Brother 1034D : Rolled Hem Mini Tutorial

Several of you mentioned that my serger gathering tutorial was helpful so I thought I'd post a how to for rolled hems. This one is a bit trickier than gathering but hopefully the photos will help. The settings I used are probably more of a guideline as they may need to be changed depending on what type of fabric or thread you are using. I used a quilting weight cotton for this demo. A quick note-until I attempted to figure out how to do a rolled hem, I hadn't actually threaded my machine. I used the cheater method of tying my new thread onto the thread the machine came with. I was forced to start from scratch when I broke thread several times during my testing phase. It really wasn't that bad!! I used the handy orange booklet that came with the serger along with the nifty diagrams on the machine, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best. So, be prepared to rethread your machine from scratch while playing around with rolled hems!

You will need:

*scrap fabric that is the same weight as the fabric you plan to use (do some testing on the scraps before starting on your project)

*regular serger foot

*standard serger thread / Woolly Nylon/Polyarn (more on that below)

First, we'll set the machine up to use one needle only. Using the little allen wrench that came with the machine, loosen the needles while holding them. As they loosen, pull out the left needle, then tighten the right needle into place.



Next, you'll need to remove the stitch finger. Start by lifting the presser foot up. Pull all threads to the back. Turn the wheel until the upperlooper is at the lowest position as in the photo. Press the little lever at the base of the stitch finger and pull it out using the tab next to the orange arrow.






Dial your machine to the following settings:
(remember, you may need to tweak these settings to get the best results)

Right Needle: 5

Upperlooper: 5.5

Lowerlooper: 8

Differential Feed: .7

Stitch Length: R

Stitch Width: 5

I used regular serger thread to do my rolled hem. It does use up a lot of thread! For a cleaner look with more coverage, you'll need to get woolly nylon or Polyarn. What's the difference, you ask?? Woolly nylon apparently will melt if ironed. That can be bad! So far, I've used a rolled hem with shirring so I have to use an iron. The melting issue can be avoided by using Polyarn. Disclaimer: I haven't tried either of these out yet. I've just done a bit of research and am sharing what I've found via the interweb. Also, keep in mind that these threads will be used in both the upper and lowerloopers. You'll use standard thread in the needle.

Another random tip: try to start the machine off slowly and avoid sudden starts/stops. That helps keep that rolled hem looking nice and even.

Okie dokie. That's all I have for today. Go forth and serge ;) If you need more info or more photos, let me know! If something sounds totally crazy, definitely point it out as I had a toddler handing me cans of beans from the pantry while typing.

Oh! Stay tuned for a giveaway. I'm still working out the details but it should be a good one!