What is the difference between a sewing machine and a serger?
Well..... A serger (or overlock) sews a different, and usually more complex stitch. Where a sewing machine usually only uses two threads to make the stitch, a serger can use two, three, four or even five threads and will sew around the edges of the work piece, as well as trimming the edge of the work just ahead of the sewing area, or as you feed the work in, the trimming takes place first. Sergers also make a stronger seam, attributable to more thread / stitching in the seam. Sergers are versatile and quick, but one drawback is the fact that sergers make a chain stitch instead of a lock stitch, like a machine with a bobbin, and lock stitches can be pulled out, like the stitching that used to close dog food bags and bags of charcoal. A lock stitch is just what it sounds like, it can't be pulled out. You only get a lock stitch with a machine that uses a bobbin, and sergers don't use bobbins. That fact makes serging desirable for the speed of production. Changing bobbins takes up a lot of time, even if you are using pre-wounds. Hope this helps!
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