I had a friend describe gathering as basically wrinkling up one edge of your fabric and then stitching it to something. Fortunately, this friend doesn't teach sewing, but she did get the basic idea right. When you gather, you are creating a series of decorative wrinkles (their real name is: ruffles) along the edge of your fabric. You can then attach this ruffled fabric like you would a trim. I've used ruffles on the edges of slipcovers, around throw pillows, along window treatments, and on a bed coverlet. Once you discover how easy it is to gather fabric, you'll probably think of half a dozen more ways to use this effect. Short or long, tight or loose, single or layered – ruffles add a wonderful softness to anything. They're also great for potato chips!

How long will it be?

A piece of fabric that's been gathered will be shorter than it was originally. This seems rather obvious. But you need to take this compression into consideration when you're making ruffles. The standard rule is to make your fabric piece to be gathered 2.5 times as long as you want your finished piece. For example, if you want to add a ruffle to the bottom of a curtain panel, and your panel is 18" wide, you'll need to a start with a piece of fabric that is 45". You can vary this depending on how dense you want your ruffles to be. And it's easy to adjust and get the length you want during the gathering process.

Making ruffles is so simple, I'm going to describe two different methods in this tutorial.

Gathering with a Straight Stitch

1. Be sure to iron your fabric first. At your sewing machine choose the Straight stitch and set the length to long. On my machine this is anywhere from 6 to 8.
2. Stitch along your fabric ½" in from the edge (½" being the standard seam allowance for home dec). Leave at least 4" tails when you snip your top and bobbin thread. Unlike when you make a regular seam, when you make a gathering stitch you DO NOT BACK TACK.
   
3. Now, stitch another row about ¼" in from the fabric edge. Again, leave long tails when you snip your thread. Now you have two parallel rows of a long straight stitch. (I've seen gathering instructions where you sew only one row but I do two so if if my thread breaks, I have a back up thread.) Again, do not back tack.
   
4. At one end of your fabric tie the upper and lower threads together into a knot. This will keep your upper thread (the one that goes through the needle) from pulling through.
5. At the other end of your fabric GENTLY tug on the two TOP threads. Your fabric will slide along these threads like a curtain on a curtain rod, forming ruffles. Continue pulling, adjusting and evening the ruffles as you go. When it's gathered evenly along the whole edge and is the finished length you want, tie a knot in your other loose threads.
   
6. You can now attach your ruffle as you would any trim.

Gathering with a Zig Zag Stitch

1. Set your sewing machine to a wide Zig Zag stitch.
   
2. Attach a presser foot that accommodates the Zig Zag. On most machines this is the standard foot; just make sure it has a hole in it wide enough to handle the left-to-right swing of the needle.
3. With the presser foot in the up position, line up your fabric so both swings of the zig zag stitch will stay completely within the ½" seam allowance.
4. Lay down a length of string or heavy thread so it's centered under the zig zag foot (you'll need a piece that is as long as the piece of fabric you're gathering). You want the needle to cross back and forth over this "drawstring" but not catch it in the stitch (or your fabric won't slide on it).
5. Zig zag over the centered thread - the "drawstring." Do not back tack at either end. Tie a knot in the threads at one end.
   
6. At the other end, GENTLY tug on the "drawstring" thread to gather your fabric. When done, tie a knot in your threads.

Bonus Method 1: The Gathering Foot

There aren't a lot of machines that come with a Gathering foot as a standard part, but you can purchase the foot separately from your sewing machine dealer.

Janome offers an optional Gathering foot for both front loading and top loading machines that works great with lightweight fabrics. It will make gathers and attach the ruffle to your base fabric in one step. The size of your gather is a pre-set standard with this foot. For more flexibility, see Bonus Method 2.

Bonus Method 2: The Ruffler Foot

As your reward for scrolling all the way down, you're going to learn about a very special sewing machine foot that makes perfect ruffles in a single step. It's called a Ruffler foot. It is more sophisticated than the standard Gathering foot and works well on a variety of fabric types and weights.

It's pretty fun the watch. The Ruffler foot will gather your fabric into perfectly even ruffles and stitch them down all in one pass. And you can set it for how dense/deep you want your ruffles to be.

Your sewing dealer can help you find the ruffler foot designed for your machine. Also, ask your sewing dealer to show you how to set it up on your machine. The foot looks complicated, but once you've seen someone use it, you'll have no problem setting it up and using it at home.

Ruffle on!

Comments (20)

DLM said:

... Thanks This really helped me for my dress

February 04, 2012

Liz Johnson, Editor, Sew4Home said:

... @ Daisy Dog - we did a post about the Janome Ultimate Ruffle. Here is a link: http://sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/655-accessories-we-love-the-janome-ultimate-ruffler-attachment

January 04, 2012

Daisy Dog said:

... I wish there was a good tutorial online on how to use the rufflers. I purchased one for one of my machines, and it came with basically No instructions. I did figure out how to make it work, but don't have any idea about the settings on it.

January 04, 2012

Carl said:

... I wish could be THAT easy when a BED SKIRT with 11 widths of fabric is the project to be made ( 11 x 54 " = 49.5 feet of fabric ) .....

December 15, 2011

Liz Johnson, Editor, Sew4Home said:

... @ tnictitanfan -- when working with ruffles, the foot is the most important part. If you are doing a TON of ruffles, I would really recommend the Janome Ultimate Ruffle. Here is a link to a review we did: http://sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/655-accessories-we-love-the-janome-ultimate-ruffler-attachment As you know, Janome is one of our major sponsors and we only use Janome machines in our S4H studios. I'd recommend you visit your local Janome dealer it there is one in your area to test stitch a number of models. Here's a shopping checklist we did on how to buy a sewing machine: http://sew4home.com/tips-resources/buying-guide/199-the-top-five-things-to-remember-about-how-to-shop-for-and-buy-a-sewing-machine-

December 04, 2011

tnictitanfan said:

... I've been wanting to make ruffled curtains for a long time and I am now able to do so. I would like to know which machine would be good for this. Of course I like the path with least resistance so I will definately buy the ruffler foot, Any help appreciated.

December 03, 2011

Spice said:

... Thank you! I've been wondering how to do this and you have step by step and understandable!

November 09, 2011

Liz Johnson, Editor, Sew4Home said:

... @Mystic08 -- Yes, you can do this technique by hand. Simply thread a hand sewing needle and run the basting stitches across. As with the machine version - do not knot either end.

September 25, 2011

Mystic08 said:

... Is it possibly to use this technique to make ruffles by hand, if not what technique can i use?

September 23, 2011

Liz Johnson, Editor, Sew4Home said:

... @ javadiva -- take a look at our tutorial on the Ruffler; that has some good tips: http://sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/655-accessories-we-love-the-janome-ultimate-ruffler-attachment In general, you certainly CAN stitch over seams, it's inevitable when you are sewing long, long strips. The Ruffler doesn't like it, and you want to make sure you are paying attention when you get to your seam(s) so you can help gently pull the fabric through if need be. I did find the ruffler could sometimes skip a stitch when it came to a seam, which would result in a bigger space or kind of a "flat" place. For the most part, if you have a pretty dense ruffle, you won't notice a little flat spot here or there, plus you can gently pull on the threads surrounding the spot (after you've removed the strip from the ruffler) to try to tighten the ruffles on either side. So... I'm rambling on to say, "yes, you can certainly sew over seams, but I would recommend trying to keep your seams to a minimum or be prepared for a few uneven spots in your ruffles."

June 04, 2011

javadiva said:

... I was wondering when making ruffles, does the strip of fabric have to be one strip of fabric, or can you sew a few pieces of fabric together, say charms (5x5) to make a strip and then be able to ruffle it? I imagine there may be gathering issues where the pieces of fabric are attached. I plan to use the ruffler foot.

June 03, 2011

New2Sewing said:

... Liz, Thank you so much!

April 20, 2011

Liz Johnson, Editor, Sew4Home said:

... Hi New2Sewing - test out your foot -- if you are totally happy with the width of the gathers made by your gathering foot, then you can lock your stitch at the beginning or end. If you feel like you will need to tighten or loosen the gathers once done do NOT lock your stitch at either end and leave your thread tails nice and long. You can then pull on on thread to tighten or gently pull apart the gathers to loosen.

April 18, 2011

New2Sewing said:

... When using a gathering foot, do you back-stitch at the beginning and end? Thank you in advance!

April 18, 2011

wallergang said:

... Wow...I just used my sewing machine to make two ruffles using the directions above for tension and stitch length....It works great...I've made many ruffles, but they were not really full gathers....I'm so glad to know how to do this now...I sew for my 1 yr. old granddaughter and everything has ruffles....I'm having such a good time sewing for her...Thank again!

April 09, 2011

ruffle said:

... COOL!

April 07, 2011

niener said:

... Oh, Alison! Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is just the information I have searched for over the past two years! I now have specifics to work with. I SO appreciate your finding out this information for me!!! I kind of figured the gathering foot would not allow you to gather and attach in one operation....and I do have the Janome ruffler. So I'll have to try that too.

September 29, 2009

alison.newman said:

... Dear Niener, Here is a two part answer to your question about gathering and attaching to the base fabric. (Sorry, was too long to post all at once!) The Gathering Foot is only used to gather, and attaching the gathers to another fabric is a two step process. First you create the gathers, then you sew the gathered fabric to the base fabric. You can achieve both of these steps at once if you use the Universal Ruffler. This is a special attachment (different from the gathering foot) that will allow you to create a ruffle while attaching it to a base fabric.

September 29, 2009

alison.newman said:

... Hi Niener, I checked with the experts at Janome and received the following response to your first question: Set up your machine for gathering by increasing the stitch length to 5.0 and placing the needle thread tension to between 6 and 9. Attach the Gathering Foot. Place the fabric under the foot. Using the fingers on your left hand, hold the fabric against the rear of the foot as you sew. By holding the fabric against the foot with light pressure as it comes through the feed dogs, lovely tight gathers will result. Release the fabric every 4 to 5 inches and then apply the pressure again.

September 29, 2009

niener said:

... "Janome offers an optional Gathering foot for both front loading and top loading machines that works great with lightweight fabrics. It will make gathers and attach the ruffle to your base fabric in one step. " Could you please explain how the gathering foot works. What stitch length is best and is there any necessary adjustment for tension? Also, how do you gather and attach to the base fabric with this foot?

September 26, 2009

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