Have you ever wondered why the seams on clothes you get at the store look different from what you might make when you had sew or how to get it at home?

Lets start with the “why”. There are two reasons:  the first is that they are typically serged with a special machine called a serger. They are serged to prevent the fabric from raveling and also, to give fabric a finished look.

How can you get it at home? The easy answer is to use a serger yourself, but sometimes you can’t find a serger. When you don’t have a serger, you can use a zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine, or you can zig-zag by hand. This prevents fabrics like wovens and many knits from falling apart.

A serger works by using 3 or more threads to create a zig-stitch with a border of straight stitches. The serger uses a knife like blade to cut of the extra fabric, so you should always serge within the seam allowance, that way you don’t cut off extra fabric. Serging also makes the seam more secure.CAM00043