Dreamer! Today, we will show you how to gather with elastic thread on your domestic sewing machine.
Gathers can be used to give volume as decoration or to adjust garments.
Let’s to know how to achieve this nice finish with elastic thread.
Materials:
For this technique, you will need few materials.
- Elastic thread (recognize it by the yellow spool).
- Regular thread (polyester)
- Fabric scissors
- Empty sewing machine bobbins
- Fabric of your choice
- With this technique you will use approximately twice the desired fabric measurement than you normally use.
- Domestic sewing machine
Try always to purchase good quality materials, this way, your projects will have a perfect finish!
For the fabric:
We recommend you use lightweight fabrics such as tulle, chiffon, organdy, or gauze. Use these fabrics if you want to add volume to your project.
Medium-weight fabrics, such as cotton or poplin will give a heavy result, so we suggest you calculate the amount of fabric.
Step 1
Set your sewing machine:
- For this technique you should use straight stitch with the needle aligned to the center.
- A stitch length between 3 and 4.
- We recommend using a high tension.
- Remember to always test before you start.
Step 2
Thread your sewing machine:
- Fill the needle with the polyester thread and the bobbin with the elastic thread.
- Wind your bobbin with elastic thread and place it inside the bobbin case.
- Manually raise and lower the needle.
Step 3
Draw parallel lines at the desired distance to guide you before you start sewing.
Step 4
Align your guide lines to the center of the needle; make the first stitch manually by moving the lever and then start sewing as usual.
- For this technique it’s not recommended to finish off at the beginning or at the end, if you do that a knot can form with the elastic thread.
Step 5
Repeat the procedure until you finish the seams that your project requires.
You're done!
If you try this technique, we recommend you make the hems first, before placing the elastic thread, in this way, you will be able to assemble the pieces.
These stitches are ideal for smocking and shirring, and they always give a special detail in your projects.
If you don’t know what it means… here we leave you a post where you can learn about it.
Have you heard about Smock technique?
Today we will talk about the smock technique, the finish is very lovely, and you can apply it to various fabrics for your sewing projects!
Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog if you are looking for more tips or step-by-step tutorials like this.
We hope you liked this post and give a try to this nice technique. See you in another post! Bye for now!