When starting my own WAHM business, I found I needed a serger. I had never used one before but I thought, “it is a fancy sewing machine, how hard could it be?”
I bought one from someone online and quickly found the answer to that question. It can be really hard. That serger was a nightmare. The tension wouldn’t stay set and the seams looked awful. I said to myself “I can’t sell stuff I make with this!”
So anyway, I went to my local sew and vac and asked them what to do. They were very helpful and gave me such a good deal on a Baby Lock Imagine that I couldn’t resist! I took it home, and I have never had cause to regret it.
This serger is a breed apart. It is easier to use than many regular sewing machines. It is sturdy and makes fine professional seams. I was serging like a pro in no time flat.
Here are some of the features that set it apart:
Automatic tension:
This is the absolute biggest perk, in my opinion. I hate adjusting tension even on regular sewing machines; tension adjustment on a serger is exponentially more difficult. This machine does it for you; the presser foot even senses the thickness of the fabric and adjusts the tension accordingly. Even rolled hems come out perfect every time!

Easy threading arrangements:
This is another biggie! If you have ever threaded a serger you know how it is. If you haven’t, here’s how it usually goes:
You must start with the lower looper thread, you pass it through at least 5 thread guides, usually very inconveniently placed, before you actually get to the lower looper, the actual lower looper is so hard to get the thread through that you usually need tweezers and/or a special threader to get it through. If you are like me, it takes a good 5 minutes to get just the lower looper threaded.
Move on to the upper looper. Do the same thing as above. On my old machine, it was even harder to thread. Another excruciating 5 minutes.
Move on to the upper right needle (usually) fewer thread guides but by this point you are very disguted by the whole process. You need to also be a digital contortionist to reach and thread the actual needle.
Move on to the 4th needle, if you are using it and do the same thing again.
By this time 15 minutes have gone by, you sit down to sew and OH, NO! The tension is not set right and a thread breaks and you have to thread the whole thing over again! You can’t just rethread the one that broke because that would be too easy. You have to rethread the whole thing again.
OK, now here’s what it is like with the Baby Lock Imagine:
You thread it in whatever order you want btw, no picky threading order here but I usually thread the looper first out of habit J
You push a button and turn the hand wheel till it clicks and the thread channels are locked, then you thread it through the upper guide and the tension disc, then you stick the thread in a hold that corresponds with the looper you are threading, push a button and whoosh! It is threaded!
Do it again with the other looper WHOOSH again, it is threaded.
Zip the needle threads through the upper guides and use the built in needle threader to thread the needles and there you are ready to sew!
Elapsed time, less than5 minutes. (I like to take my time doing it though because using the looper threader is so much fun J

DIFFERENTIAL FEED:
This Baby Lock has a differential feed that is awesome for making sure that you get just the effect you want with whatever you are doing. You can ruffle, you can lettuce edge, it is all at the push of a lever. Preset for you. One tip however, ALWAYS check this before you begin to sew, it is easily bumped.

Ok, now that I have told you my favorite features here are some more:
2/3/4 thread serging, with no plate to switch.
On board storage.
A setting for just about any kind of serging you might want to do, and easy to set.
Easy to clean
Nice warranty
Streamlined and pleasant looking
Lots of optional feet for just about anything,
Very good instructional video

Anyway the bottom line is that you cant go wrong with this machine. I highly recommend it to even the beginning sewer.


Recommended: Yes