Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A Slice of Heaven: the Juki MO-735

by Katy Brown of muchacha K handmade

I hesitate to call this a review, so much as a rave. After months of having no time to spend learning to use the serger I actually purchased this past Spring, I finally had a spare three hours and nothing more pressing to do. I got out the Instruction Manual and started on the first page.

The serger I bought is a JUKI MO-735. Juki apparently manufactures Bernina machines, so they are very high quality, but without the Bernina price tag. It wasn't easy to track one down...I had to drive up to a dealer in Maine to get my hands on it. The MO-735 uses up to five threads. After everything I've heard about sergers and the difficulty of threading them, I was a little worried that so many threads might make my serger-beginner head spin. Not so. I followed the instructions page by page to set up the machine and read about the possible stitches. Threading-wise, almost everything was color coded to tell you where to put the threads, and what wasn't, had a handy diagram available in the manual. I was able to sit down, try a four-thread overlock stitch, and get literally perfect results the first time. I then tried threading and executing a two-thread rolled hem, and it looked like hell...after re-examining my threading though, I discovered it was user error, re-threaded, and it was just fine. I switched back to a four-thread stitch then, just to prove that I could...again, perfect results. After the horror stories I've heard, I know I can't totally take credit for this. I think it was just worth it to pay a good price and get a good machine.My advice to those seeking a serger is this: do your research. Make sure you know what types of projects you might want to do, so that you can talk to a dealer and ask them what types of features you might want. I knew I was going to make clothing, so I learned that I was going to need at least a four-thread machine. Also...spend the money to get yourself a nice machine if you're going to be spending a lot of time with it. And finally...READ THE MANUAL. You gotta do it. It's boring, but you will go crazy trying to guess where in the heck all of those threads go. You also don't want you break the new toy.

Above all...don't let the hype scare you. If you do your homework your serger will expand your sewing capabilities, and it's a truly exhilirating experience.

2 comments :

  1. Katy I'm so glad you told me that Juki makes bernina! I have a Bernina and I love it, but someday I will totally want to upgrade my serger (now a Husquvarna), and I will totally hone in on Juki. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Katy,
    I have just purchased the Juki MO-735 and I love it. My only problem is with setting up the coverstitch...I think the manual is a little vague. Is there some little something that I might have overlooked. I think I have it threaded properly, I put on the coverstitch foot, the plate, disengaged the upper looper. Help! Margaret

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...