My Brother 3034DWT Overlocker Review (with Stitch Photos)

Brother 3034DWT Review – Pros

3 and 4 thread stitches

The Brother 3034DWT can make stitches using 3 or 4 threads, which is all most people ever need.

It can create:

• Overlock; create seams and stop fabric edges fraying.
• Rolled hem; a fast and neat way to hem chiffon.
• Narrow hem; for similar uses as the rolled hem, just a different look.
• Mock flatlock; a decorative stitch for sporty sweaters and leggings.
• Blind hem; hem trousers and dresses almost invisibly, while overlocking the fabric edge at the same time.
• Pintuck; create decorative pintucks on blouses.

This is a normal range of stitches for a budget to mid-range overlocker.

Stitches chart

Here’s a look at the stitches. It can do all of these, except the ones in red which only 2/3/4 thread machines can do:

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Great price

Domestic overlockers can cost from £200 at the budget end to £1700 for a premium model.

This is closer to £200, making it more affordable, especially when you consider how much you’re saving with all the free accessories it comes with.

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Lots of free feet included

The 3034DWT comes with:

• Standard foot for normal overlocking.
• Blind stitch foot for blind hems, mock flatlocks, and pintucks.
• Piping foot to add piping and overlock the edge at the same time.
• Gathering foot to attach flat fabric with gathered fabric. If you just want to gather fabric, you can use the standard foot and a high differential feed setting.

I was quite surprised it comes with so many feet. Even the more expensive Brother 4234D only gets 1 extra foot, let alone 3!

It would cost you about £80 to buy these separately.

Here’s what you can do with each foot:

Blind stitch foot

Piping foot

Gathering foot

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Waste tray included

Overlocking is messy!

Without a tray to catch fabric fibers, they’ll end up all over your table and lap.

Lots of budget overlockers don’t get a free waste tray, but this Brother model does.

It would cost about £24 to buy this separately (at the time of publication).

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Extension table included

The extension table makes your sewing area bigger. This will help you handle the fabric better.

This can be helpful when working with knits that might stretch out and distort if dragged, or heavy materials that might pull on the needles if dragged.

The cheaper Brother 2104D makes you buy this extension table separately for about £15 to £22.

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Good threading system

Brother has done a better job at designing their threading system than some brands, especially for the budget market.

Some budget overlockers on sale are older machines that have harder to thread systems, especially for the lower looper.

For example, the Janome 9300DX, 9200D and 8002DG.

I would definitely recommend Brother machines over these.

F.A.S.T lower looper threading system

Threading the lower looper is normally the trickiest part.

Especially on an older overlocker. Their lower loopers are normally hidden. You have to reach deep inside to find and thread them. It’s fiddly!

Brother solved this with their “F.A.S.T lower looper threading system”. They created a switch that lets you pull out the lower looper. Now you can thread it in plain sight.

Many other brands have created a similar system.

It really makes a difference.

My lower looper threading test

I timed how long it took 2 people on Youtube to thread the lower loopers of the Brother 4234D and Janome 8002D. (The videos are by Ken’s Sewing Center and Syakademiet).

The Brother 4234D has the same “F.A.S.T lower looper threading” design as the 3034DWT, and the Janome model has an older lower looper design.

THE RESULTS:

• It took about 3 minutes and 10 seconds to thread the lower looper on the Janome. It was very fiddly.
• It took about 40 seconds on the Brother 4234D!

What a difference. Brother’s “F.A.S.T lower looper threading system” was much faster and simpler to thread.

Well designed colour-coded guides

The colour-coded threading clearly tells you where to place your threads. This will save you from going back to your manual every time you thread.

I especially like Brother’s colour-coded design.

The stitch illustrations are really helpful when figuring out why your stitch doesn’t look right. The pictures help you identify which needle or looper thread is the cause, and then you can adjust the tension to fix it.

Some brands colour-coded labels are less detailed than this.

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It can handle different fabric thicknesses

High presser foot lift

If you’re going to work with thick fabrics, you’ll need an overlocker with a high presser foot lift so that loftier fabrics will fit underneath.

Brother says you can raise the 3034DWT’s presser foot to 5 – 6mm.

I’m not sure why brands quote a range (maybe to allow for tolerance during manufacturing), but I would stick to the safe side and assume that means 5mm.

All domestic overlockers that advertise a high presser foot lift are between 5 – 6mm, so that still looks pretty good to me.

Presser foot test

I wanted to help you visualise what a 5 – 6 mm presser foot can fit underneath.

Here’s a medium to heavy weight denim jean that I folded and put under my overlockers presser foot when it was 4mm high. Note: I use a Brother 4234D.

I was able to get 8 layers of denim under the 4mm high presser foot.

At 5 – 6 mm high, the 3034DWT will be able to get even more underneath.

To be clear, I’m not saying the machine will happily stitch through that many layers.

I just want to show what can fit under a presser foot that’s 4mm+ high.

Will it sew denim/upholstery fabric?

Yes.

According to a technician I spoke to, domestic overlockers are designed to handle about 3 or 4 layers of fabric.

An overlocker salesperson told me that going over 4 layers of denim at the seams every now and then is fine.

But you wouldn’t want to be sewing long stretches of 4+ layers of denim all the time.

Domestic machines, even premium ones, aren’t designed for that.

If you regularly sew multiple layers of thick materials, the technician recommended looking at industrial overlockers instead.

They have a lot more power and better blades to cut and stitch thick materials on a regular basis.

Adjustable pressure

The 3034DWT lets you change how hard or light the presser foot is pushing down on your fabric. This is called adjustable presser foot pressure.

Most overlockers have it.

You’ll need it to create more pressure to feed thick fabric through the machine, and reduce the pressure for very light fabrics.

Brother has made adjusting the pressure user-friendly with a clearly labelled dial.

I prefer this over other overlockers that just have a screw. There are no markings on a screw, so getting back to normal pressure can be confusing.

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Free arm

This model has a free arm to make sewing tubes of fabric (like necklines, trouser hems, sleeves) easier. This turns the fabric for you as you stitch.

Some brands lack this feature, like many Janome models.

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Differential feed

Today all modern overlockers have a differential feed system.

This will let you stretch out or gather fabric as you’re overlocking.

Why would you want to use differential feed?

Fix puckering seams

If you’re experiencing puckering seams, stretching out the fabric slightly will solve this and create a flat, smooth seam.

Fix stretched out seams

If your seam is stretched out, you can very slightly gather the material while overlocking to create a flat seam.

You might have to do this when sewing stretchy knits.

Create gathers

You can quickly gather fabric if you want to create ruffles or a gathered skirt.

Just turn up the differential feed setting to the max.

It’s so much faster than creating gathers on a sewing machine.

Create “lettuce leaf” edge

This is a decorative way to finish an edge on a stretch fabric.

How does it work?

Changing the differential feed setting allows you to make the front and back feed dogs move at different speeds. Note: feed dogs are the jagged metal bars under the presser foot.

You can make the back feed dog move faster than the front one to stretch the fabric.

You can make the front feed dog move faster than the back one to gather the fabric.

Or you can keep both feed dogs moving at the same speed for normal overlocking.

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Easy to switch to rolled hemming

The 3034DWT has “instant rolled hem conversion”.

This means you can easily switch from overlocking to rolled hemming by just:

1. Removing the stitch finger.
2. Selecting the ‘R’ settings on the stitch length and stitch width dials.

In the past overlockers made you change the needle plate too. This made switching to sewing rolled hems slower and more difficult.

This is a normal feature on modern overlockers.

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Built-in storage

There’s space in the overlocker for tweezers, a stitch finger, a screwdriver, and a pack of needles.

No space for

There’s no space for any spare feet or the cleaning brush.

It would be nice if there was space for the brush because you’ll need it often, but it’s not a deal-breaker.

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It uses normal sewing machine needles

All current Brother models are designed to work with the universal 130/705H needle system.

This means you can use these needles in your sewing machine and overlocker. You won’t need to buy special needles.

You’ll need 130/705H needles in sizes #80 and #90.

Buy size #80 needles:

For fine to medium weight fabrics.

Buy size #90 needles:

For medium to heavy weight fabrics.

What else do you need for the 3034DWT?

Overlocker needles

The manual says you’ll need the 130/705H needle type in sizes #80 and #90.

This is a universal needle that you can also use in your sewing machine.

Buy size #80 needles

For fine to medium weight fabrics.

Buy size #90 needles

For medium to heavy weight fabrics.

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Optional feet

If you want to overlock with elastics and beads, here are 2 feet that will make it much easier.

If you don’t, they’re probably unnecessary.

Taping foot

Attach tapes and elastic to stretch fabrics up to 12 mm in width.

For example, you could use it to stabilise shoulder seams in stretch garments.

Pearls and sequins foot

Attach pearls and sequins up to 5mm in diameter to fabric.

This post was originally published on 14 March 2020. It has since been updated.