How to Gather: a basic sewing tutorial

Gathering is a technique used in many sewing patterns for such areas as sleeves, ruffles, and waistbands. This video tutorial teaches you the basics of gathering using a sewing machine.

• Category

  Howto & Style

[Relesy]

Can you make it stretchy?

[sewmarm]

To make it stretchy, don't gather like this. Turn under a bit of the fabric and sew a seam a little wider than the thickness of your elastic. Insert elastic and secure the ends. Walla, stretchy gather. ;)

[dancinginthedark01]

What should the tension be at? I have a Brother XL-2600i and I've been trying to gather a dress skirt, but I don't think I have it loose enough. Does it work with a tight stitch?

[sewmarm]

You need your tension to be correct as if you were sewing a seam normally. Correct tension means that the threads will intertwine between the two layers of fabric. If one thread is on top of the other on one layer, you will have a much harder time gathering, as the thread will get overly tight. hth.

[jedilips]

I gotta say, learning to sew garments as an adult (with no training as a kid) is SOO much easier with the YouTube. How did we live without it? THanks so much for this, I can now finish my dress!

[sewmarm]

Hah, yes the availability of "how to" information does help now that we're all grown up. ;) However, the amount of time wasted on unimportant stuff is huge!

[silverbracelet6]

Whats the recommended stitch length and tension? Does it make a difference? I just need it for skirts and such...

[zatriax]

How do you sew the gathered fabric to the straight one like what was displayed at the end?

[deadbride9]

Would you happen to know how the ratio of much shorter it gets after gathering? I normally do pleats, which are easy to figure out the end length of, but I'm new to gathering, so I'm not quite sure how much to cut to still get the length I need in the end :<

[agluver109]

Thank you VARY MUCH!! i am making my niece a dress and the pattern says to gather and i forgot this is the only video that helped me. =)

[valerieralte]

very helpful thanks! i have a new sewing machine that i'm still learning how to operate. keep them coming!!

[xxxDeepxBluexxx]

That seems way easier than I thought. But then, I thought it would be something more like climbing Mt. Everest... XD

(I'm a noob... I can cross-stitch, but I'm not so great with normal sewing...I plan on making a Halloween costume, so I have to learn.)

Thank You for the tutorial! :D