The Gathering Foot is used to form soft gathers in fabric. You can gather a single layer of fabric, or you can join a gathered fabric to a second, flat fabric simultaneously.
The Gathering Foot works best with softer, lightweight fabrics. For gathering light to medium fabrics, a Ruffler attachment is recommended.
- The existing presser foot and shank needs to be removed from the machine before attaching the Gathering Foot.
- When attaching the Gathering Foot, be sure that you have the shank properly seated on the presser bar, then tighten the screw securely. Turn the handwheel toward you slowly, checking that the needle is correctly lined up with the opening of the foot.
- The foot has a slot in the front, which is open on the left side, but closed on the right. The bottom of the foot comes into contact with the fabric to lock in fullness as you stitch.
- To gather a single layer of fabric, set the machine for straight stitch. Place the fabric to be gathered under the presser foot and sew. It is helpful to hold the thread tails for 2-3 stitches ad you get started sewing at a moderate speed.
- Longer stitches and increased tension will provide the fullest amount of gathering.
Tip: Always do a test sew of the fabric to see how much the fabric will gather. Cut a twelve inch scrap, gather and then measure the gathered length. Use this length to determine the fabric gathering ratio.
- The Gathering Foot can be used to gather one layer of fabric while simultaneously attaching it to a second, flat fabric. To create the widest seam allowance, move the needle to the far left position. Then place the fabric to be gathering under the foot, right side facing up, aligning the raw edge of the fabric with the right edge of the foot. Lower the presser foot to hold it in place. Then slide the fabric to remain flat, face down into the slot at the left side of the foot. Lower the needle into the fabrics... Then start sewing.
- Silk ribbons or strips of lightweight fabric can be gathering to create three-dimensional embellishments First gather the fabric strip, then use a satin or General Purpose Foot (sometime called an All-Purpose Foot) to apply the gathering strip to the base fabric.
- French Puffing - French puffing is an heirloom sewing technique that is used to insert gathered strips in between two flat pieces of fabric.
Sewing Inspiration
Rosettes - Easily create many types of rosettes with Gathering Foot. Rosettes can be added to pillows and other textiles. Gather wider strips to create even larger rosettes.
Create Texture with the Gathering Foot - texture can be created by sewing parallel rows of stitching across the fabric. After the fabric has been gathered, apply the wrong side of the fabric to a fusible interfacing. This creates a "wavy" effect on the fabric.
Then use decorative stitching and machine embroidery threads to further embellish and secure the fabric to the interfacing.