How To Overlock With A Normal Sewing Machine

[Patrice Mieczkowski]

Whatis the Overlock Stitch?

The overlock stitch is a combination of a straight stitch and a zigzag. It sews backwards and forwards in a straight line, but between every set of straight stitches, it sews a zigzag. If done correctly, this resembles serging, which is how most store-bought clothes are sewn. Therefore, it lends a professional finish to your handmade garments.

Overlock Presser Foot

While the overlock stitch can be sewn with a standard zigzag presser foot, it works best in conjunction with an overlock or overcast foot, which is specifically designed for this stitch.

Great instructions! Thank you. I do not have an overlock stitch choice on my machine (mine is a Singer 237 Fashionmate). Can I still do this on my current machine-sort of, with the special foot?

Thanks! Just found your site. I am just new to sewing and trying to learn.

The secret is the presser foot. I have an old and very basic machine and found a shell tuck stitch that resembled the overlock stitches but missing the back stitches. After experimenting with the overlocking presser foot, I discovered you can make even a plain zigzag finish look very nice. Just be careful and use the hand wheel for the first couple of stitches to make sure your needle is missing the center bar of the presser foot. My narrowest zigzag stitch hits the bar.

Using my new overlock foot for the first time, I was experimenting on different zigzags to use. Thankfully, I came across your site which gave me the answer. I would never have thought to use this stitch otherwise. Many thanks for your help.

When you first get into sewing, you might wonder how to finish the raw edges in your pieces. You don't want them to just unravel and shed everywhere. Ideally, you'd have a serger for that, but sergers are expensive, specialized sewing machines, and you might not be able to get one right away. Instead, you could use an overlock foot with your sewing machine to give your pieces a faux-serged finish. I tested out different stitches on my machine to see which ones created a finished edge closest to serging.

First, I checked out the overlock and overedge stitches offered by my sewing machine. Read your manual to see what stitches your machine has. Numbers 10, 11, and 14 looked promising because they were described as overedge and overlock stitches, specifically for finishing the edges of fabric. I also tried out 17 and 19 because they looked somewhat close to a serged stitch.

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If you want your handmade dress to be good looking on the inside and you want to avoid bulky seams or your fabric to unravel, you need to finish the raw edges of a seam inside your diy garment. It not only gives a more professional look to any sewn craft but also strengthens the seam line and keeps the edges from fraying. Depending on your fabric, the project and the purpose of the garment you are making, you can choose a different finish.

With a serger foot you can stitch right at the edge of your fabric and finish the edges with stitches similar as if you were serging. This is practically impossible with a standard presser foot.

The overcast foot is also called an overedge foot or an overlock foot and together with the overcast stitches, the overlock stitches or overedge stitches, there is the act of overlocking, overcasting or serging (= finishing the edges). Sometimes you get this presser foot with your sewing machine. If not, we have a universal overcast presser foot in our store.

The overlocker foot is a snap-on foot, this means you can snap it on and off your presser foot holder with a little button at the back. The snap on feet fit most low shank sewing machines. If not, you can check out the 3 different adapters we have available. The changes are really high that this foot fits your machine. To check if our snap on feet fit your sewing machine, check out this post about high and low shank machines.

An overcast stitch or an overlock stitch is basically a zigzag stitch with more structure. My sewing machine has 2 options (stitches 5 and 6) for thin to medium weight fabrics and stretch fabrics. That covers a lot for serging seams or overlocking fabric edges.

When finished, do not pull your fabric to the left or the right to cut the threads or your stitches will be damaged. The last few stitches are wrapped around the little bridge of the foot, so first pull the fabric towards the back to free those stitches and then cut.

MadamSew is an online sewing and quilting store. It carries Tools, Notions, Presser Feet, Essentials, Handy Helpers, Organization & Storage Items, and more for sewers and quilters. Plus, it has many manuals and free tutorial blogs to help increase your skills.

The overedge foot is also known as an overcast foot, or an overlocking foot. Essentially it allows thread to wrap around the edge of the fabric to prevent unraveling. It is a magical little sewing machine foot that can give you an edging similar to that of an overlocker with just about any sewing machine. You can buy an overlocking foot here.

The Sewing Directory is a free resource for hobby sewists, packed with hundreds of sewing projects, expert technique guides and sewing features. Our directory allows stitchers to locate online retailers and local sewing shops/sewing schools.

In terms of sewing hacks, I've seen a few people mention that you can use serger thread with your sewing machine. I've been wondering for awhile whether this is really feasible, so I investigated whether you can actually use serger thread with your sewing machine.

This seems like it would be a good idea, right? But as often as I see this sewing hack mentioned, I see people disputing it, saying that serger thread is not as strong as regular thread, and shouldn't be used for regular sewing projects. After all, when you serge, you have several overlapping threads working together, so individually, each thread doesn't need to be as strong.

First, let's talk about thread strength. The Sewing Machine Master Guide has a comprehensive chapter on thread, including information on the Tex System, which is the most widely recognized thread measurement system. Larger numbers mean larger thread sizes. The Tex size is determined by grams per 1000 meters of thread, and there are some common sizes you'll see from manufacturers.

General purpose home sewing thread is usually T-34, while general purpose serger thread is usually T-27. To put this in context, the author of the Sewing Machine Master Guide recommends at least T-50 for jeans/denim, T-70 for upholstery, and at least T-40 for soft leather. Most home sewing machines can only handle up to T-50.

I used a thread stand to get the serger thread to my sewing machine, and I used two different kinds of serger thread: Maxi-lock and Surelock. I used one kind of regular thread: Gutermann Sew-All. Here's what the set-up looked like with the thread stand.

It appears to be possible to use serger thread on your sewing machine. Surelock won over Maxi-lock in our seam-ripping contest. I'll probably stick with Gutermann thread for most projects, just to be safe, though.

Sewing machines are a girl's best friend, right? Earlier this year I went into some detail on my most valuable tool as a seamstress: My Janome DC2010 sewing machine. This week I will be walking you through a second step-by-step sewing machine review on the other love of my love: My Brother 1034D serger.

Not only will I be telling you ALL about this beauty (and why it's 100% a worthy investment) but I will also walk you through how to thread a serger. Because it's definitely not easy, and it definitely takes practice.

And no--I'm not getting paid to write this review, or being sponsored by Brother. I simply love my Brother 1034D serger, and wanted to share one of my most valuable tools with you guys. But first.. What IS a serger?

So. If a regular sewing machine could be used to finish off a raw edge, then why buy a serger? The short answer: Sergers finish off a seam MUCH, MUCH CLEANER than a regular sewing machine ever could. A serger simply provides a cleaner, professional, and overall more secure finish.

While regular sewing machines only have 1 thread for sewing, sergers typically have 3-4 threads. This not only allows for a more secure finish, but the additional threads encapsulate the raw, frayed edge much more than a single thread stitch on a regular sewing machine ever could.

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