A simple way to sew gathers

How to sew gathers

We're sharing a fun and simple way to sew gathers. Who here has sewn those long lines of stitches to create gathers and then when you pull your thread it snaps!? Well, this is a different way to create a gathered effect with very little effort and without having your thread snapping!

You will need -

Main fabric

Gathering fabric

Embroidery thread or dental floss

We will be using embroidery thread for this technique, however, you can use a strong dental floss too.

To start, select the zig-zag stitch on your machine. We used the widest stitch width possible with a 2mm stitch length.

Now, begin by folding and pressing your gathering fabric wrong sides together along the long edge. Pop your fabric under the machine foot ready to start sewing with the folded raw edges in line with the edge of your foot.

We will be sewing over the top of the embroidery thread with a large zig-zag stitch, making sure not to catch the thread as we go. The zig-zag stitch is creating a channel for the thread to be easily pulled through, which will later give us our gathers. Please note, at the beginning (or end) of your sewing you can lock-in / catch the the start (or end) of your embroidery thread with a few stitches to stop it being pulled through later on.

When you finish sewing your gathering fabric, simply leave a little tail of the embroidery thread and snip off the excess then start pulling!

You can now create lovely, even gathers with ease.

We have shown this ruffle attached to some main fabric to show the full effect.

This technique is used when making our Betty Pinny Apron!

Find the sewing pattern here - https://www.owlandsewingcat.com/products/betty-half-pinny-pattern