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| Shirring! |
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| To shirr, all you need are three things: Fabric, thread to match your fabric, and elastic thread! |
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When first cutting your fabric, remember that your piece will be about half the size when finished, but with lots of stretch. If possible, I recommend marking your lines out first with a fabric pen or quilter's chalk. You can space your lines as far apart as you like, but most people usually make them somewhere around 1/2" apart, give or take a little. And just remember that the closer they are, the more gathered it will look! |
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| Then wind your bobbin by hand. I used a little tension while winding it, but not much. (Don't be afraid! It took about 20 seconds!) Continue to thread it through the bobbin's thread guides, just as you would with regular thread, using regular thread on top! |
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| At the beginning of your first row, do a couple of backstitches, to secure the stitches. |
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| Sew with a straight stitch all the way down your first line.... (I used regular stitch length and thread tension) |
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| At this point, you can either backstitch again, and clip your threads, or simply just lift the presser foot, turn your fabric around, setting down the presser foot on the next line, and keep sewing! |
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| Repeat for as many rows as you have, backstitching at the very end. Your first row won't look very gathered, but as you go along, it will pucker up nicely! The more rows, and the closer they are to each other, the more gathered it will be. |
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| Then spray lightly with water, and press. (Do not slide the iron over them, just gently press down, lifting the iron to move.) The water/iron with tighten the elastic back up even more, and you'll have a lovely, stretchy garment: |
By: http://www.rufflesandstuff.com
