Singer Sergers Quantumlock 4 or 14U64A or 14U32 video links
Singer has been making fabulous sewing machines for over a century, and their sergers that were designed for the home sewer, really rev up your sewing speed, trimming the seam, overcasting it, & sewing the seam, all in one quick step! Many sewists refer to their serger, as being the sewing room
equivalent of a microwave oven, in the kitchen, a great way to speed up sewing, and make it look professional!
I HIGHLY recommend getting a copy of the Singer Sewing Library Book
"SEWING WITH AN OVERLOCK", it has step by step photos of how to use these sergers, and how to adjust for better stitches, how to unjam your machine, sew blind hems, and more. It is often online for only $1.99 or around there, plus shipping. The Singer Sewing Library has over 35 different books for sewing almost any kind of home sewing, from upholstery to clothing, to curtains, to decor, to purses, to gifts, and more.
Singer's 1987 video showing the features of their Ultralock Serger for the home sewer, says it serges at a speedy 1,500 stitches per minute! If you are used to newer sewing machines, that will feel fast to you, but it is slow, compared to an industrial serger, which is usually over 2,000 stitches per minute, often as fast as 6,000 stitches a minute.
I have owned, & serged with many Singer sergers, particularly out of the Singer 14U serger series. I like to keep a Singer 3 thread serger set up to sew with 3 threads, but also keep a Singer
Quantumlock,4 thread serger set up to sew with 4 threads, any time,which has differential feed, to sew ruffles, or to prevent knit fabrics from stretching, as it is serged, and while it can sew a 2 thread, 3, thread, or 4 thread stitch, I will probably mostly use it for 4 thread stitches, unless I want to use the differential feed on a 2 or 3 thread serger stitch.
THREADING SERGERS-
equivalent of a microwave oven, in the kitchen, a great way to speed up sewing, and make it look professional!
I HIGHLY recommend getting a copy of the Singer Sewing Library Book
"SEWING WITH AN OVERLOCK", it has step by step photos of how to use these sergers, and how to adjust for better stitches, how to unjam your machine, sew blind hems, and more. It is often online for only $1.99 or around there, plus shipping. The Singer Sewing Library has over 35 different books for sewing almost any kind of home sewing, from upholstery to clothing, to curtains, to decor, to purses, to gifts, and more.
1987 ADVERTISEMENT VIDEO OF SINGER ULTRALOCK SERGERS
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| Singer Quantumlock 4 Differential feed 2,3,4 thread overlock serger, rolled hem shown sewn with the rolled hemmer plate shown to the left. Note position of stitch length dial and on & off switch. |
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| Singer Quantumlock with Differential Feed is an excellent home serger, 1,500 stitches per minute, 2,3,4 thread serger, the nosecone for the freearm is off, in this photo, for easier access to the stitch width adjustment knob, which is visible just below the white satin. Stitch length dial is right above the red letters SINGER. Notice 3 thread overlock stitch sewn on satin fabric. |
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| Singer Quantumlock with freearm noseplate (hiding the knob for stitch width adjustments), and both the rolled hemmer needleplate, and the regular overlock and flatlock needleplate, with original Singer trimmer catcher. Presser foot has been removed for visibility of needleplate. |
Singer's 1987 video showing the features of their Ultralock Serger for the home sewer, says it serges at a speedy 1,500 stitches per minute! If you are used to newer sewing machines, that will feel fast to you, but it is slow, compared to an industrial serger, which is usually over 2,000 stitches per minute, often as fast as 6,000 stitches a minute.
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| Singer Qantumlock 4 was used to sew the black rolled hem shown in the photo, using the rolled hem needleplate on the left |
Quantumlock,4 thread serger set up to sew with 4 threads, any time,which has differential feed, to sew ruffles, or to prevent knit fabrics from stretching, as it is serged, and while it can sew a 2 thread, 3, thread, or 4 thread stitch, I will probably mostly use it for 4 thread stitches, unless I want to use the differential feed on a 2 or 3 thread serger stitch.
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| Singer Quantumlock 14U286B Overlock Serger notice the lower looper is accessed by removing the freearm nose cone, you turn the handwheel until the needles are down, and the lower looper is in this position, to thread this end of the looper, then turn the handwheel again, to get the lower looper point, to go out the other side of the needleplate, to finish threading the thread guide in the end of the looper point. |
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| Singer Quantumlock 4 differential feed is silver knob on far right, right below the stitch length knob. The differential feed knob must be unscrewed, to adjust it, and must be screwed tight, after adjustment, to make sure it stays in place. It cannot be adjusted during sewing, it requires opening the front plate, which risks you touching moving parts (the loopers, or tangling up the threads accidentally) , so always close the door after resetting the differential feed. The black box on the lower right corner, is the on off switch, which turns on the serger light, & motor. Notice the color coded tension dials and dots, next to the thread guides. This is to simplify threading, great for beginner sergers! |
Most, but not all sergers, require a special threading order, or they will break the threads, and not stitch properly. Threading order is usually
1. Upper looper
2. Lower looper
3. Left Needle
4. Right Needle
If you do not have a thread chain formed, and have accidentally threaded it in the wrong order, the needle threads get trapped in the lower looper thread, breaking your threads, and ruining any possibility of stitches. To avoid this, before trying to sew a thread chain, raise the presser foot, have the needles in the highest position, and use your long bent serger tweezers, or a similar long, slender object, to sweep under the front of the presser foot, all of the way to the back of the presser foot, and it should pull all of your threads to the back, in the correct position for beginning to stitch.
This tip can save you hours of frustration, but can only be done, if there is no thread chain on the needleplate, or formed behind the needles. Otherwise, you wind up unthreading your machine, and rethreading again, and again, which leads to frustration, and makes some people give up sergers, before they find out how much fun they can be, and how FAST and PROFESSIONAL your sewing looks, when properly serged!
The Singer Ultralock 14U64A was my very first serger. After she got a new serger, the alterations shop seamstress,for Emporium Department Store,at the Karcher Mall, in Nampa Idaho, gave the serger to my husband, for rewiring half of her doublewide trailer. My hubby was thrilled at the chance to get me a serger, but it took me a year to learn how to use it, because I didn't have a manual for it, and without a manual, video, or anyone to teach me how to use the serger, it literally took me a year, to figure out how to properly adjust, and set the tensions, stitch length & width, and actually sew projects with it. I hadn't gotten into Ebay, or using the internet very much, yet, by the time I had my brain surgery, in 2000. I kept, and used the Singer 14U64A, until I bought the Babylock 838D, which had differential feed, and also had a very special feature, the knee lift for raising and lowering the presser foot, hands free.
If you do not have a thread chain formed, and have accidentally threaded it in the wrong order, the needle threads get trapped in the lower looper thread, breaking your threads, and ruining any possibility of stitches. To avoid this, before trying to sew a thread chain, raise the presser foot, have the needles in the highest position, and use your long bent serger tweezers, or a similar long, slender object, to sweep under the front of the presser foot, all of the way to the back of the presser foot, and it should pull all of your threads to the back, in the correct position for beginning to stitch.
This tip can save you hours of frustration, but can only be done, if there is no thread chain on the needleplate, or formed behind the needles. Otherwise, you wind up unthreading your machine, and rethreading again, and again, which leads to frustration, and makes some people give up sergers, before they find out how much fun they can be, and how FAST and PROFESSIONAL your sewing looks, when properly serged!
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| Singer Quantumlock 4 rolled hemmer needleplate underside |
The Singer Ultralock 14U64A was my very first serger. After she got a new serger, the alterations shop seamstress,for Emporium Department Store,at the Karcher Mall, in Nampa Idaho, gave the serger to my husband, for rewiring half of her doublewide trailer. My hubby was thrilled at the chance to get me a serger, but it took me a year to learn how to use it, because I didn't have a manual for it, and without a manual, video, or anyone to teach me how to use the serger, it literally took me a year, to figure out how to properly adjust, and set the tensions, stitch length & width, and actually sew projects with it. I hadn't gotten into Ebay, or using the internet very much, yet, by the time I had my brain surgery, in 2000. I kept, and used the Singer 14U64A, until I bought the Babylock 838D, which had differential feed, and also had a very special feature, the knee lift for raising and lowering the presser foot, hands free.
Luckily, we found the Singer Sewing Library, a batch of about 7 of their sewing manuals, with step by step photos of how to sew all kinds of special things, and their Sewing With an Overlock, became my serger "bible"! I sewed stitch samples, taped them into a notebook, and wrote down every setting for the 4 tensions, as well as stitch length & width, to help me learn how to adjust them properly, so I could actually start using the serger in sewing my own clothing, quilts, and curtains, as well as other sewn items. I highly recommend the Singer Sewing Library books, I think there are now over 30 different books, and they are all very well written, with step by step instructions, accompanied by very well thought out photos, even including how to fix a serger jam!
I found my Singer Sewing With an Overlock, and my homemade serger stitch sample notebook, to be far more helpful in setting my serger to sew various fabrics, than when I finally bought the original manual off Ebay, it didn't actually have anywhere near the amount of information I had gathered myself, nor was it as helpful as the Singer Sewing With an Overlock book.
My favorite sergers I have owned, as well as sewed with, include
Babylock 838D 2,3,4 thread serger, auto lower looper threader, differential feed, METAL, built in rolled hem, adjustable stitch width adjustable stitch length (BL4-838D is my VERY FAVORITE serger, my Babylock Evolve is my second favorite."
Babylock Eclipse DX jet air threaded, 2,3,4 thread serger, differential feed,
Babylock Imagine Wave jet air threading, auto tension, Wave stitch built in, differential feed
Babylock Evolve 8 thread serger with coverstitch, differential feed, chainstitch
EuroPro 101-548 (may not be the exact model, I gave it to my sister, Debi, I had too many)
Singer Quantumlock 2, 3, 4 thread serger, narrow freearm, differential feed
Singer 14U32 3 thread serger with narrow freearm
I found my Singer Sewing With an Overlock, and my homemade serger stitch sample notebook, to be far more helpful in setting my serger to sew various fabrics, than when I finally bought the original manual off Ebay, it didn't actually have anywhere near the amount of information I had gathered myself, nor was it as helpful as the Singer Sewing With an Overlock book.
My favorite sergers I have owned, as well as sewed with, include
Babylock 838D 2,3,4 thread serger, auto lower looper threader, differential feed, METAL, built in rolled hem, adjustable stitch width adjustable stitch length (BL4-838D is my VERY FAVORITE serger, my Babylock Evolve is my second favorite."
Babylock Eclipse DX jet air threaded, 2,3,4 thread serger, differential feed,
Babylock Imagine Wave jet air threading, auto tension, Wave stitch built in, differential feed
Babylock Evolve 8 thread serger with coverstitch, differential feed, chainstitch
EuroPro 101-548 (may not be the exact model, I gave it to my sister, Debi, I had too many)
Singer Quantumlock 2, 3, 4 thread serger, narrow freearm, differential feed
Singer 14U32 3 thread serger with narrow freearm
Besides learning from the Singer Sewing Reference Library, I bought Palmer and Pletsch books and videos from Beginning Sergers to Creative Serging, there is a ton of GREAT information to teach you to use your serger!
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND PALMER AND PLETSCH BOOKS AND VIDEOS ! This is a link to their website if you want to buy your own!
Palmer pletsch digital SERGER TUTORIAL VIDEOS
Singer 14U34 video
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| Singer 3 thread 14U32 serger missing freearm noseplate, but with rolled hem needleplate shown, as well as standard needleplate |
Singer 14U34 video
