Splendor Serger Loungewear Set

The instructions written with the purchased pattern are excellent! You will follow the order of her instructions when constructing. This tutorial will give you tips and tricks to stitch most everything with your Baby Lock 8-thread serger, using both overlock and cover stitch stitches! Use your Thread Guide to assist in setting up for the different stitches.

1. Set your serger up for a 4-Thread Overlock Stitch (you could use a 3-Thread Wide; personally, I like to have the additional needle stitch line for added strength). Set the stitch length at 2.5mm and the stitch width at M. Test a test piece (of the fabric you’ll be using) through the serger to see if you like the stitch.

2. The pattern author notes that there is a seam allowance of 3/8” (unless otherwise specified) so, you’ll need to identify where you’ll want to line up your fabric. From the left needle O1 to the blade, it is about a ¼”. If you look at the lines on the tip of the foot, those raised notches align with each needle position. Using a measuring gauge, find placement for a 3/8” seam allowance. I found that lining up the fabric with the edge of the plastic in front of the bed of the machine made a 3/8” seam allowance, trimming about 1/8” off as I stitched. That is where I lined every seam up. The only exception is the neckline seam where it is a ¼” seam allowance stated in the pattern and that, I lined up with the blade, cutting nothing off.

3.    For most of the serger steps, I used the Teflon Serger Foot because the fabric glides beautifully under that foot! The Standard Foot also works well. For the first step of the Karla Top, I used the Standard Foot so that I could insert clear elastic into the shoulder seams. The Standard Foot has openings that are called tape guides and the one right in front of the O1 and O2 needles will work perfectly for ¼” clear elastic or stay tape!

Tip: Check some of your manufactured blouses/dresses; often you’ll find clear elastic or stay tape in the shoulder seams. This keeps the shape and stability and prevents strain or warping of the shoulder seams, especially if hung on hangers.

4.    It may be a little difficult to see in the image, but clear elastic has been inserted into the right tape guide from top to bottom and down underneath and to the back of the foot (it stays underneath). Leave a 2”-3” tail behind the foot and place the foot onto the machine.

5. Next, line the fabric up where it was determined in step 2. As the serger stitches, it will guide and pull the elastic through, and you’ll end with a stabilized shoulder seam!

6. After the shoulder seams, I changed to the Teflon Serger Foot (the image below shows the Teflon coating on the bottom of the foot). I used the Teflon Foot for the rest of the loungewear set. You can stick with the Standard Foot, but if you notice friction/stretching, give the Teflon Foot a whirl! For the sleeve-to-armholes, side and sleeve seams, I used Wonder Clips in place of pins (this prevents serging over pins, which can be detrimental to the blade of your serger)! Then, I lined up the fabric at the location determined earlier to get that 3/8” seam allowance and stitched.

7. When I needed to use the sewing machine, I used the Teflon Foot there also (I found that the fabric glided better)! Make sure to use a needle for stretchy fabric (a jersey knit or ball point needle) on your sewing machine to prevent skipped stitches.

8. For the neckline piece, where the pattern has you press it in half lengthwise and says to stitch closely to the edge, I simply touched my Left Needle Straight Stitch and Mirrored   it so that the needle position dropped to the far right (you can also use a L/R shift if you have it to drop the needle to the far right). I lined up the edge of the fabric with the edge of the foot and that gave me a narrow stitch line about an 1/8” from the raw edges. My fabric was stretchy enough that when the machine pulled it through, it stretched it a bit. So, even with a straight stitch, the neckpiece could still stretch. But! I recommend using a test piece of fabric first; knits play differently! If the straight stitch eliminates any stretch and just pops stitches, you might consider using a slight zigzag or stretch stitch (consult your specific machine manual).

9. When stitching the neckline to the blouse, I used the serger. This is the only part where the seam allowance is ¼”. I just lined up all 3 layers of the fabric with the blade and didn’t cut anything off. Start serging in the back somewhere and continue until you meet the beginning.

10. Tip: Sometimes, when you serge over a bulky seam, you might notice that it can get stuck at the toe of the foot for a second. This can cause stretching or warping at that spot. When you get to a seam, simply serge right up to the bulk and gently lift the toe of the foot to allow for some of the bulk to go under, put the toe back down, take another stitch or two, lift the toe again and continue until the bulky seam is on its way under the pressure of the foot. Consider using a stiletto tool, as well, to help push the bulk under the foot (just watch out for the blade obviously).

11. For the blouse hem and pant leg hems, I used the Cover Stitch. However, for the sleeve hems, you need a casing for elastic (in other words, you need to leave an opening to insert elastic, so I used the sewing machine for this task). For the sleeve hems, I just serged the single layer raw edge of the hem with a 4-thread Overlock around each circular hem (see images in step 10) and then, folded up and stitched the casing on the sewing machine as specified in the pattern (see tip in next step). 

12. Tip: The pattern says to fold up a ¾” hem allowance for the sleeves. I took a measuring gauge and doubled that measurement. I used that new measurement of 1.5” and marked up 1.5” from the serged raw edge around the entire hem. This gave me a line to press my fabric to. Then, I pressed the serged raw edge up to that 1.5” mark and that gave me a perfect ¾” hem allowance!

13. For the blouse hem and the pant leg hems, use a Cover Stitch on your serger! These hem edges do not need to be serged with an overlock stitch like the sleeve hems because they will be finished within the Cover Stitch. I used the same technique as the tip in step 12 to press up the hems. In the pattern, the hem needs to be pressed up 1-1/4”. So, I marked a line at 2.5” and pressed the raw edge of the fabric to that line around the entire hem.

14. Next, I highly recommend using HeatnBond Soft Stretch Lite Iron-On Adhesive Tape (make sure it says sewable on the front of the packaging) on these cover stitch hems. This iron-on hem tape makes the finished hem look so good! It prevents any tunneling of fabric between the needles and it will keep the hem in place while stitching (no pins necessary)! Press the “glue” side down along the raw edge of the hem (shown in the image below). Then, peel off the paper backing. Fold up the hem and press it in place.

15.  Set up your serger for a Cover Stitch Narrow, using needles C2 and C3 (the center and right cover/chain stitch needles). I like to use a 3.0mm stitch length for stitches that topstitch. If you prefer to do a Wide Cover Stitch instead of Narrow, that is ok too!

16. Next, let’s find the placement line. We will create a standard cover hem, where the parallel straight stitch lines appear on top of the garment. That means, we will need to place the raw edge of the hem underneath while stitching, which means it cannot be seen while stitching. If you prefer, you can stitch it with the raw edge facing up and get the “braided” look of the cover hem on the top of the garment. Just remember it will stitch two straight stitch lines on the underside raw edge of the hem. Since knits do not fray, this may not bother you but if you’d like the raw edge covered with the “braiding” of the cover hem, you’ll want to do the standard cover hem with the parallel stitch lines on top.

Take a look at the image on the right. (in downloadable instructions) To find where you will need to line the hem up while stitching, place the wrong side of the hem up so that you can find where the raw edge needs to sit in relation to the needles. If doing the Narrow Cover Stitch, align the raw edge of the hem up with the center needle (line it right up with it or just to the right of it). Put the foot down to hold it in place temporarily. This will help you find a place to line the fold of the hem up with while you serge. Mark it with masking tape on the serger table or better yet, use a Fabric Guide for your serger (see your Baby Lock retailer)! Stitch a test piece to assure all looks well. Check the backside also to make sure alignment is proper.

17. Once you have something to line the fold of the hem up with. Place the right side of the garment hem facing up and underneath the foot. Align the fold of the hem up with your marking or fabric guide. Start cover stitching. Check the backside as you go, as well.

18.  When you get to the beginning, trim the thread tails from the top and bottom of the beginning stitch. Then, use the markings on the toe of the foot to line up the stitch lines with the needles (the optional Clear Foot helps a lot with this task also if you find that you are struggling to line up the beginning to the end). Stitch and overlap about an inch of stitching over the beginning.

19. A great way to lock the stitches is to raise the foot, grab the Allen Wrench and place it under the foot and behind the needle threads. Pull some ease in the thread by gently pulling excess in the threads right in front of the needles. Then, slide the Allen Wrench forward, creating slack in the needle threads in front of the foot.

 20. Cut those needle threads and jerk the fabric quickly forward and towards you, tugging on the hem. This will pull all of the threads to the back. Some will trim the threads off completely right there. I like to put a knot in these 3 threads to ensure it’s locked.

21. The tie for the waistband on the pants can easily be stitched with a 4-Thread Overlock Stitch. It will give you great stretch and won’t pop a stitch while you’re turning it! You can use Wonder Clips to clip the fabric RIGHT SIDES together if you’d like. I just lined the fabric up as I went. Do a trial run with a test piece. You can turn with a safety pin, or my favorite is to turn with a skinny loop turner (this might take a little practice). Once you’ve turned the pieces, you can simply knot the ends of the tie (or finish with your preferred method).

22. The Center Back Seam of the Waistband is angled. To run this seam through the serger, simply place a little notch at the fold (as shown below). Serge the first half and slow down as you approach the notch.

23. When the notch gets to the blade, move the remaining angled fabric to the left, straightening it out and lining it up with your placement mark to create that 3/8” seam allowance. The notch will allow the fabric to straighten out and remain flat.

24. The side seams, crotch, and waistband-to-pants seams will be stitched using the 4-Thread Overlock Stitch. As mentioned earlier in the tutorial, the pant leg hems will be Cover Stitched (see steps 13-21).

Final Tip: Most fabrics will feed through the machine beautifully and you won’t need to mess with Differential Feed (shown below). My fabric had A LOT of movement in it and a lot of stretch. It tended to stretch through the machine, even when being serged. The texture of my fabric added to the cause of stretch. The Teflon Foot was a huge help and for some stitching (like 4-Thread Overlocking the single layer of fabric for the hem of the sleeves to avoid a “lettuced” or stretched hem, I bumped the Differential Feed up to 1.3 and it helped so much). You really don’t have to adjust the Differential Feel much when doing general serging with a Baby Lock Serger, but it is so nice to have when a fabric doesn’t play in the same way most fabrics do! Happy stitching! 

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