Garden, Crafts, and Lifestyle

A little greener. A little more handmade.

Garden ideas, useful tools, and thoughtful projects for a home that grows with you.

Explore the journal

Fresh from the journal

Close-up of a conventional home sewing machine, showing the needle and presser foot area with a spool of thread on top of the machine body.

What Is a Serger Sewing Machine? What It Does, What It Can’t Do, and Whether You Need One

A serger trims, seams, and overcasts a fabric edge in one pass using loopers instead of a bobbin. Here’s how the stitch is formed, what 3-, 4-, and 5-thread settings are for, the jobs it can’t do, what home models cost, and how to tell if you need one.

Read the article: What Is a Serger Sewing Machine? What It Does, What It Can’t Do, and Whether You Need One