PFAFF admire air 7000 Serger | Setup and Air Threading Guide

Yesterday, I opened the PFAFF admire air 7000 box and removed all the accessories. Now I get to set up the PFAFF admire air 7000 serger and review all the features that are new to me so I can play! Right off the bat I can see I’ll have flexibility. Do I want to set it up as a standard serger, make it a free arm, or add the extension table? Decisions, decisions, decisions; I have choices!

PFAFF admire air 7000 serger setup with extension table

When I see the PFAFF admire air 7000 serger plugged in and turned on, my first impression is WOW I’ll be able to see what I’m doing when I sew at night. This is huge as it seems I’m always sewing at midnight finishing projects! And the extension table is a huge bonus! Whenever the actual throat of a machine is small, an extension table is an absolute must.

My second thought is the computer touch screen where all the basic settings are located.

Everything I need to know is there, plus the things I need to adjust to customize my serging! I use the included stylus to lightly TOUCH, not tap, this screen. It’s very sensitive and doesn’t need much adjustment. Fingers may touch more than one icon at a time.

1. Right at the top is the stitch selection; in a drop-down menu, it’s easy to choose my stitch. This is great when you have 26 stitches to choose from.
2. Then there’s the needle size recommendation. I tend to use the smallest needles unless I break a needle or I know it’s extra thick.
3. A reminder of the needle position for the stitch chosen in diagram form. I use this ALL the TIME!
4. Cutting width setting. This is the position the knife should be in, but you manually set the cutting width dial. I always forget to check this.
5. And on the far right, the thread tension settings touch and a pop out screen appears.

They’re PRESET for each stitch, but you can adjust them to suit the thread and fabric combo you’re using.

6. The speed setting is on the bottom right; 5 levels are great for a speed demon like me!
7. The differential feed adjustment is in the bottom middle, and since we’re always using it, it’s good to know it’s easy to access.

The stitch length setting is on the bottom right. Again, it is preset for the stitch, but I’ve been experimenting with increasing it, and I like the results better. You might want to try adjusting it.

PFAFF admire air 7000 computer touch screen

To the right of the computer touch screen on the PFAFF admire air 7000 serger are the control buttons.

1. At the top is a heart where you can load a saved stitch. Why? Perhaps you’re doing a project with a funky thread and want to save those settings until you’re done.
2. Next down is the heart to save that stitch setting and name it.
3. Next is delete. When you’re done with your project, you can delete that saved stitch and its settings.
4. Next is the cogwheel icon for settings, where you can adjust sound, screen language, and calibrate the screen.
5. Now, my favorite is the ‘i’ for information about each stitch. The first tab shows an image of the stitch and how it’s supposed to look, color-coded according to the tension path colors. The second tab shows what physical changes to the machine must be done for this stitch. Now in Overlock it’s pretty simple, but when you change over to Coverstitch, I always look here as a reminder that I’ve done everything!

The third tab describes the stitch, including how and why it’s used; it’s very useful when I forget.

PFAFF admire air 7000 computer touch screen and control area

Now for the FUN Part. I’ll thread the PFAFF admire air 7000 serger and try out the new Air Threading. My old serger was very specific about what you had to thread, when, and in what order. I’ll tell you that this one is not that fussy. To do this the first time, I’ll follow the steps in the manual. I’m going to do the needles first and then the loopers. And when I forget the steps, I can check out the color Threading Chart on the inside lid, AKA the cheat sheet!

steps

1. I raised the presser foot, opening the tension discs.
2. I opened the front cover, flicked the switch from Threading/Sewing to threading, according to the huge cheat sheet on the inside machine cover, and turned the handwheel towards me and listened for the ‘clunk ‘ sound. No, I didn’t break it, as I first thought – it’s the sound of the looper tubes all connecting.
3. I put my thread cones on all the first 4 spool pins. I chose to use the same color of thread as the tension discs, so left to right, yellow, blue, red, and green.
4. As the manual says, I threaded the left needle, the yellow path first, and then the right needle, the blue path second, using the needle threader. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll always use it faster than tweezers!
5. I threaded each red and green looper path according to the cheat sheet on the inside of the front cover. I’m using a simple 4-thread overlock stitch.

PFAFF admire air 7000 front cover open to show threading the Looper Threading Holes and Threading Push Button

6. To thread the tube itself, I trimmed the end of the thread to a clean edge and used the tweezers. You need about 1” of thread inside and a loop of extra thread (22”); I usually put my hand at the bottom of the cover, wrap the thread around it once, and then put the end in the upper looper hole. This is so there’s no tension on the thread as it’s pulled through the looper channels. Now I can touch the Threading Button.

7. You can air-thread both loopers at the same time after threading, as described above. I just like to do it twice – Twice the Fun. Now don’t worry where the ends are unless you get crazy with excess thread tails, then trim them to 4”. The serger will accommodate.

8, When all is threaded, I flipped the threading switch back to Sewing; you cannot close the cover until you do. Start stitching chain off, stitching just some thread. I’m now ready to stitch fabric!

A sample of serging a piece of fabric using PFAFF admire air 7000 serger leaving an 8” chain off

Success the first time! I love it ! I chained off, stitched maybe 8” and then put my cotton under the presser foot, remembering to lower it. I did trim a bit of cotton along the edge to be sure I was seeing a true stitch and not my crazy driving. I love how easy the PFAFF admire air 7000 serger is to thread.

When I unboxed the PFAFF admire air 7000 yesterday, it was so simple to find everything. Today, I explored all the features of the serger, from the different ways to set it up to the foolproof computer screen (yup, I need all that help) to the ease of air threading! Tomorrow, I plan to play with the Overlock stitches on the PFAFF admire air 7000 serger.

This is part 2 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 1: What’s in the box? | Unboxing the PFAFF admire Air 7000

Go to part 3: Overlock stitches on the PFAFF admire air 7000 | Why you need them

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