Gathering is an insanely common sewing task, especially if you are sewing with or for girls, right? Recently I hosted a sewing camp featuring “twirly skirts”, and I was stunned by how hard it was for kids to gather fabric. Clearly some things I have just forgotten after sewing for almost 50 years!

I decided to figure out a way that kids could successfully gather fabric regardless of the kind of sewing machine or accessory feet they owned. And by George, I think I’ve got it!

This is the first gathering method  I learned as a kid:

1. Lengthen stitch length as far as possible.
2. Stitch (at least) 2 parallel rows of stitching
3. Pull up both bobbin threads equally to gather. If necessary, do the same from the opposite end of the stitching.

Two rows of long, straight stitching

Close-up of the two rows of long, straight stitching

Bobbin threads pulled to start gathering the fabric.

I think the pros of this first method are that it is quick to stitch, and no special equipment or stitch is required. The cons are that it is really only effective on lighter weight fabric and it is fairly easy for the threads to break when pulling on them. That breakage issue is really annoying, too, because you have to run a new row of long stitches. Not fun.

Somewhere along the line the next gathering technique I learned was this one:

1. Set your stitch on a wide (4) and medium-long (3) zig-zag stitch.
2. Place pearl cotton, sturdy yarn, or some other strong thread or cord under your presser foot.
3. Zig-zag over the cord, taking care to not catch the cord in the stitches.
4. Pull the pearl cotton thread to gather the fabric.

The red thread is normal poly, and the black is pearl cotton.

The pearl cotton is pulled to gather the fabric.

The pros of this method are that it is fairly easy to do, and virtually guarantees no thread breakage. The cons are you either must use a foot with a hole to thread the cording thru (not everyone has such a foot!), and it is pretty easy to catch the cording in the zig-zag stitch. I definitely cannot guarantee that all of my students will have a cording foot, and no way can an 8 year-old zig-zag over cording without catching the pearl cotton in the stitching!!

So, here is my brilliant solution.

1. Hand-wind pearl cotton onto a bobbin
2. Set stitch length as long as possible (max 5 or 6).
3. Stitch 1 row of long straight stitching.
4. Pull bobbin thread (aka pearl cotton) to gather fabric.

Black above is pearl cotton, and white is normal poly thread.

Pull on the pearl cotton thread, and voila!

I tested this technique on an 8-year-old, and I sure wish I had thought it up before the Twirly Skirt Sew Camp. Ah well, next time!!

Happy sewing!

Maris Olsen

Sometimes an entire garment can be a challenging project, and sometimes just a single element on the garment can make your palms sweaty and cause a severe case of sewing-room-avoidance-syndrome.

It’s happened to you, too. You know WHAT the next step is, but the HOW looks like a toddler’s art project in your head. So you sit and look at the garment instead of sewing. For days. Maybe weeks!

I was totally flummoxed by how to add leather toggles to my DD’s duffle coat. Because I am a completely rational and experienced sewist, I did no research about my questions. Nada. Zip. Viewed zero You Tube videos. Opened not a single one of  my 2,487 sewing reference books. Sent exactly zero questions to my ASG sisters. Checked not a single forum on patternreview.com or burdastyle.com. What I did was stew. (Not “sew”, mind you, but STEW.) How was I going to hold the toggles in place on the coating? What foot should I use when stitching? What if my stitching was crooked and created an unwanted hole in the leather? Should I use heavy thread? How could I align the center fronts and keep the the correct alignment with a floppy toggle instead of a button and buttonhole?

Enough already! I just plunged into the deep end without knowing a single stroke, and discovered I actually DID know how to swim in the deep end. So here is what I did to avoid drowning in my coat project:

1.  Drew the center front line on both coat fronts using a Frixion marking pen.
2.  Drew the 3 horizontal placement lines for the toggles on both fronts.
3.  Pinned the right front over the left, aligning the center fronts AND the horizontal toggle placement lines.
4.  Connected each toggle pair, and centered the “horn” on the (right) center front, and the loops on the horizontal placement lines.
5.  FLASH OF BRILLIANCE! I drew around each of the leather tabs using the Frixion pen, marking the exact placement for each tab. Aha! Now I knew exactly where to hold the leather tab while stitching it down! (Very important, since leather cannot be pinned.)

6.  Took the coat and the toggles over to my sewing machine, placed a leather tab inside the “tab shape” drawn on the coat, and stitched that sucker down. Repeat x5. DONE!

I have to relearn this lesson every once in a while. When you aren’t sure exactly how to do something, one approach that may work is to just START. Do what you know, and the rest of the process may be given to you as you need it. Or of course, you could do some research.

For supplies, I used some kind of heavier black thread I had in my stash (the label was gone so not sure what it was), a leather needle that may have come with my machine, and my universal foot. It didn’t take more than 10 minutes to get all 6 toggles stitched on, and would have been faster if I had stitched them on before assembling most of the coat.

Next up– sleeve heads and shoulder pads, and the lining. Maybe my DD will actually get to wear this coat before it gets too warm.

Happy sewing!

Maris Olsen