You start by pulling the top thread out and making it a few inches longer than piece of fabric that you are going to ruffle.
Just hold your fabric in front of machine as an easy length guide.
Next, put the long thread over to the side with the bobbin thread and sew just 1-2 straight stitches.
Now change your stitch over to a zig zag stitch.
Put your needle in the down position (so it's through the fabric) and put the sewing foot up. Pull the long top thread over the piece of fabric so it's on the edge where you are going to ruffle.
Put the foot back down and hold the top thread in place and begin to zig zag stitch overtop of it.
Once you get to the end, cut your sewing thread and then just pull on the piece of thread you zig zag stitched over.
You can pull it as tight as you need to. I liked how much more secure this way was. I have broken threads many times with the "make a long straight stitch line and pull on the bobbin thread" ruffling method. But you don't have to worry about that this way.
Give it a try next time you need to ruffle and see if you like it or not :)
-Jess
Posts
Great tip. I use a similar method but instead of regular thread I zig-zag over a piece of thin twine, crochet yarn (the kind for tablecloths) or dental floss. I like to use something thicker so I don't have to worry about breaking when I pull on it.
ReplyDeleteOooooo interesting. I'll have to try that at some point. Do you just pull it out after you sew on the ruffle? Or leave it in?
DeleteLove this idea! I always have a hard time with the other way. My thread breaks on me because I pull to hard. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi my dear Nina!!!!! lol I remember you having that problem ;)
DeleteGreat tutorial! I was trying to "PIN" it for later but it would not allow me to choose any of the pictures from the tutorial. Would love to know if this is an error or if you prefer your things not to be shared on pinterest. Thanks for the tip i am super new to sewing and this seems really easy.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristy :) It must just be an error, I'm all for people pinning my stuff! Maybe try again later. That seems to work for others who have had the problem. I know I've had to do that before as well.
DeleteI just had the same problem, and it made me sad. This is GENIUS! I'm excited to try it the next time I'm in need of a ruffle. Thank you for sharing. Here's hoping the "pin" feature works soon. I'm horible at keeping track of where I found things otherwise.
DeleteGood to know, love your stuff! I'll keep trying. Thanks again.
DeleteI'm still having the problem of pinning. It won't let me pin any of the pics for the tutorial, only the other pics on the site :(
DeleteOkay, so this is what I did to help :) It was doing the same thing for me except I got it to let me pin one of the pics. So, if you go to my pinterest page you can repin it :) I have no idea why it's doing that. I didn't do anything different? Strange.....
Deleteum, wow. I am totally in the middle of a project that involves gathering and my least favorite sewing thing is "evenly distributing gathers", so I decided to take an internet break and this popped up! You have amazing timing :) My favorite way to gather was on my old machine with the high tension, high stitch length method, but my new bernina is so nice that it doesn't let you make this kind of "mistake" even if you're trying! My stitches are barely gathered at all even with the tension all the way on 10! Need to plug in my crappy machine just for ruffles :)
ReplyDeleteYou know, I never have tried that way before either.....I'll give that a try next if my machine will let me :)
DeleteYup. Tried it. My machine won't let me make that "mistake" either!
DeleteBrilliant! Thanks for sharing! I hate sewing ruffles, but I think this might change my mind!
ReplyDeleteI've done this! It's great! But I use floss! you don't have to worry about it breaking, and starting over haha.
ReplyDeleteI grabbed dental floss!
DeleteCool! I must try this some time (I have the need to make myself a little ruffled clutch I think...
ReplyDeleteDo it! Make it! :) lol
DeleteThank you for sharing, this is a great post. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteVanessa
Thank you for sharing! What a great new method to try!
ReplyDeleteI was taught this in my 9th grade sewing class tons of years ago...lol...almost alwayz breaks...im gonna try the yarn or floss...
ReplyDeleteOh you're just precious! I'm still pretty new with sewing, and I tell you, I've read SO many blasted tutorials on how to ruffle and come out with the same results you mentioned -- broken thread everywhere! I've been on the hunt for a good informative article on how to ruffle nicely for months now! I'm so thankful for this post you made. :) Another huge problem I would have with ruffling my fabric is I'd end up making a skirt (doubling the width of my size so it'd have room for ruffle) and I guess I would pull the thread too much and make the darn skirt too small to fit! Ahhh! How frustrating.
ReplyDeleteThank you a million times for this! :)