Serger pros....how to serge a circle?

How do you serge a circle?  For example, if I want to serge a waistband piece to a skirt piece...do I just curve into the seam, go around and serge over the funky starting point?  What if I want it to look prettier?  If I wanted to put a three thread rolled hem around the bottom of a circle skirt, how would I do that or is that just a dumb idea?  Hopefully that makes sense!  Has anyone seen a video out there that explains this?

Thanks in advance!  You are the best!!!!!

Yes. Or . . .

It does look better if you untangle the thread chain so that you can put the fabric completely under the needles like you would with a regular machine. Serge away but then slow down when you get back to the starting point so you don't have a lumpy overlap. A little fiddly but worth it in my opinion.

I think I get what you are saying, but of course I have other questions  .  When you do that, do you have the blade up or down?  I'm guessing you do it with the blade up and you don't cut (have the bottom hem close where you want it).  Figuring this out is my new mission in life...ok, that and getting my 27 month old to sleep through the night!  Thank you so much!  I really do appreciate it!

I would normally do that with the blade up. I think it would be more complicated with the blade down. I'm no expert! I'm always on the lookout for tips on serging too.

Good luck with the sleeping at night. It's totally normal and it's totally exhausting but one day your baby will sleep through or they'll be old enough to take care of whatever it is that wakes them up! Been there too, hang in there!

Random charm, do you just go over the starting point again just as if you were overlapping normal stitches on your machine? 

Elizabeth - I don't overlap if I am using closely spaced stitches like a rolled hem because it causes a big bumpy spot and I don't like that. I just meet up to the starting point, lift the foot and turn the fabric and then let it chain out a bit. Then tie your threads to the back like you would on a regular machine. It's a bit more of a pain but I think it's worth it to get a seamless look.

This makes sense.  I'll have to practice when my serger either gets out of the shop cheaply or meets its inevitable bitter end.

the only way i serge curves and circles is doing it very slowly .. and trying to pass the fabric close to the edge marker so the blade wont cut my fabric, i guess u can do it also with the blade down ..but very slow also .. so it can be perfect..

if you are making a skirt from scratch, i serge the rolled him first so you have a straight edge to go quickly. then you can do this with your waistband and skirt piece...you have to play around with your differential feed to get the 2 pieces to match up . then i sew the side seam together. all my serging is actually straight that way instead of working with a circle.

now if i do have to do a circle, one thing you can do is making your circle actually straight line and your two seams should meet up if they are the same circumference (does that make any sense??) and i do generally just go over my starting point again. i dont thin it is too much of a bump if it isnt a rolled hem.

Mary Jo Gabel has some absolutely wonderful cds on serging. One of them covers basic serger techniques such as surging circles. She has a website called "sergeandsewwithMaryJo". I have all of her cds.

Linda 

You can go to the 'Sewing with Nancy' PBS TV programs website, has a free serger demo.