Serger Saturday: fun with beads

Okay, I'm not going to lie. What I learned to do today is cool.  No, SUPER cool.  It's one of those things that make my brain start to spin trying to come up with other applications, using the same basic technique. 

SERGER SATURDAY:  CHAIN OF BEADS

Get yourself some beads, some fishing line and your serger.  I actually used some stretch beading cord instead of fishing line, because I found it in my craft bin first.  It worked just fine for practicing, though it might be a little thick for real-life application.  I don't know.  And I just used pony beads, for the ease in practicing. 

So, beads and fishing line.  That's all you're going to need other than what's most likely on your serger right now. 

Start by setting your machine for a rolled hem, right needle only (make sure it's in there tight, though)
Remove the serger foot AND shaft/ankle/boot: whatever you want to call it.  You just want the right needle all by itself here.

LOWER the knife.  Trust me on this.  Or you maybe, just maybe, might slice into your finger.  It might hurt.  You might swear.  So just get that knife out of the way.  Just in case.  Plus you don't need it for this.

Stitch of few inches of thread chain with the machine.  Carefully move your fishing line/bead elastic over to just right of the needle.  Stitch again, catching the line into the thread chain.

Okay, so that's pretty cool in and of itself, don't you think?

Stop stitching, lower the needle to the lowest position.

Move a bead up

(the little pink friend off to the upper left side of this refusing-to-rotate picture)

Make a small loop with the line, with the bead inside of it.  I used tweezers. Partly because I was still a little afraid of the knife, inspite of it now being disengaged.

Bring the line back to the right side of the needle.  Start stitching again, catching the line again.

Now, I didn't figure out this next part until I'd done a few.  But if you gently pull the line that's not yet stitched, it will tighten that loop, making things a bit cleaner.

Keep stitching and adding beads at whatever interval you want, repeating the process until you get the length of beading you were looking for.

And check it out

You can use these as trim or embelishment. Well, not this.  This is ugly.  But the idea. I'm totally having fun thinking of other things I could add to a stitched chain using the same technique.

I mean really, did you have ANY idea your serger could do this?

Told you, super cool.