Hey, look what I found while digging through my books! My serger cheat book! Remember a long, long time ago I kept going on about how handy this little binder I put together in my serger class was. The cheat book tells me how to adjust my dials to create the stitch or technique I need. The class came free-ish with the purchase of my Janome 1110DX, which is another reason to purchase from the independent dealer rather than the box stores. All told, the class was only 3 quick hours, just an intro really, and an absolute life saver (especially since I found my machine’s tensions had been set incorrectly at the factory and all the thread breaking was not my fault, damnit!) If you can go to serger class, go! But for those of you who are intrepid enough to teach yourself, I highly recommend making yourself one of these. Very simple, just some written, printed or Xeroxed pages with spaces to write down what technique or serger stitch you are using, what settings your needles and looper tensions, the stitch length, and the differencial feed are set at, along with a space for a fabric sample of the stitch made from some scrap and stapled in. That simple, and mind bogglingly useful to have. I have photographed my whole booklet, which I keep in a small binder. You can read what I’ve written (well, you can if you can make out my messy handwriting), but if you leave a comment with a specific question about any of the techniques I can provide additional specific information. Here she is: 4 thread sewing: the base set up. Ribbing: Just knit ribbing for necklines. Sergers are a dream for knits. Clear elastic: where I discovered this amazing product. I would of never made more than one twirl skirt without it. Differential Feed: to prevent the stretching of the knits and fleece, among other things. 3 thread wide: which I use now all the time. This is also how I found out about wooly nylon. Flat-locking: way too fun, but I still hardly ever work it into regular sewing. And wonderful, brillant rolled hem (along with faux-pintucks): Keep in mind that even if you have the same brand serger as I, you will have to make your own cheat book because every machine is set slightly different. As I said, if you have specific questions about any technique or the serger book set up, leave a comment and I will do my best to help you out :) ***************************************************** This is a free tutorial and I encourage you to use the information in any way you need to (check the disclaimer at the bottom of the page). If it works for you, please consider supporting my etsy shop by purchasing a Little Print Design pattern or toss a dollar or two in my paypal to show appreciation and to encourage me to offer up even more quality patterns and tutorials. Thank you! Questions about the Donation? FAQ here.