A Lock!

It's been forever since a Favorite Things Friday but I'm here to redeem myself - a day late and a dollar short, as my grandmother always said.

I've wanted a serger for a while but I also know that if/when I get one, I want to get something that's going to do what I need for it to do - not one that I'm going to grow out of in a year. The good news is that after pouring over a ton of websites, talking with friends and reading a great article in a back issue of Threads magazine, I know what I want: a five thread serger (preferably the Janome, Pfaff, or Bernina). The bad news: as you can probably guess based on those names, the price of a five thread serger - even a used one - is pretty hefty.

So, I'm saving for that perfect serger but, in the interim, I decided to get the next best thing and bought an overlock foot for my sewing machine. I finally decided to take on the scary looking foot and give it a shot last month while preparing for the East Atlanta Strut.

The verdict? It's definitely no serger but at about a quarter of the price, it's a great little tool.

There are a few tricks to learn - positioning the fabric correctly, ensuring there's enough fabric under the cutter, and sewing at a slower speed (which is probably the most difficult part for a speed demon like me!) - but after getting the hang of it, I wondered how I ever lived without this foot.

An overlock foot isn't for everyone - you need to have a sewing machine that is capable of doing an overlock stitch (although the foot instructions list a zig-zag stitch as another option, I can't see it working as well), you need a machine with interchangeable feet and, of course, you have to be sure that your manufacturer makes an overlock foot that fits your machine. But, assuming it's an option and you, like me, aren't quite ready to shell out the cash on a serger, an overlock foot is a great investment.

What are you waiting for?