious you are and what you want it to do. I thought that all overlookers did those twin needle hems that you see on bought tee-shirts, but apparently you need a cover-stitch machine for that, and they cost a LOT. Hope this has helped a bit.
HI cookiewoos! Overlockers are great, and you don't HAVE to spend a LOT on one, but it is still probably best to get one new cos if they've been abused by a previous owner they can be expensive to fix. Also they frequently get damaged during shipping if they're not in their original packaging and styrofoam etc. There are excpetions of course, like, sometimes people buy an overlocker and never use it, it sits in a cupboard. But if you bought one of those you'd still want to be able to try it out for yourself first to check it over, and you'd want to bring it home in a car rather than have it posted. And I'd advise going for fairly well-known, quality brands, that hopefully have a service outlet you can get to reasonably easily.
ememtee, as far as twin-needle hems go, yes, for 'proper' ones like you see on t-shirts you do need a coverstitch machine or an overlocker with a coverstitch feature, BUT you can do quite a reasonable job with a twin needle and two needle threads on a sewing machine and loosened bobbin tension.
POSTS (2)
Hello Cookiewoos, I felt exactly like you a few weeks ago - I knew I wanted an overlooker, but didn't know anything about them, and was scared to spend a lot of money in case it was a complete disaster. I tried bidding for one on ebay which went for £95, with no guarantee, and no indication of its age, so decided to go for new. The cheapest John Lewis had was the Janome 9200D for £199. I checked on the internet and Cooper's Sewing Machines had the same model for £168 'for one day only', so I went for that one. It came with a DVD and manual, and I am gradually teaching myself to use it, although a couple of lessons would be really good. John Lewis described this as a 'good entry-level machine' and it seems to do everything I need, but I suppose it depends how serious you are and what you want it to do. I thought that all overlookers did those twin needle hems that you see on bought tee-shirts, but apparently you need a cover-stitch machine for that, and they cost a LOT. Hope this has helped a bit.
HI cookiewoos! Overlockers are great, and you don't HAVE to spend a LOT on one, but it is still probably best to get one new cos if they've been abused by a previous owner they can be expensive to fix. Also they frequently get damaged during shipping if they're not in their original packaging and styrofoam etc. There are excpetions of course, like, sometimes people buy an overlocker and never use it, it sits in a cupboard. But if you bought one of those you'd still want to be able to try it out for yourself first to check it over, and you'd want to bring it home in a car rather than have it posted. And I'd advise going for fairly well-known, quality brands, that hopefully have a service outlet you can get to reasonably easily.
ememtee, as far as twin-needle hems go, yes, for 'proper' ones like you see on t-shirts you do need a coverstitch machine or an overlocker with a coverstitch feature, BUT you can do quite a reasonable job with a twin needle and two needle threads on a sewing machine and loosened bobbin tension.