The tale of two overlockers (sergers)

My first overlocker was bought in the mid 1990s. It is a New Home MyLock 134D which is a Janome brand.  It sews well, it is a bit fiddly to thread so I try to always pull the threads through and sew several things in the same colour.

Unfortuantely it is extremely noisy (even on the noise absorbing pad) which isn't great if anyone else is in the house at the time. It was once compared to a pnuematic drill.
However I am used to it and still sew on it now.

About 8 or 9 years ago (I think) I went on a sewing course in Preston and we used some absolutely beautiful Bernina overlockers. They purred. I was wowed. I saved up my birthday gifts and bought one for myself. Perhaps not the same model as on the course I don't recall exactly.
Anyway I bought a Bernina Overlock Sewing machine 800DL.

It was quiet but I had a lot of trouble with the threading. I went back to using the old overlocker, yes it was noisy but it worked ALL THE TIME.
I relocated to a different part of the country and was not near the dealer I bought it from. Some time later I was back near the old neighbourhood on the way back from a vacation and took the machine back to the dealer explaining about the problems.

The man at the dealer was really helpful and showed me how to thread it (different to the Janome) and I wrote detailed notes which I found recently.

Sadly the 800DL is still sitting in the packing box from when I moved 3 1/2  years ago so I need to get brave and give it another go. In particular it would be nice to have it set up for a rolled hem and make a bunch of scarves with pretty fabrics

I share the threading instructions here for anyone else having trouble, and also for myself when I lose the scrap of paper. Such things are of course now on youtube so here's a link I've found.

Youtube Bernina 800DL Serger 4 Threading link.

This is one of a large number of videos on this machine
link here

How to Thread Bernina 800DL Overlocker

-          Presser foot raised (opens tension disks)

-          Use both hands with threading

With one hand either side, thread taut, into tension channel.

Pull up gently, if threaded correctly doesn’t come out

1    Wrap around, don’t need thread to come through, temp disengage blade, get thread 1 under foot.

2    Button to bring looper. Thread. Hold thread whilst gently lifting looper back into place. Make sure neither are twisted

3    Round back of guide, and thread

4    Same for 4

With blade still out the way, move thread round under foot.

With foot raised take hold of all 4 threads and draw several inches to check all running smoothly.

If there is any resistance, then something isn’t right.

With needle in top position put blade back. Put the foot down.

Before pressing foot pedal, hold threads in one hand, turn hand wheel towards you two or three times, this links the threads together before the power.

Then it sews fine!