Serger questions

[leighi123]

First of all - do I need one? I make all kinds of different things, latley I have been trying out some clothing for ds, I want to make him some button up shirts once I find a pattern in his size, and pjs, and shorts and things (Ive made all those before) What else besides clothes and wipes needs a serger?
So far, I just zig-zag or turn and topstich depending on the project to finish the edges, which works ok.

How hard is it to learn to use one? Im assuming the threading is the tricky part - is it actually difficult to do, or just a pain?

And the other thing is does anyone know about either of these machines:
Elna T-34D
Elna Pro 4 DE

Any opinions on those? What are they worth to buy second hand? (trying to determine if the ones someone emailed me about on craigslist are a good deal)
I tried looking them up and didnt come up with much ?

I'm having to be really carefull with $$$ and I'm trying to decide if its going to be worth the investment to get one!

Thanks!

[sabrinat]

Check patternreview.com for consumer reviews. However, I remember looking at the second serger and asking on Sewingmamas and the mama's that had it did not like it. A nice entry level serger is the Brother 1034 that can usually be had for $250 shipped and is a solid performer and well regarded.

eta: I love having a serger and in fact, I have 2

[orangefoot]

I sewed for years without one but have had mine for about 18months now.

I've seen good things about the Brother Sabrina mentions too - I think we read all the same forums!!

Once you have one you will find things to sew with it. I just used mine yesterday to finish the raw edge of the top edge of some shopping totes so I could just turn the top once and topstitch. Not absolutely necessary but I couldn't be bothered to do more ironing!

[jenneology]

I love having a serger, I find the edges much stronger than using the zig-zag with top stitch. All of the clothing items you mentioned are really good candidates for serging. I find the serger easy to use, and the threading not as difficult as one would think. Its a matter of following the guides on the machine.

I can't make recommendations about machines. I have an old one from the 70's that we bought used when I was a teenager. It works great. Its a White Superlock I believe.

I know there are many other ways I could use my serger but I haven't taken the time to figure them out yet. I want to figure out serging as a topstitch, but up until now I've only used it to finish edges and put seams together.

[AlwaysByMySide]

I was very intimidated before I dove in and got a serger, and now I prefer it to my sewing machine. I use it for clothes, wipes, bags, all sorts of stuff. And when I'm feeling too lazy to hem anything, I do a rolled hem and I'm done.