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Magical-- It's not a word I've often used to describe sewing yet when I saw the projects serged and sewn by my guest it was the first word that came to mind. This is Pam Mahshie, a serger expert. She'll show us how to transform basic serger stitches into something mesmerizing! Let's start with the basics, the overlock stitch. Well, thanks, Nancy. We're going to start with the basic overlock stitch. That basic overlock stitch is used for seaming today. And today, we are going to kick it up a notch by using it on the outside. I've brought this inside seam to the outside to create the woven section on the table runner. The technique is called "Whimsical Weaving." And you don't need to use fairy dust to make this creation. "Magical Serger Techniques" that's what's coming up next on Sewing with Nancy! Sewing with Nancy TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman is made possible by Baby Lock a complete line of sewing, quilting and embroidery machines and sergers. Baby Lock, for the love of sewing. Madeira, specializing in embroidery, quilting and special effect threads because creativity is never black and white. Koala Sewing Cabinets hand built in the USA by American craftsmen customized for you. Clover makers of sewing, knitting, quilting and embroidery products for over 25 years. Experience the Clover difference. Amazing Designs and Klass needles. Before showing you the magical techniques that a serger can do Pam and I would like to review the basic stitch how it's formed, and the variety of changes that you can make to this stitch. Now an overlock stitch is found on sweatshirts and t-shirts. That's how the seams are created. In a four-thread stitch you will have two needles an upper looper, and a lower looper. You'll see what this means in a few minutes and then you can remove one needle and then have a three-thread stitch. Pam is going to show you the blade in the serger because the serged seam is created by trimming off the seam allowance stitching the seam, and overlocking the edge. The blades are in the inner mechanism. Yes, they are, Nancy. So here we have the blade which is going to be trimming your fabric away. Then on the inside, we have these two loopers which are going to act like knitting needles. They go over the edge of your fabric. So, let me just run this and show you how it's going to be stitching. You can see how those two loopers interact with each other, exchanging the threads. You can use heavier threads in the loopers because these threads do not pierce the fabric. One goes on top, upper-- the lower looper goes under and they are connected at the side. Here's a close-up of how that basic serged seam is created. You can see the extra fabric, the seam allowance is trimmed off, the seam is stitched and overcast at once. But, if you just use the overlock stitch to serge a sweatshirt or a t-shirt you're kind of missing the boat. Absolutely. And you saw earlier, one of our magical techniques was the "Whimsical Weaving" section. Here you can see, instead of using a four-thread stitch we're using the right needle and the loopers. We have heavy thread in this area. Pam, you have specifics set on your machine for thread. Yes, we have the decorative threads in both our upper and lower loopers. Those threads do not go through the needle. They are going to be crossing over the edge of our fabric. You can use either your left or right needle depending upon the width of the stitch that you're wanting. If you're going to create the "Whimsical Weaving" then you have to start with your fabric and cut some squares. Correct. To give the squares a little bit of extra support we've added interfacing, just a fusible interfacing. Then place it on the cutting board. Make some wavy cuts. Just take your rotary cutter and just cut any shape that you're wanting. It's just a quick cut, and they're stacked. Then the serging is done on all inner seams. You don't have to serge the outer edges because those edges will be enclosed in the seam allowance. Correct. Now, some hints as far as basic overlock stitching. Okay, well, certainly. When we stitch, first of all, we do want to always trim a little bit of our fabric edge away. So let me close the doors and show you how we're going to be stitching. When we place our fabric in front of the presser foot we have these nice markings that will show us where the needles are going to penetrate the fabric. Then as we serge, always trimming a little bit you're going to end up with your stitching always being right on the very edge of the fabric and eliminating any type of gaps. If you had thread whiskers of the fabric you get rid of those. Exactly. It trims all of those little raw edges away. After we have this stitched as you mentioned, and as you see we have stitched on both sides of our fabric. And you end up with this lovely stitch right along the edge, making it very decorative. So, it doesn't take too long just to serge those edges and all the inner edges. Then you can do some weaving. Right. If you did weaving when you were making potholders depends what vintage you are, but I made plenty of potholders for Christmas gifts as a little child. This is kind of the same thing. Lay one color down. You can see all the edges of plum color have been serged vertically. The horizontal rows would come next. Let me just un-pin this. I'm just getting my next layer. Find the matching strip. And instead of going over and under you alternate the strips, over and under one row and under and over the second row. Keep snugging these together. This is not-- Except I don't know how to weave! Let's try this once more. It's a little easier to do on a flatter surface. You can get the idea of this. Then after doing the weaving you can place and press it. I can incorporate part of the table runners that we have here. This is a "Whimsical Weave." No magic wand needed for the next serger embellishment! The table runner featured earlier has another magical serger technique. "Spell-Binding Ribbon" is created with a wide flatlock stitch a decorative thread and a unique ribbon insertion method. It's an ideal accent for home decor. Well, we came up with some kind of crazy names for these serger techniques, but "Spell-Binding Ribbon" really means that we have inserted ribbon through a stitch, and then put ribbon around the stitch for another option, or even added knots. It's an embellishment. It's creative. Pam, a lovely table runner. It gives it a unique look for any home decor project whether it's holiday or everyday use. Now, the flatlock stitch. We're going to give you the basics of that. It is kind of different in that it's not for seaming. It was mainly designed for decorative areas or putting on flat ribbing, as you can see. You'll soon see that we'll serge on a fold and flatten out the fabric. You get two options. Two for the price of one with this! You get a ladder stitch, where the needle thread shows or a looper stitch, where the looper thread shows. We're only using two threads in this instance a two-thread flatlock. It's going to be wide. We are going to use the left needle. Then we are also going to use the lower looper. So only two threads. Pam, there are some set-ups to change. Correct, and when we do this set-up it is important that we block our upper looper position. We trick the machine into thinking that there is actually thread to push up to the needle in order to form that stitch. Here we can see that we've used the heavier thread. We're working with a 30-weight thread so we can see the decorative stitches come through. Now, 30-weight thread-- I have to admit, when I first learned about thread weight I thought that would be heavy. Excuse me, I said that wrong. It is heavier than most threads but the lower the number, the heavier the thread. That's right. So if you had an 80-weight thread it would be very fine. Very, very thin. So we have a 30-weight thread in both the lower looper and the left needle. Let me just show you how the flatlock stitch is formed. You would fold the fabric. You'd like the chain looper to show, so fold the fabric. Here you can see a close-up that I'm guiding it under the presser foot away from the blade area. You could even lock the blade if you would like. Sew so that the loops go over the fold. Then after that has been stitched then the loops are on the edge. Then you just flatten it out. It's important when you're working with heavier fabric that you leave more of the loops hanging off the edge so that you can flatten it. Now you would do the same thing if you'd like the ladder stitch to show. Instead of sewing on the right side of the fabric sew on the wrong side of the fabric. You'd do the same technique I just showed you. The loops are off the side of the fabric. But when I flatten it out to the right side here you can see the ladder stitch. That in itself is a decorative stitch. Why don't you do a decorative stitch with the heavier weight thread on your fabric? We're going to close our machine here. We're going to be placing wrong sides together, the backside of our fabric wrong sides together, and stitching on the fold. You can lock your cutting blade if you would like to ensure that you don't trim that edge of your fabric. But, it really doesn't matter even if you do trim a little bit of that edge. So, let's simply just stitch right down the edge of our fabric. As you can see, there are some of those loops hanging off the edge. Then we'll simply slide the stitches apart which again makes it lay completely flat. That heavier thread did fill out more of the space than the lighter weight thread that I was working with. That's right, and depending upon if you're wanting to work with an even heavier thread place it in your looper for a more filled-in edge. Now you're going to weave. Yes, and now to create that great technique on our table runner, we simply thread a large-eyed needle with heavy yarn. We're going to thread it through the stitching that we have just created. You can select either two or three threads that you're going to be going over. Pull this through. And you end up with a great looking technique depending upon the kind of yarn you're using. The side-to-side weaving is equally as easy. Side-to-side weaving. After we have this initial line of yarn placed we are just simply going to go from side to side crisscrossing the yarn under the thread or the yarn that we've already put in place. "Spell-Binding Ribbon" it's another great magical serger technique. Almost as fast as you can say "abracadabra" you can turn rolled-edge stitching into "Magical Diamond Tucks." The yoke on this precious dress is definitely the focal point of the outfit. The transformation comes into play when you connect rows of rolled edge stitching in an alternating fashion and then add a touch of sparkle. Most of us think of a rolled edge perhaps on a napkin edge or an edge on a ruffle of a blouse. That's how it's used often in the industry. You'll see edges such as this. I have the gold edge with heavier thread in the upper looper. And this stitch, which I'll show you in a few minutes is with threads all with the same color. The upper looper wraps around the edge to finish the edge. The stitch length is short, the width is narrow. It's a ravel-proof seam. So the setting for this, check you owner's manual but the setting I use will be three threads. This cone is the right needle. These two are the upper looper and the lower looper. Pam, why don't you show them the inner mechanisms, the changes that are needed. Again, we're going to be using both the upper and the lower looper with decorative threads. Kind of a continuing theme here. We're working with decorative threads but this time it's a lighter weight rayon thread. We use again the upper and lower loopers and we are going to adjust our stitch length and width. By turning the stitch width and length to a very narrow setting to get that very beautiful narrow stitch. You'll have to check your owner's manual. I make constant reference to that because there are many changes you can make. You may have to change a foot perhaps, but maybe not. When you serge, the basic serging stitch. Here, I'm going to just serge this for you. You can see that it trims off some of the edges. It sews a little slower because there is a lot of thread concentration. Then you just simply have a great stitch when you're done. A great napkin stitch. I have lots of hemmed napkins but it's not time to work with napkins. It's time to do the magical part of this program. The diamond tucks. We have rows, excuse me, columns and columns of diamond tucks stitched on the lengthwise grain. You'll see the little magic to connect the rows. We're going to start by just simply folding our fabric. You were stitching on the raw edge. To create these beautiful tucks we're going to be stitching on the folded edge of our fabric. Simply fold your fabric wrong sides together. We've already stitched one row. We're going to be placing the outside row right on the edge of our presser foot. Even if it trims away some of our fabric we're going to be okay because each row is going to be perfectly aligned with the edge of the presser foot. The fabric edge is so tight that you don't need to worry about those cut edges. Correct. If we're wanting to add fabric if we fill this fabric completely, to add on all we need to do is place, again wrong sides together, and continue stitching. You can make it as large as you need. Row after row we're going to be adding columns. On this sample we have many columns stitched. To create the tucks, you can see some markings. We have used chalk, and let me find my ruler. Here we go. We made ruler marks. You can decide, but ours are one inch apart. The chalk lines are on the front of the fabric. Those chalk lines will come off later. Considering the serged edges are columns we're going to sew together rows. So, the first row we're going to meet column one and column two. I'm just going to pin these down. Columns three and four will be tacked together. You'll see that in a minute. Then the second row, you can figure this out columns two and three go together. Then, four and five would go together. You can see how the diamonds would be created. To tack this together, here's a close-up. At the regular sewing machine I'm using the button stitch setting. It's like a bartack, but it's meant for a button. It tacks just a little width and then automatically knots the thread at the end. You just tack, and tack, and tack at all the intersections that we talked about. Then on our final little dress we added some extra sparkle by putting a pearl or a crystal at each intersection. It's magical! There's one more card up Pam's sleeve when it comes to rolled edge techniques. It's "Wild Card Trim!" Instead of serging on fabric, the substitute is fishing line. The results, hands down a winner! The throw that you just saw has this lovely accent on it. It really has the look of expensive trim. We have used it in combination with some braid but the edges have been serged. As we mentioned the secret is fishing line and a presser foot and an accessory foot. You can either use a beading or elastic foot. I will show you both. This is 14-weight fishing line just in case you'd like to know. We have threaded this through the beading channel of the foot. You hold the fishing line taut to serge over it. It has a channel that it goes right in. The foot that Pam will be using is an elastic foot. And there happens to be a very small opening where the fishing line can go through and we can do the serging. So, that's what Pam has set up plus decorative thread. Correct, and again, we're using the decorative thread. The upper and lower loopers have the decorative threads. So we just simply thread those loopers. And when we're working with the decorative thread and we're working with the beading foot we want to make sure that our cutting blade is down. But with the Elasticator Foot, it isn't necessary. Just simply start to serge. The stitching comes out of the back of the machine completely covering the fish line. Again, depending how much texture you want on your trim would be determined by the weight of the fishing line that you're going to be working with. Now you can serge a little bit more but you have 12-weight thread. Remember, the smaller the number the heavier the thread. Serge, and serge, and serge. You really don't have to hold it because with that hole in the foot you can just let it go and it's going to serge all by itself. You have also done this edge on a shawl. Yes, absolutely. It's a very elegant look, again depending upon the type of thread that we're going to be working with. Now, to use this as we have done on this throw we just looped it around an edge and then topstitched it down. You could purchase braid and cover it. A little bit easier than trying to include it in a seam. This is just a little quick demonstration of how this would work. But all-in-all, with fishing line 12-weight thread in the upper looper and lower looper and all-purpose thread in the needle and just serging over the fishing line. It's a braid that has great appeal and great whimsy. During this segment of "Nancy's Corner" I have the opportunity to bring to you a stunning textile art project that comes to us from Canada. It's a 120 feet long and ten feet high. It's a tapestry that has representation from every nation of the world. I'd like you to welcome Esther Bryan originator of "Quilt of Belonging." Good morning. Good morning, Esther. A quilt that's 120 feet long that has 263 blocks representing every nation in the world is a remarkable feat. Tell our viewers how the idea was born. The idea was born in the early '90s. I'm an artist, a painter/drawer. In the early '90s, my dad asked me to return to Slovakia his country of birth. He hadn't been back in 50 years. He'd left all his family behind. He wanted to go home when the Iron Curtain came down. So he said, "Come with me, Esther. You are the oldest of six children. You'll understand, and you're an artist you can speak about it." So, I went back with him and it just turned my world upside down. My understanding of how we live, why we live the way we do and especially of how the past forms who we are today and the realization that you can't leave that past behind. Even though you think you've closed that door it molds, and if you don't have a past then you actually don't have a present or a future. You have got to deal with it somewhere. The past that we all have is from our ancestors or from our country of origin. And you have the idea of this quilt to represent every culture, every nation in the world. I wasn't so much concerned about ethnicity at the time. What I wanted to show is that we are all different but God has a purpose for every human being. We come in different sizes and shapes and abilities and not only abilities, but also our personalities. There is something that is in each person that is important to humanity. And we need to recognize that. We each have something to learn from the other. So, you interviewed your neighbors in Canada who are from different countries. For example, the Central African quilt block. What we did, is we decided that if we were going to show what the scope of humanity was and teach that there is a place for all that we wanted to develop that compassion that this was a way of doing it. We realized as of January 1, 2000 one of my volunteers went through all the immigration records in Canada. If you can imagine that job! We found out that we had one person from every country in the world, at least, living in Canada. So, we thought, well, this is a good way Plus, we included every Inuit, First Nation, and Metis. The trick was that it took six and a half years to win the trust and work with every one of those groups. We said the quilt would not be shown until the family portrait was complete. So, some of your favorite blocks? My favorite blocks come not as often because of the workmanship but sometimes because of their powerful stories. When I think of Rosalie and the Central African Republic block her block is made with butterfly wings. Not your normal fabric. Not your normal fabric, but fabric tales are thread. And if we define fiber in a larger context it tells the story of humanity, our religion, our geography our history, our gender. It defines our special moments and the time that we live in. You can tell by what we wear, who we are. So for her, that was an important story because butterflies molt in that country and then die. She talks about it like snow falling to the ground. So, the children make art with this. But her story is powerful, because she was persecuted. And she went back to forgive the one who had done the damage to her. And he gave one of the last interviews the dictator, before he died, to her and she forgave him. That spirit is what makes that block special. There is an Iranian block I'd like to show. We have certain ideas about who Iranians are and sometimes the media-- we see people in an unfavorable light. But, what makes the Iranian special was that we found ourselves on our hands and knees examining Persian carpets in the history of it the mathematics, the beautiful artistry that has been left behind in the soul of the people. Hossain Hornavar and his wife chose those designs to put in this block, but then they have the writing. Let me read it to you. The writing in it is from an Iranian poet. "He who is indifferent to the sufferings of others is a traitor to that which is truly human." That is a very compassionate kind of saying which is really what they live by. It's not our perception of those people but I learned much in working with them. Well, Esther, you have put together all 263 blocks into a book. If you can't see the quilt in its entirety you can read about it. But, seeing it in its entirety you see the breadth and the depth of our world. It's very charming. Thank you for being our guest and thank you for watching Sewing with Nancy. See you next time. Bye for now. Nancy and Pam Mahshie have written a fully-illustrated book entitled "Magical Serger Techniques" which includes all the information from this two-part series. It's $14.99, plus shipping and handling. To order the book, call 1-800-336-8373

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sewingwithnancy.com/2317 Order Item No. BK2317, "Magical Serger Techniques." Credit Card orders only. To pay by check or money order call the number on the screen for details. Visit Nancy's Web site for more information on this program. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman is made possible by Baby Lock Madeira Threads Koala Cabinets Clover Amazing Designs and Klass Needles. Closed captioning funding provided by Rowenta.