Overlocking & Coverstitch Machines

What an overlocker does

An overlocker, or serger, trims the raw edge, sews the seam and wraps it in thread in one pass. The seam won't fray and the inside of the garment looks as neat as the outside. It works alongside a sewing machine rather than replacing it. Zips, buttonholes and topstitching still go on the sewing machine.

A coverstitch machine does a different job. It sews the twin parallel rows you see on a T-shirt hem, with a stretchy loop of thread underneath, so hems on knits move with the fabric instead of snapping.

Which overlocker?

• bernette b44: made for a first overlocker. 15 stitches on 2, 3 or 4 threads, color-coded threading and up to 1,300 stitches a minute.
• bernette b64 Funlock: the loopers thread themselves by air at the press of a button. Looper threading is the part most people dread, so this is the one if setup puts you off. It also has 16 stitches, a free arm for sleeves and cuffs, and 5 LEDs over the work area.
• Bernina L 450: color-coded threading, a large well-lit sewing area, and seams that stay smooth at any speed.
• Bernina L 460: up to 1,500 stitches a minute, rolled hems and flatlock seams, and a knee lift that raises the presser foot so both hands stay on the fabric.

Coverstitch, or both in one?

The bernette b42 is a coverstitch machine only. It uses up to 4 threads and 3 needles, sews narrow (2.8 mm) and wide (5.6 mm) coverstitch, and has a chain stitch for basting a seam you plan to pull out later.

The bernette b48 is an overlocker and coverstitch machine in one body, with 23 stitches: 15 overlock, 3 coverstitch, 4 combination and 1 chain stitch. Rolled hems go down to 1.5 mm. Switching from overlock to coverstitch needs a small conversion, so if you sew T-shirts in batches, two separate machines save converting back and forth. If space allows only one machine, the b48 covers both.

Test the differential feed on a jersey scrap before you sew the garment. The right setting stops knit seams from rippling.