gathering...

[neku-niku.livejournal.com]

Question to people who sew more then I.
A staple of EGL is ruffle, the gathered bit at the bottom of the skirt or what not.
i am (by my own standers) an intermediate seamstress. I have taken 1 summer's worth of classes 2-3 years ago, to learn the basics, and have sort of just adventured off on my own.
1 thing I have learned is that gathering is the bane of my existence...
Are there any tricks that people might know or any methods that would save my fingers the hours of playing with pins? I don't even know if that is the "right way." with Tully have I have learned to cheat a bit with basting...
so the question goes out, how does one gather most efficiently.

x-posted

Comments

[oshidori.livejournal.com]

The absolute easiest would be to buy a shirring foot for your sewing machine, although you don't really achieve maximum rufflage (is that a word?) like you would with the the hand methods.

Another way is to put cord instead of regular thread in the bobbin, and if possible, adjust the machines stiches to a bigger size. Also, when doing it this way, it's best if you have two lines of stitching about a 1/4" apart from each other (in case one breaks, plus it makes for a more even ruffling.)

Hope this helped ^_^

[mmymoon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm tempted to buy a ruffler foot for my machine... my gathering foot has been a HUGE blessing, and they aren't all that expensive.

However, are you out for perfectly even ruffles, or just... ruffly ones? The method my evil costume-design teacher taught me was to... simply push a bunch of fabric under the machine while you sew. (It's hard to explain, but basically bunching it up as you go along.) I find this works well with really long stitches, since you can pull it a bit or rip it out easily if there's a section you don't like.

[seeinglife.livejournal.com]

My grandma taught me this : get a piece of string as long as the ruffly bit you're making, and sew a zig-zag stitch over the cord where you want to make the gathers, making sure that the stitches never actually go through the cord. The zigzag stiches will form a loose casing over the string, and then you can just tug in the string and form ruffles. Then sew it on so that you can either take the string back out afterwards, or at least in a way that you can't see the string.

[clarice.livejournal.com]

I don't really understand the problem -- why doesn't running a wide running stitch (at about 4-5 on modern machines, or 8-9 on older ones) and then pulling in the bobbin thread work? Ruffling, assuming you're not trying to get a perfectly even, square-pleated ruffle, is really the easiest thing to do sewing...

[caliginous.livejournal.com]

The zig-zag cord method is good, but it is a little tricky as the ruffles still migrate. Long basting stitches, two to three rows of them along the top, then pulled to make the gather is the best way to make even ruffling. It's the best way to do the gather to put in a set sleeve too.

[missmeganmaude.livejournal.com]

I consider myself to be a somewhat advanced seamstress, and I totally agree with this method as being the easiest. ^___^