Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Brother Designio Serger, DZ1234, is functionally identical to the Brother Lock Serger, 1034D. I own the 1034D, having purchased it from Amazon a few months ago. There are only cosmetic differences between the two, and the instruction manuals are identical. The 1034D has been used fairly heavily since purchase and it has performed flawlessly, so I expect good performance from this Designio. People who know why they want a serger might want to skip ahead to the next paragraph. Some might wonder about the differences between a standard home sewing machine and a serger. A serger doesn’t replace the sewing machine. There are things a serger can’t do, or can’t do well or easily, like inserting zippers or making buttonholes. You need a sewing machine first. I sewed for many years before domestic sergers were introduced and I resisted getting a serger for a long time. Once I caved and bought one I wondered why I waited so long. The serger finishes seams professionally and fast. It can overlock the edges of fabric that is fraying much faster and better than using the zigzag on a regular machine. Believe me, you will come to depend on it to make your sewing easier. The first thing I noticed about the Designio Serger is that it is quieter and smoother sounding than the Brother Lock, which despite its good performance has a rather harsh sound and groans a bit on start-up. The Designio has less of a grumble when you step on the pedal. This machine has three dials and a switch on the left side. The switch drops the knife for decorative applications where you do not want to trim your fabric. The dial closest to the front controls the width of your stitch; the second one controls the length of the stitch, and the last one is the differential. Adjustable differential is a great thing on a serger. It controls the relative speed of the front and rear feed dogs and allows you to stretch or gather, as desired – or avoid stretching and gathering! Testing fabric is a must to determine whether you need to adjust this. All of the dials have the default settings indicated to help you find a starting point for adjustments. These dials, on both machines, are a bit balky and don’t feel especially sturdy to me. They are the one major weakness of the machines and give me a little concern for long-term use. The tension dials on the front of the machine are color coded to indicate which thread they control and the color coding is continued in the threading illustrations. Sergers can be a beast to thread, but this one isn’t too bad. It takes practice. I never cut the thread and tie on to change threads. Although this works as long as the threads don’t break while serging, sooner or later you will have a break. Then you will have to thread from scratch and it’s better to be in practice! Serger manuals always tell you to thread the upper looper first, then the lower looper, right needle, left needle. This has always baffled me. How do the needle threads “know” whether the loopers are threaded? The paths don’t intersect. I do always thread the upper looper before the lower one. But if I break a looper thread, I don’t unthread the needle or needles. I just re-thread the looper in question, pulling both looper threads out of the guides where they intersect, and putting them back in order, upper looper first. I have never had a problem doing this with any serger I’ve owned and I have three now. Your mileage may vary! This serger comes with a blind-stitch foot for hemming and a gathering foot, as did the Brother Lock. However, the Designio also has a piping foot, which excited me because I’ve never done piping on a serger. The feet slide off and on easily, using the highest position of the presser foot lever, and pressing the release on the back of the needle bar. I sewed a standard four-thread overlock on woven fabric and it came out just perfect. Gathering: Following the instructions on Page 12 of the Serger Techniques booklet and using the gathering foot gave me a nice, even gather on the lower piece of fabric. This was the first time I have ever used a serger to gather and it was a success. Blind Hemming: Up until this point, I was using both needles. I rarely do this, finding that a three thread overlock is sufficient, using either the right or left needle. Using the left needle gives a wider overlock than when using the right needle. For most other techniques as well, including rolled hem, only one needle is needed. Instructions for the blind hem say to use only the left-hand needle. So I removed the right-hand needle in order to try the blind hem. Here is where I ran into a problem. Both needles are held by one screw. So, you must loosen this screw while holding on to both needles to prevent them from dropping into the machine. This wouldn’t be fatal as you would be able to get them out, but still, better to keep a grip. This proves to be tricky, but I never had a problem with the Brother Lock other than dexterity. However, when I retrieved this machine’s included Allen wrench to loosen the needles, it did not fit into the hexagonal slot on the screw. I could not loosen the screw. I got the Allen wrench that came with the Brother Lock and it slipped right into the slot and I was able to remove the right-hand needle. This is a quality control issue that is a bit troubling. If you have the problem with the Allen wrench, you can try sanding it down with an emery cloth. This worked and made the Designio wrench fit. Also, my husband has a multi-tool with a small Allen wrench that also worked to loosen the screw. After settling the needle screw problem, I put on the blind stich foot and followed the instructions for settings on Page Four of Serger Techniques, as well as adjustments for the foot on Page 48 of the Handbook. (This need to consult two different manuals is a negative in my opinion.) I will say that I have never achieved an acceptable (to me) blind stitch with any machine and this was no exception. It worked but it is very tricky to have the needle hit close to the fold and even if you do, a machine “blind” stitch is visible. For very casual applications, you may be able to get closer to perfection with a lot of practice. For me, I’ll do my hems by hand! Rolled Hem: For a rolled hem, as on a napkin, remove the stitch finger following directions in the manual. It’s easy, and it goes back in easy when you replace it. Take out the left needle if it’s in there and put a needle on the right side. Set the dials on the side to “R” for rolled hem and go! Very neat and clean. Now for piping! I haven’t done piping in years. I followed directions, put the needle back on the left and installed the piping foot, which was no more difficult than putting on any foot. Settings are basically the normal ones for three or four thread serging. Wow! The piping went in the seam flawlessly! And for my next trick I decided to try making piping. Taking some cording, I placed it in the fold of a 1 1/2 inch strip of fabric and inserted it under the foot. Piping! Increasing the pressure of the foot by using the screw on top of the machine made it a smidge better. But very neat piping, ready to insert using this machine or your standard sewing machine. TLDR: I like this machine. The motor runs smoothly and quietly, more so than its brandmate, the Brother Lock. The speed is easy to control, which is important. Threading is clearly illustrated in the booklets and on the machine. The thread finger is easy to remove and re-install for different applications. Needles are a bit tricky to put in and remove, but practice helps. The Allen wrench provided to change needles may give you a problem, or not, but it’s not a fatal error. The dials on the side don’t operate as smoothly as I would like, but they aren’t awful. I’d like it better if all the directions and settings were in one booklet, but it’s not a major problem. The feet go on and off easily. Especially for the money, this is a great serger. I have an Elna I paid over a thousand dollars for in 1996, which is still running, but is a lot more finicky about threading and settings. Recommended!