I have been cautiously using my serger with one needle since I tried to rectify its propensity to destroy the second needle when it was installed. The serger seemed to be fine with the single needle, so I decided to go ahead and try a project with two needles...not that I had much shirt-appropriate knit fabric left after making all the T-shirts in February.
I finally settled on a heavy knit lace to make into a mock turtleneck for layering purposes. After I cut that out, I looked at the amount of fabric left and decided to see if I could eke a tank top out of it, and that became the project used to test how the serger would behave with the left needle in place.
It behaved just fine! (although I still don't entirely trust it, so didn't run it at full speed.)
I originally thought I'd use self fabric as neckline and arm opening bands, as I usually do with New Look 6068 tank tops. However, I'm not sure if I could have squeezed them out of what was left, and, also, this shirt is practically lingerie, so I decided to try using some lingerie elastic I've had for years.
I absolutely sewed the elastic on with the lockstitch machine, although I cleaned up the seams with the serger before top stitching with a narrow zigzag. It's not perfect, but it works.
Since I had classified this as "not really clothes," I [gasp] just serged the lower edge, with the left needle still in place.
Squeezing this out of the last bit of fabric meant that I had to eliminate a lot of width, and the back is noticeably narrower than the front. I also used the serger's natural ¼" seams, to try to regain a smidge of width.
The fabric is sturdier than you might expect, and very stretchy, so it fits easily.
Will I ever wear it? Well...not that the world would know. But it did prove that the serger isn't prone to snapping the left needle constantly now, and that's what matters.
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