GAB Studio

A lesson in waiting!

SInce I have gotten back into sewing, I have wanted 2 massive things. To get a better, more professional machine and to obtain a serger and learn all about it. But there has been one big roadblock… Da money.

Yes, I have a full-time job and a decent salary. However, I also have a hefty amount of student loans and am struggling with buying clothes for a quickly fluctuating body. I also will be the first to admit that I love Amazon and ThredUp a bit too much… While I could be the biggest ambassador for both (I am such a huge fan LOL) I know it can be an unhealthy reliance/enjoyment I get from them. That being said, I was interested in finding a second hand serger. For the sewing machine, I know I like it and am more willing to buy a newer, nicer machine, but I have never used a serger and wasn’t 100% sure how much it would add to my crafting. I would check yard sales, estate sales, thrift stores, my community buy nothing, and namely Facebook Marketplace. I knew I would probably have the most luck with Marketplace!

One trend that I have been kind of annoyed by in recent times is people reselling for far more than they should. If you are dlipping furniture, this does not apply to you, I swear. Growing up, whenever we would have yard sales, my parents would always remind us that our stuff should be 10-20% of what the original price was. Not 50-70% (with obvious exceptions). When I see an old machine online for $150 that is advertised as “not working”, it is hard to think that I will have any luck in this search.

Yet, one day, I thought I had found it. There was a $40 machine that I figured would need to be serviced, but I could do that for $40! It was an old, yellowed, babylock serger and I was so unbelievably excited. Upon picking it up, the lady mentioned that she was unable to get it running but knows the electric was working because the light turned on. Once I learned this and did some research, I realized that the parts to this machine were so old that having it serviced might not even help, since the motor might need to be changed and they are nearly impossible to find online.

Once I realized this and was able to get a closer look at it, I was able to see how truly yellowed she had become over the years. I did research about natural solutions to de-yellow hard plastic, but this was set in… Big time… I knew chemicals would be my saving grace. That is when I learned about RetroBrite. Oh. My. God. THIS STUFF IS INCREDIBLE! This whole ordeal was worth it just for the fact that I learned about RetroBrite! Once I realized the power of this stuff, relaized I could take all of the plastic pieces off, clean them, and do some inspecting of the mechanics of the machine myself. Upon taking everything apart, I learned that the wiring was super messed up, just very old and nearly rusting. WHen I tried to move it, it was just crumbling in my hand. I even tried to replace the carbon motor bushes in the motor which did absolutely nothing. After I had exhausted all of my options, I put the newly whitened pieces back together and have put that serger back into storage – sans a motor. I documented this process on TikTok in my very first videos, and I still look back at it and it surprises me the difference that it made.

In the following months, I would add sergers to my Amazon/Joann carts and get as far as filling out all the information but could never press the purchase button. I knew something would come my way eventually. I sent dozens (literally over 50) messages to listings on FB Marketplace with no success and even would scour eBay and Craigslist (even though those websites scare me a bit). Nothing was working! I even checked out, bought, and scheduled to pick up a Singer Heavy Duty HD 0400S serger from Joann, and it was waiting for me behind the counter at a Joann close to my work for almost 2 weeks. I let the order lapse because something inside of me just couldnt spend that money… And boy am I glad I did that!

Fast forward a few months, I have made a few new craft/art friends in the Atlanta area and am lucky enough to be located very close to my very favorite store in the world, Scraplanta. Scraplanta is a creative reuse store with steep discounts on arts and craft supplies. If you are anywhere close and are in need of some supplies, I cannot recommend this place enough. You can find some serious gems and hard-to-pass-up deals! Through an event that cleared out a lot of the storage in their store and my friendship with the director, I stumbled upon a serger that I was interested in purchasing from her while I was working a volunteer shift. We talked about it and since it was a newer machine that she knew worked, she was happy to sell it to me! At a quarter of the retail price, I was able to buy a (practically) brand-new Singer Heavy Duty X5004HD for just $70, with a few accessories included.

In the past few days since this major score, I have been learning about how to thread the machine and testing out different tensions with different kinds of fabrics. I have also been trying to do a lot of research about fabrics that need it the most/dont necessarily need it. I have learned a lot about sewing garments in general and fabric types along the way, which is another huge plus!

I say all of this to say that, given time and perserverance, crafting/sewing does not have to be as expensive as advertised. I highly recommend joining Facebook groups (local sewing groups, local buy-nothing groups (!! everything is free on these!!), visiting local thrift stores or creative reuse stores if you are so lucjy to have one near you, look out for yard/estate sales, and keeping a general eye out! Having conversations with people can also bring up leads, like friends of friends also being crafters, or friends having an extra machine they are trying to get rid of, and at the very least you can find people to talk to/commiserate about crafting with.

This is a great community! Get out there and be willing to wait! Immediate satisfaction can be gratifying, but it is fleeting. The end game of the chase is so much more fulfilling and for so much longer!

Happy crafting! Let me know your thoughts and ideas about my story, about sergers, or about activities that I should try next!

Nee 🙂