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Overlocking beginners (like me), start here.


Back in late summer 2015, I purchased a Toyota 3304 overlocker, second hand for my partner Diane to use in her crafting endeavours. It was eighteen months old, in immaculate condition and the most basic model that Toyota made at the time. That's it in the photo, with a small addition that I will come to in a future post.
Now if I had known more about overlockers (or sergers as they are called in the USA), I may have thought  twice about buying the Toyota 3304 which is a basic 3 or 4 thread overlocker with very little in the way of bells and whistles. It lacks a differential feed function, it requires an optional needle plate and presser foot to create rolled hems, there is no two thread overlock option on this machine. If I had followed the internet pundits who seem to praise a few "well known" brands and models, you know the ones, I would not have considered a Toyota machine, but that would have been a big mistake, as I have found out.
I am like a lot of men. Given something mechanical I just have to figure out how things work, without taking it apart (too much), so guess who ended up fiddling with our new purchase most. All those needles, threads, levers and knobs were an irresistible combination for play. But not for long.
Pretty soon I found out that there was one thing you don't fiddle with until you know whats happening and that's the tension dials. This was definitely a case of "a little (read NO) knowledge is a dangerous thing".
If there is one thing that I read on the internet from newcomers to the overlocker, it is the frustration of getting a balanced stitch and tension issues. I fell into the same trap, messed with one or more tension setting and the stitching went hay-wire, and it took me weeks, dozens of unhelpful YouTube videos and blog posts to understand what I did wrong. But, and here's the good news, I get it now, I know how to fix the mess if it happens again.
I have used acres of fabric practising with the overlocker, to understand the basic of this machine, and what it can and cannot do for the sewer. This blog is here to document my journey and hopefully help others avoid the pitfall that there are along the way.
So, here I am, with an overlocker, a complete sewing beginner. Where to from here?




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