How-To Finish Serger Ends

There’s a million ways to skin a….I love cats….um, a million ways to pet a cat! Whatever. This is my way to take care of weaving in that serger thread tail.

Serger Tail
Serger Tail

I shot these myself in the middle of making the remnant baby dress, so bear with me and my single-handed-camera-focusing and neutral color thread.

OK, for *me,* I weave in the end of the serger tail if I’m not going to sew back over it. So…if it’s getting sewing back over in a hem, or will be in another seam, there’s no reason to go through this….just sew it up again, and cut the tail after it’s tacked down by whatever stitching is going over it.

I will go so far as to rethink how I’m sewing something together so that I can have as few tails as possible.

BUT there will be tails, so I keep a darning needle in my main pin cushion. A darning needle is short, has a large eye and a VERY dull tip – it doesn’t even poke into my pin cushion..I have to slide it under a seam because the tip is so rounded and dull!

Why a darning needle? Well, I’m going to weave the tail into the seam, NOT the fabric. I do not want to puncture the fabric or snag the seam….and I’ll be working in a small area so I don’t want a long needle. The large eye is necessary to get all 4 threads through as such:

Step 1: Wrap your threads tightly around the tapered end of the needle. This is just like threading embroidery floss if you’ve done that.

Step 1
Step 1

Step 2: Wrap it tightly, but keep it flexible enough to slide if off and get a flat loop.

Step 2
Step 2

Step 3: Roll the eye of the needle over your finger towards the flat threads so they slip through the eye of the needle. Rolling ever so slightly is easier than trying to smash through what is now 8 threads…this photo is taking slightly after that and I pulled them through a bit to get a photo as I have yet to sprout a 3rd hand. I’m working on that.

Step 3
Step 3

Step 4: Pull your threads through so that you’re working with a single layer…trim off any excess more than 4 inches or so, or single stragglers.

Step 4
Step 4

Step 5: weave under back through your stitching … if near an exposed area like this, at the top of a dress, or even more important, if at the cuff where it gets rubbed a lot, go in at least an inch if you can to be safe.

Step 5
Step 5

Step 6: I now will wrap it back on itself and thread it back through to form a flat, small knot. Again, this is especially important on cuffs and places that rub. I’ve had threads pop back out with just weaving, so this is my way. Your mileage may vary.

Step 6
Step 6

Ok, that’s what *I* do. I find it durable and, frankly, we’re hard on clothes in this house and I need things to be durable!