Getting coverstitching to look professional on knit fabric, especially synthetic knits, is just not that easy. At least not on my Bernina 2000 DCE. I have to stabilize, baste, pin, and fiddle – all things I don’t really enjoy. Well, tough. That’s what it takes to make this stitching even and straight. Everytime I try to skip any of those steps I regret it, and end up ripping. Something I like even less than basting!
That was pretty much the story with the purple tennis skirt one of my students made, and I hemmed. Or attempted to hem anyway. The first pass on the coverstitch looked HORRIBLE. Too ugly to photograph horrible. I did add one layer of water soluble stabilizer, but did not baste, and I also decided to try to go around the entire hem including the 2 side slits without breaking the stitching. Yes, that’s right. I tried to turn corners with my coverstitch. Clearly I was a little delusional. Â
Sigh. Take 2 included the following steps:
1. Measuring hem allowance, pinning and basting in place
2. One layer of water soluble stabilizer on top, and a second layer on the botton
3. Take another look at the lovely result when I follow all the necessary prep steps. The ones I don’t really like. Well, I just need to get over myself. All those steps are important and necessary to a professional looking finished product on my coverstitch machine. What about your experience? Do you have a faster, easier way to get a good looking coverstitch? I’d love to hear about it – post a comment and let me know your tricks!
Happy sewing!
Maris Olsen