Peggy Sagers: The overlock machine, designed by Makens Merrow and his son Joseph in 1838, was released into the sewing market in 1889.

The Merrow family owned a knitwear company in Connecticut and wanted a way to finish their edges.

The machine evolved from their use of it over 50 years.

It was known in the U.S. as a serger, but to most of the world it is known as an overlock machine.

The serger, or overlock machine, has had great impact on the world of sewing.

Today on "Fit2Stitch" we learn some great serger ideas.

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♪♪♪ Peggy: I get asked all the time do I need a serger or when should I get a serger?

I don't know all those answers, but I'm gonna give you some information today that will help you make those decisions for yourself, and I brought on what I think is my serger buddy.

Cindy has taught me so much about the serger that I just feel like she's the one to teach you more about it than what I know.

I love a serger, I love using my serger.

Cindy Vance: They're fun.

Peggy: And I use it a lot, but I think you know a lot more about it than I do.

So, you do a lot with it.

Cindy: I do.

Peggy: You go beyond clothes, you really-- this is fun stuff you make.

Cindy: Because you can finish it and seam it all at the same time.

Peggy: Okay, so did you have a serger right after a sewing machine?

What was the order you got your serger?

Cindy: I got a sewing machine first and then got the serger because I wanted to finish the edges of my garments better.

Peggy: And you liked it.

Cindy: And I liked it.

Peggy: And you're an accountant, so those details really matter to you.

Cindy: Precision matters.

Peggy: Just full disclosure, okay.

So, where are we going to start?

Cindy: We're going to start with making this little pouch here that has a zipper in it.

Peggy: And this pouch can be anything.

Cindy: It could be made for anything.

Peggy: Makeup.

Cindy: Faux leather, you could make it out of whatever you want to make it out of.

Peggy: Oh, this is a great project.

It's a great--especially any level can do it, do you think?

And the whole thing's made on the serger?

Cindy: And the whole thing's made on the serger.

Peggy: Okay, let's do it.

Cindy: All right, so you're going to start with a zipper.

We're going to have the exterior fabric and your lining fabric.

Now, when it came to the exterior, you'll see I chose to interface mine because it gives it more body.

If you don't, your pouch is going to be a lot more floppy, it's not going to stand up as well.

Peggy: So, just depending on what you want.

Cindy: Just depending on what you want.

So, you're gonna have your pieces 10 x 16.

Peggy: I do like the body.

It just feels more professional a little bit.

Cindy: So, you want your zipper to extend about 2 inches beyond the 10 inches.

So, this is a 14-inch zipper.

Okay, so those are your pieces, then what you're going to do is, first thing is layer your exterior piece with your zipper facing down and then your lining on top of it.

Pin it in place and then you serge it on.

Peggy: You serge that on?

You can do zippers on a serger?

Cindy: You can, so you just line it up.

I have my pins going this way so that I don't worry about them getting cut with the knife, but having the pins in there keep that zipper in place.

Peggy: One thing that will destroy a serger is pins.

Cindy: Is pins, but if you have them going the right way, you don't have to worry about it.

Peggy: Oh, that's amazing.

I can't believe you're doing a zipper on the serger.

I mean, you could do this on really anything, couldn't you?

Cindy: You could.

Peggy: Okay, that's pretty cool.

Cindy: So, now your zipper is sewed in.

Peggy: And you really had all of the raw edges and everything to use as a guide.

Cindy: Right.

Peggy: Oh, that is very cool, very cool.

Cindy: Finger press it, then what you're going to want to do is take your lining up to this side, your exterior up to this side and do the same thing.

Surge across the top.

So, once you've done that, this is what it looks like.

So, you've got your lining and your exterior and your zipper in between.

So, you're going to turn this inside out so that the-- Peggy: So, you're reaching in between your two linings.

Cindy: Yes, in between the lining because you want the exterior on the inside and your lining on the outside.

Now, this is where it gets designer's choice.

Peggy: I love that term.

That means you get to decide.

Cindy: You get to decide, but I put my zipper pull on this side now.

Before it was on this side when I started, because now we're looking at the inside of the bag.

Peggy: Right, right, it's inverted.

Cindy: So, you decide how much you want up here.

Most people are going to want their zippers pretty close.

You don't really want it at the top because it's going to make it hard to sew on the side.

Peggy: Oh, so at this point you can manipulate this.

You can actually go down the middle.

You could do anything you want.

Cindy: You could do anything.

If you want it like this.

Peggy: Ah, that's like a Kleenex holder.

Cindy: It could be, okay?

Peggy: Okay, so the general rule for yours, you could-- Cindy: I do it about three-fourths to an inch from the top.

Peggy: You want the zipper at the top of the pouch, okay.

That's a good point.

Cindy: So, now you're going to sew down both sides, but you're going to sew down the zipper-stopper side first.

Sew all the way down this.

Peggy: And you can serge right through a zipper?

Cindy: Want me to show you?

Peggy: Yeah, I don't want your machine to break though, but it won't hurt.

Cindy: It won't, it won't hurt.

Peggy: Because you have a plastic teeth.

Cindy: Because I have a plastic teeth.

If you used a metal, you gotta be careful.

You're not gonna be able to surge over the top of it.

Peggy: Oh, my gosh, you just went right through that.

Cindy: So then-- Peggy: And I'm sorry, I'm still stuck on this, that you're doing a zipper on the serger, no metal.

Cindy: No metal.

Peggy: And the zipper, in the beginning you said it had to be longer, it has to be longer.

Cindy: Right, because you don't want the pulls to get caught in the middle.

Peggy: Sure, okay.

Cindy: Okay, so then the next important thing is move the zipper pull all the way to the inside.

If you don't and you sew this, you're gonna cut your zipper pull off.

Peggy: Got it.

Cindy: So, you move that to the inside and you do the same thing, sew down this side, which is what I have here.

So, now you have--it's open, you've sewn down both sides, and now you're gonna turn it right side out, and your bag is done.

Peggy: I can't believe this bag is that simple.

How long would you say that took you?

Cindy: Maybe ten minutes with cutting out?

Peggy: I mean, this is adorable.

I mean, just look at all the fabrics that you can make and mix.

Is this a faux leather?

Cindy: This is a faux leather.

Peggy: This is beautiful.

Cindy: And I interfaced it to give it a little more body.

Peggy: But you can embroider somebody's name.

Cindy: You can embroider names on there.

Peggy: Oh, that's really cool.

What a great idea.

Cindy: So, you can use them as gift bags.

You could use them as your first aid kits for your car.

Peggy: Very nice, and it's all done on the serger.

Cindy: It's all done on the serger in ten minutes.

Peggy: I love that, that's really fun.

Cindy: And then I just have some cord here, which is what I used for my zipper pull, just to give it a little something to grab ahold of.

Peggy: That's a good idea, so you don't have to literally get hold of those, and there's lots of fun things you could do on that.

Cindy: Oh, you could get all kinds of zipper pulls.

So, now let's talk about a shopping bag, grocery bag.

Peggy: You actually make your own grocery bags?

I mean, you use grocery bags?

Cindy: I use three of them every week when I go to the grocery store so I don't have to use plastic.

Peggy: Okay, so you use three bags every week, and how long have you been doing that?

Cindy: For at least 15 years.

Peggy: Okay, so 15 bags, three bags a week, 52, give me the math, you're the accountant, 150 bags a year times 15 years.

That's a lot of bags.

Cindy: That's a lot of bags.

Peggy: Okay, so we have about a million people watching.

If everybody made three bags, we could make a real improvement on the plastic bag debt, and if they made three bags for each neighbor.

Cindy: Or even two bags.

Peggy: Okay, is this as easy as that?

Cindy: It's just as easy as that.

Peggy: Okay, let's do it., I love this.

I love the idea of making shopping bags.

Cindy: So, you're going to start out with a 17-inch square piece of fabric.

Peggy: Okay, 17 x 17.

Cindy: Seventeen-by-seventeen, and I cut three-inch holes, corners, out of the bottom, out of each one of these.

And again, I interfaced them, because if you don't your shopping bag's not gonna have as much body.

Plus, it gives it more strength, gonna hold up better.

Peggy: This is adorable fabric.

I mean, the green peppers, the jalapeño peppers, those are adorable.

Yes, they're very cute.

Cindy: Now you're going to do the same thing for your lining pieces, cut out.

Peggy: So, this is a lined grocery bag.

Cindy: Lined grocery bag.

Peggy: And you can wash it, obviously.

Cindy: Yeah, because it's 100% cotton.

Peggy: Okay, sure.

Cindy: And then cut your three-inch squares out of each corner.

Peggy: Okay, 17 x 17, three-inch squares, got it.

Cindy: Then you decide on what kind of handle you want.

Do you want matching?

Or you could also use cotton webbing.

Peggy: And you can just buy that by the yard.

Cindy: You can buy this by the yard.

If you want to make your own, you can make your own handles on the serger.

Peggy: No.

Cindy: Yeah, so you just take it over here.

Now, what you've gotta do first is get a long tail, because now you're going to take that.

Peggy: Because a serger will sew without fabric under it.

Peggy: It just does its own thing.

Cindy: You're getting a little tail here to help you turn this when it's done.

So, line it all up and then just start sewing.

Hang on to that tail, because you're going to use it to pull the bag or turn the handle.

Peggy: This is so cool.

So, it needs to be at least as long as your handle, the tail should be.

Cindy: If you're going to hold onto it, it doesn't have to be quite as long and then... Peggy: You're going to turn that thing inside out with the handle.

You know how many tools are on the market to do that?

Cindy: To do that, and you don't need them.

Peggy: You don't need any of those tools, that's amazing.

Cindy: You don't need to get the safety pin and stick it to the end, yeah.

Peggy: Yeah, all of the variables we've been taught.

You know what I always do is I flip them in on each other, and you have to stitch, you have to have a stitch, but the problem is with that is it looks a little bit home-made-ish looking to me, whereas these ones that are done like this, you don't see any of that.

So, the hard part is just getting it started.

Cindy: Getting it started, right.

Peggy: Once you get it started, the whole thing inverts.

Cindy: Right, and you'll have it like this.

Press your seam to the middle.

Peggy: Yeah, see, and you don't have any stitching on the side, but also I would think with that serger it's much stronger as far as the handle goes.

Cindy: It is, because there's the four threads.

Peggy: Did you interface the handle?

Cindy: I did.

Peggy: You did, okay.

Cindy: Just to give it much more body and strength.

Peggy: Sure, sure, sure.

Cindy: So now, once you've got your handle decided, you're going to take your lining pieces, sew down the sides.

You're going to take your exterior pieces, sew down the sides.

Then you're going to turn your exterior right side out and pin your handles in place.

So, I do 2 1/2 inches from center.

Mark your center, go 2 1/2 inches out.

Make sure your handle's not turned.

Peggy: Is there a reason you do 2 1/2?

You're an accountant, so you know all this stuff.

Cindy: I think it gives it a good width so you can easily grab your bag.

Peggy: So, you've got 5 inches here, and almost really 5 and 5 then, don't you?

It's kind of divided into thirds, sort of.

Cindy: So, then once you do that you're going to put it inside your lining, because your exterior now is right side out, and your lining, you're putting right sides together.

Peggy: Okay, right sides together.

Cindy: Right sides together.

Peggy: And only thing you've done is serged on those sides now.

Cindy: Right, and made my handles or not.

Then you'll pin this matching your side seams and serge all the way around the top, okay?

Once you've done that-- Peggy: I'm just trying to understand how we're going to get this bag inside out.

[laughing] I've gotta see how this is going to happen.

Cindy: You've got--this is what you're looking at right now, okay?

So then, there you go.

Now, you're going to turn your bag right side out.

Peggy: Right sides together again, but with that seam has been sewn.

Cindy: Right, so now you've got your tube like this.

Peggy: Right, oh, that's how you're going to do it.

Right sides together, but the handle is sewn, the top is sewn.

Cindy: Right, they're already sewn together, so now we're lining up our bottom pieces.

Peggy: And you're just going to close up that bottom, aren't you?

Cindy: And you just close up the bottom.

Peggy: Oh, my gosh.

Cindy: You sew up your bottom.

Peggy: So, right sides together.

Cindy: So, that's what you've got here is the bottom has now been sewn together, here's your interior, right sides together.

I mean, it's wrong sides, wrong sides together.

Peggy: Wrong sides together there, okay.

See, this is what's good about teaching, you learn more than everybody you're teaching.

That's what I find out.

Cindy: Here we go.

Peggy: Yes, so the right sides together were for the handle we did across the top, and then we put it together, we turn it, now we put the wrong sides together.

Cindy: Because that's going to be the inside of your bag.

Peggy: Right, and it's all serged and it's pretty and finished.

Cindy: And it's pretty and finished.

Peggy: Perfect, all right, so now we're at the bottom.

We've got wrong sides together.

Cindy: We have wrong sides together and the bag inside out.

Peggy: Yeah, and your handles are all done already.

Cindy: And the handles are already sewn in.

Peggy: Do you have a tendency, do you like the homemade handles?

Do you like-- Cindy: I like the cotton webbing, but that's just a personal preference.

Peggy: Because just easier to grab?

They look more professional?

Cindy: I think they look a little more professional.

Peggy: Okay, this is nice though because you've got more control over the match.

Cindy: You do, you can match it better because you can't always find the cotton webbing that's going to match whatever your fabric is.

Peggy: So, when you were cutting this, how did you decide how wide to cut these?

Cindy: I cut them 2 1/2 inches because I wanted a 1-inch handle.

So, that gave me enough to serge and turn it.

Peggy: And then about how long?

Because sometimes you could just throw them over your shoulder.

Cindy: You could make them longer.

For my grocery bags, I made them 17 inches because that's how wide I cut my square, so I just cut it right at the end of the 42-inch piece of fabric.

Peggy: Okay, smart.

pretty smart.

Okay, so onto the bottom, we've got everything done.

Cindy: Now you're finishing it up.

So, you know, the initial question was, well, what do we do with these squares?

How do we box this bottom?

So, you just stick your finger in there.

Peggy: And that's what makes it dimensional.

Cindy: That's what makes it nice and square, and then I use these, because I don't want to put a pin in and serge across, and then you just serge across the bottom on both sides, and you turn your bag.

Peggy: And that gives you that nice square at the bottom.

Cindy: Turn your bag right side out.

Peggy: Cindy, I think this is amazing.

Like, could we start donating these to grocery stores?

Cindy: We could.

[laughing] Peggy: Like, wouldn't it really truly be wonderful if everybody just made some bags to do grocery shopping in?

Cindy: Right, instead of spending a dollar for the ones at the store, you can make your own.

Peggy: So, have you ever figured out, like, do they really hold?

I mean, you trust--how did you decide how big to make them?

How did you make all those decisions?

Cindy: It's a personal preference.

Peggy: So, this will hold a cantaloupe and a honeydew.

Cindy: I prefer mine for carrying heavy gallons of milk or put all the canned goods in here and I don't worry about, you know, plastic bags, they double them up, so now you not only got one, you got two.

Peggy: Yeah, you're just wasting all that stuff.

Cindy: And they'll only put two or three things in a plastic bag.

This, I say fill it and go.

Peggy: And you have the confidence that it'll stay.

Cindy: That's gonna stay.

Peggy: And part of that strength, like I said, is the serger.

Cindy: It is.

Peggy: Yeah, because you've got four threads securing every single stitch rather than on the sewing machine you'd only have two.

So, it's been said the only thing a serger can't do is a buttonhole.

Cindy: At this time, I guess.

Peggy: Yeah, they'll get it to change.

All right, so talk to me about this bag, because I love this bag.

You brought it in.

I just saw it with you, you had it on and there was a little bit of figuring on this one.

Cindy: This one, because I wanted everything centered, and that's the other thing to consider.

If you want things centered, you're going to have to line it up and you may not get exactly 17 inches, you might have to reduce it.

Plus, I only wanted a 4-inch box bottom, so I only cut 2-inch squares.

This isn't interfaced so you can see it's--you could put this in a bag and go shopping and take it out and stuff it with stuff.

Peggy: Sure, so the negative of the interfacing is it takes up more space, the positive is it gives it a little more body.

Cindy: It gives it more body, right.

Peggy: But it won't fold down as much.

Cindy: But this can just be rolled up and stuck in a handbag when you go grocery shopping or go to the store.

Peggy: I just love this idea.

I just think it's amazing.

Cindy: So, then this is one that I made to go shopping, so it's got a longer handle, and then I made a little matching pouch to put my wallet and stuff in there, and then just off to the mall I go.

Peggy: Plus, it's secure, it's really nice and secure.

Cindy: So, you can make all--you can make grocery, you can make going shopping.

Peggy: And this is the same thing with these sealed up corners.

That did not take you long to do that.

Cindy: No, again, maybe 15 minutes.

Peggy: Let's just go over those numbers just to make sure we've got--I mean, I think I remember it's 17 x 17, the original pieces, okay.

Cindy: Cutting a 3-inch corner.

Peggy: That's right, it was 3 inch in and 3 inch down.

Cindy: And 3 inches down.

Peggy: That was your base.

Your handle was 17 because it was the same width across here.

Okay, so, three squares?

Cindy: Seventeen inches, have your lining, your exterior fabric, either make your handles or buy some cotton webbing.

Peggy: All right, very nice, very, very nice.

All right, so now we have this other fun project.

Cindy: This fun project.

Peggy: This is a really fun project and you actually were nice enough to let me create some fabrics because we use--this is actually Oscar de la Renta.

Cindy: Oscar de la Renta and silk.

Peggy: Coordinating fabrics, and we put some silk cognac color in there because I have a lot of brown in my house, and so instead of doing kind of a Christmas theme.

Cindy: Or any--you can do any holiday theme you want and change them out.

So, this table runner, four pieces, four seams.

Peggy: Four pieces, four seams.

Cindy: That's it, so you're going to cut 2 1/2 inches.

So, you're gonna cut two of those, you got one on each side.

You've got your center piece, which is going to be 10 inches by the width of your fabric.

So, in this case, this was 58 inches wide, so you can get a longer one.

If you're using quilt cotton, you're only going to get 42 inches, and then your backing is going to be 18 inches wide by the width of your fabric.

So, those are your four pieces.

Peggy: So, we have 10 and 18 and 2 1/2.

Cindy: By the width of the fabric.

So, then, this is your 2 1/2 inch that you're going to fold in half and press, because you're going to sandwich it between your center and your backing piece.

Peggy: Oh, that's pretty easy.

Cindy: Just like that, so this piece here-- Peggy: So, four pieces, three of them you just sewed together.

Cindy: Three of them you sewed together on this side, and now on this side you would line this up and sew all the way down this side.

So, what you've got now-- Peggy: How'd you learn to do this?

Cindy: It's a tube, because you have both sides sewn, so all four pieces are sewn together.

Peggy: And just vertical, just the length of the-- Cindy: Whatever length you decided you wanted to make it, and you just turn it right side out, and now you're almost done.

Peggy: Have you ever done these with backing these fabrics?

Like, mine was a little thicker fabric to begin with.

I like that.

Cindy: I interfaced that fabric because it was-- Peggy: Oh, you did interface it?

Cindy: I interfaced it because it was a little more loose.

It wasn't as tightly woven as this.

Peggy: Okay, so you did fuse it.

Cindy: To give it more body.

Peggy: Okay, I like it.

Cindy: And to have it stand up.

Peggy: I didn't realize you did that, but I really like it.

All right, so you just got this, you center this.

Cindy: I center this, measure from here to here, here to here, make sure it's even all the way along, and press it.

Peggy: And on this one I think it's also interesting to say that notice how she lined up the circles coming across, and there's two circles on this edge, and just things to consider.

Cindy: Things to consider, right.

Peggy: All of those things, because it wasn't until I got it and really started looking at it that if the circles would have been off a little bit, it might have looked a little-- Cindy: You would have noticed.

Peggy: Well, maybe not.

I still would have loved it, but I gotcha.

Cindy: But the same thing with this.

You can decide where you want these placed.

So, then once you have this, you're going to just fold it together like that and sew across both ends.

Peggy: Okay, just literally sew across both ends?

So, if they're all uneven it doesn't matter, you just even them up.

Cindy: Because what you're doing is when you're sewing across this, you can either cut that with the serger at that time or you can cut it beforehand and then serge it.

Peggy: So, it doesn't have to be perfect.

Cindy: It doesn't have to be.

Peggy: That's what I love about a serger.

The serger makes me look like I'm a better sewer than I am.

Cindy: The nice thing about making this one, you can see that not all my edges lined up, because some of these may be 42, that's 43, and this is 44, that's okay.

Peggy: So, just go to the lowest point.

Cindy: And cut it across.

Peggy: Okay, and if you're nervous you could cut that off, like you said, ahead of time and then fold it in half, I gotcha.

Cindy: And then you're just sewing across the ends, and then here's where the magic happens.

You just flip it.

Peggy: Now how can that work?

Cindy: Make your little point and turn it out.

Peggy: How can that work?

Cindy: And now, and you can see this only took you probably 15 minutes, too.

Peggy: Okay, that's way too cool.

Cindy: And you have a nice-- Peggy: That is way too cool.

Cindy: Cute little table runner.

Peggy: Oh, my gosh.

Cindy: And you don't have to sew this down because it's laying on the table so it's not going anywhere.

Peggy: It's gonna keep it down.

Talk to me real quick about these finishes, because sergers do more than just four thread.

Cindy: So, this is what you typically see of the four thread.

Peggy: Right, and that's when I want to sew a garment, I want strength, I use all four threads.

Cindy: Right, because you've got two, your needle threads here, and then your upper and lower looper.

Peggy: Okay, so garments is where this would be.

Cindy: That's where this would be.

Peggy: Okay, got it.

Cindy: To give it good strength.

Now, what you can also do with garments is you sew your seam, and then you can go back and just edge finish and clean it up.

This would be with the three thread.

Peggy: So, it can get rid of a thread and go for a three thread.

Cindy: And go for a three thread.

Now, some people like to make baby blankets, napkins, you could just do a narrow three-thread rolled hem around it, and here you go.

And then to bury the seams, I put it in a tapestry needle and feed it back through and then trim it so that I don't worry about that thread coming undone.

So, then there's that.

Now, you can also do a rolled edge which is what we have on a lot of these garments here on the edge of the ruffle.

Peggy: Because they're done so often and ready to wear.

The marrow, called a marrow edge, too, yeah.

Cindy: So, here I just did one, a single row all the way around.

Peggy: That's so pretty.

Cindy: Most of the time you're going to use matching thread.

Peggy: This is amazing.

Cindy: And then I did--on this side I decided to do two rounds of it, so it made it thicker.

Peggy: We could do this all day because I learned so much.

Cindy, thank you so much for being here.

You guys, everybody's got to make at least three bags.

Cindy: At least three bags.

Peggy: All right, that's fair to say.

Every time I get a chance to look inside the Texas Fashion Collection, it's a great experience.

Next time on "Fit2Stitch," we get a look at the garments in the collection that are handmade.

We'll hear why the collection of almost 20,000 items values its handmade garments from the world's best designers.

Join me next time as we look at some beautiful handmade garments.

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