Learn to Love Your Overlocker: The Ultimate Overlocker Book
Book type: Paperback
17 May 2022
116 pages
ISBN 979-8829145248
Size: 21.59 x 0.71 x 27.94 cm
Authors: Freya Gilbert and Sarah Wadey
This book is perfect for an Overlocker or Serger novice who is nervous to get started. It’s not a cheap book but it’s a good investment to help you get your Overlocking career underway without frightening you or overwhelming you with jargon! If you are already quite advanced in your knowledge of Overlocking and want to go further, then this is probably not the book for you.
Check out the great website and courses offered by the two authors, Freya Gilbert and Sarah Laws (or Sarah Wadey), link below.
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Our Review
There are quite a few books now on the market for would-be overlockers and this is one of the best we’ve seen. “Learn to Love Your Overlocker: The Ultimate Overlocker Book” is a very informative and helpful overlocker / serger manual which all beginners would do well to invest in. It has clear, labelled illustrations which explain the parts of an overlocker / serger and what the parts do, how to use them and it takes you through all the basic techniques you need.
This book is designed to make the overlocker a more accessible piece of equipment and to give you the confidence to get started and it does that brilliantly.
At first glance this book does seem a little expensive but then, if you have paid out quite a lot for an overlocker / serger, this is a relatively small amount. Purchasing this book may make the difference between you using and getting lots of value out of your overlocker / serger, or just leaving it in a box and never having the courage to use it, as is sadly the case for many new overlocker owners!
The approach to teaching through this book is very logical and natural. Overlocking is broken down into four sections and within each section are chapters for each small aspect. It is written in such a way as not to overwhelm a beginner.
A summary of the four sections of the book are as follows:
Part 1 – Get to Know Your Machine
This section is split into chapters which starts by covering basic topics such as what is in your essential sewing kit and what do all the parts of an overlocker do? These chapters demystify all the technical looking items and parts of the overlocker and start to help you understand how it works.
The book also then starts to cover some of the first hands-on aspects such as how to thread up your overlocker / serger, how to change threads on your overlocker / serger, a guide to types of thread and useful overlocker threading tips. Threading is one of the biggest things that frightens overlocker users and it is dealt with here very well, with clear supporting photos.
Part one of the book ends with the chapter for getting ready to stitch: so now you are all set up and ready to go.
Part 2 – Creating Your First Stitches
This section of the book gets you actually stitching and clearly and easily explains some of the aspects of overlocking / serging that a beginner needs to understand without becoming overwhelmed.
The aspects of overlocking covered here include how to get your overlocker / serger seam allowances correct, working with woven fabrics, how overlocker / serger stitches should be finished, how to understand and resolve problems with overlocker / serger stitch tension, how to understand and adjust stitch length and width and how to work with the differential feed.
This section of the book also explains how to resolve uneven overlocker stitch problems (we love that Freya and Sarah they call them “squiffy stitches”!) and putting right mistakes by unpicking overlocked stitches.
Section two ends with a chapter on overlocker maintenance. This is extremely important and often overlooked but if you’ve bought an expensive piece of equipment with needles and knives and which runs at high speeds, then good maintenance is very important for continued top performance!
Part 3 – Using What You Have Learnt
So, having covered the basics in the first two parts, part three of the book gives you some more in-depth understanding and ability to use your overlocker / serger in a practical way.
Part three covers such aspects as 3 thread overlocking, how to disengage the overlocker blade if you don’t want to cut as you stitch, how to negotiate internal and external corners and curves, creating chains, rolled hems, flatlocking and sewing elastic.
A lot of the overlocking aspects covered in this section, and the technical terms used in overlocking, are what frightens beginners. The value of this book is how each term is simply explained in a way that beginners can understand.
Part 4 – Simple Projects
Part four of this book is a collection of projects for a beginner to try, including a bag, wipes, a scarf, a hat, a head-band and a handkerchief.
Finally, the book includes a useful glossary, details of resources and a templates section for your projects.
Sarah Wadey (or Sarah Laws) and Freya Gilbert, the authors of this book, are based in Leicester and run a craft and haberdashery store online and part of their business is running courses. Their online overlocker course might be just the thing you need, along with their book, to get you going on your overlocking journey!
It seems their course, “Learn to Love Your Overlocker”, is a 6 week course which takes those who are completely new to overlocking / serging one step at a time through the process of learning to overlock. It starts right at the beginning from the very first moment you first see your overlocker at the unboxing stage and goes on to include making your first stitches, carrying out a project in real time and with questions and answers and troubleshooting issues. There are other shorter courses on their website too. Here’s a handy link to their website for you to check out their courses.
[Note: we haven’t done the course so can’t speak from first hand experience, only from the recommendations of others. If it’s as good as their book and as good as people say, you’re in good hands!].
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