My Huskylock 936 won't sew. I was sewing yesterday, 4 thread overlock. I finished a seam, cut the thread, proceeded to sew another seam. I put my foot on the pedal..and nothing.If I turn the machi

Not sure what you are trying to do with your serger. An overlocker will ALWAYS finish the raw edge of the fabric. However, you can certainly serge t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. Serging knits is fantastic because the serger stitch allows for fabric stretch without popping the thread. It is easy to sew patterns that require a small seam allowance, like 1/4". Just remember that the blades must ALWAYS be activated (trim off part of the fabric) or you risk breaking the loopers. You can use either 3 or 4 threads. Using 4 threads gives just a bit more security to your garment to prevent popped seams in active wear worn during sport events, etc. Using 3 threads is ok for garments that don't experience stress on the seams.

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I've even made a quilt using jelly roll fabric on a serger. A serger is ok for this type of quilt because the pinpoint accuracy of strip quilting is not required as it would be for stitching together blocks that have points & seams that must match. It is very difficult to get very accurate seams on a serger, probably partly because it stitches so much faster than a sewing machine.

Lots of info on the internet...

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First, make sure the machine is engaged to sew. some machines,
have a knob inside the flywheel on the left side that disconnect the sewing mechanism to wind a bobbin without the needle bar moving.
Cheers,
Embroidery Services
San Diego, CA

check your manual for instructions and or see your Viking dealer for help.

It may be difficult to solve a computer controlled machine with as many options as the 936 serger. Stepper motors control many of the functions. You can check out this video I made 4 years ago to get an idea of where to look.

Have you used an overlocker before? If not, I'd suggest that you obtain a user manual for it as they are completely different to a sewing machine and at some point you will need to rethread it. You can purchase one from here
http://pages.sewing-machine-manuals.com/173/PictPage/3923709707.html

This machine makes three and four thread seams, which is a combination of two needles and two loopers. For the three thread seam you can use either the left or right needle which gives you different sized seams. For the four thread you use both needles, one goes through the middle of the seam and the other is on the left side securing the seam. On most overlockers you are able to move the cutting blade too and this will reduce or increase the amount of fabric being trimmed from the right side.

This page http://sewing.about.com/od/sergersoverlock/ss/serger.htm will give you some general information on sergers/overlockers too.

So adjusting tension is a matter of changing the tension on the top and lower looper threads to close up against the cut edge, or moving the blade over to make the seam a little wider or narrower. You may also need to finess the left needle tension so that the seam doesn't pull apart, I always test serge two layers and then pull open from the right side and see if the needle thread is showing (it will show a little bit but you dont want it so loose that it pulls open. Only tighten the needles in very small increments though, as you'll break threads and needles if you turn them up too tight.

Hard to explain without seeing what your machine is seaming now. But as a rule of thumb, start with all four tension dials (or 3 if doing a three thread seam) on 5. If the tension dials are correctly calibrated then this should give you a pretty good seam. You may wish to lengthen the stitches, I usually work with stitch length of 2.5 (same as your sewing machine stitch length) Stitch length will be a dial on the right side beside the flywheel or in front of the blade area. The blade adjustment should be a little knob near the blade area too. There will be a lower fixed blade and a moving upper blade which sits against the lower one, they work like scissors to trim the fabric. So to adjust the blade, you will need to take the pressure off the upper blade, then wind the knob to move it left or right.

Different weights of fabric will behave differently on the overlocker so you do need to adjust tension for each new project. For example, if seaming a jersey knit you'd use a four thread seam, this gives elasticity and strength and you can join two garment pieces with this seam. You'd probably make a 6mm or 7mm wide seam, the left needle will secure the fabric and the loopers will encase the fabric smoothly while the right needle secures them and gives extra strenth to the seam.

But on organza for example, I would make a very narrow three thread seam using the right needle as the organza will roll inside the overlocking if you cut the fabric too wide.

And on something like curtains I would neaten the edge with a wide 3 thread seam using the left needle to get a very wide seam, the fabric wont roll so you'd need to loosen the two loopers a little to smoothly encase the cut edge.
For example, on this image above you can see that the looper threads are laying a little off the edge of the fabric in places, particularly the lower looper, (the side that looks like Y's where you can't really see the middle needle thread), so I would tighten the lower looper about .5 on its dial, then test again.

I hope that this makes sense to you, you will need to test serge, and adjust one dial at a time, test again and look at the result, then maybe adjust another thread until you are getting a smooth looking seam.

I would suggest that you contact Husqvarna Viking to purchase a manual for your 936 serger, their contact details are here.
http://www.husqvarnaviking.com/us/406.htm

You could also get lots of general sewing info from Debbie Cosgrove at http://sewing.about.com/od/sergersoverlock/ss/serger.htm sewing.about.com is a fantastic source of information on sewing techniques, sewing machines, sergers and projects too.

Sergers are quite differernt to a sewing machine and there are plenty purchased, used once or twice, then put away or sold because they are a bit difficult. But like any new skill learnt, taking a class and learning hands on is so much better than trying to figure out from a manual so if you can find a local Husky dealership, I'd enquire about an "intro to serger" type class, well worth the money and time.

Yours will probably do a three thread overlock, 4 thread overlock and rolled hem stitch, these three seams will cover a variety of sewing tasks and applications. You can seam knits and lycra with the 4 thread, and neaten the raw edges of just about all fabrics with a three thread. The rolled hem allows you to do a small covered edge which covers the fabric cut edge wrapping the thread around it closely. Beautiful on very light weight fabric edges like ruffles and frills where you have yards of fabric to neaten, much quicker than turning edge twice and straight stitching it.

There are other techniques with a serger such as sewing stretched elastic onto fabric, sewing over nylon fishing line to give a fluted edge or stitching over a string of beads. These are best done with a special foot for this purpose, elasticator or beading foot. You can also use decorative threads through the loopers to give an attractive finish.

There are several good sewing with a serger books on the market, Singer does one but there are other great ones too. You could always borrow one from the library before committing to buying it.

For the cover stitch, only use a size 90 needle. Depending on the type of knit, use a ball point or stretch needle. The 936 uses standard sewing machine needles, so you can switch needles with the type of fabric, just like with a sewing machine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMQviHH1g4k

If your machine is hard to turn you need to look for threads which are bunched up around moving parts or it needs oil badly. This, combined with skipping stitches, indicates a need for a technician to adjust the timing and generally service the machine.
sewman7

squeacking from huskylock