Ruffles, easing, gathering, and shirring fabrics: In this tutorial, I will show you how to apply these basic techniques even as a beginner.
The most important things at a glance
- Easing/gathering means shortening a longer fabric edge to the desired length by ruffling it
- Ruffles are decorative gathered strips of fabric that are sewn onto clothing, bags, accessories, or home decor
- You can use all three techniques by hand, with an overlocker, or with a sewing machine
Many sewing projects feature ruffles or puff sleeves as a little extra. And often, for example when you want to set in a sleeve made of woven fabric, you have to "pre-treat" the sleeve head slightly by gently easing it so that the rounded sleeve edge fits well into the armscye. The techniques described in this guide are perfect for these cases.
In this post, I will show you how easing, gathering, shirring, and ruffling work with an overlocker, sewing machine, and by hand. And don't worry: It's really easy!
Gathering, easing, and ruffling with the sewing machine
With a sewing machine, it is very easy to bring fabric edges to the desired length by gathering or putting them into small pleats. But there are different methods for this as well. It's best to try out what feels easiest and most comfortable for you and stick with it until you feel confident. Or until you feel like diving into the next learning adventure.
Basically, gathering, easing, shirring, or ruffling means: Bringing a longer fabric edge to the desired/required length by pulling it together or reducing excess fullness. For example, with a rounded hem. The distance along the outer hem edge is longer than further inside.
Defining the individual terms is difficult because the transitions are fluid. Here is my definition of terms:
- Easing: Refers more to the gentle shortening of a fabric section, such as a sleeve head, to prepare for even insertion into an armscye
- Gathering: A fabric edge is laid into tiny, irregular pleats to bring it to the desired length
- Shirring: Means the same thing, although the pleats are more clearly visible here, and more "fabric length" is pulled together
- Ruffles: Are strips of fabric laid into regular or irregular pleats, cut on the grain. They can be sewn between two fabric pieces or sewn onto the top fabric.
Often, the desired length is a second fabric edge to which the ruffled piece is to be sewn. In the photo, you can see a wide sleeve piece that we shorten at the edges by shirring so that we can sew it in without any problems.
In this chapter, I will show you different ways to manage this sewing technique with the sewing machine. In most cases, I will simply write "shirring" or "gathering" in the instructions.
Shirring with the sewing machine and elastic tape
First, let's look at how shirring works with an elastic tape. For this technique, I usually use 5 or 6 millimeter wide Framilastic*. It is narrow enough to disappear into the seam allowance.
I cut the Framilastic to the length of the fabric edge that the longer one is to be shortened to:
Mark the center of the elastic strip with a ballpoint pen (fabric marking pens don't hold well on the rubbery material).
Pin the marked center of the elastic band to the center of the fabric edge you want to shirr.
Place the fabric edge under the presser foot with the wrong side facing up and align the beginning of the elastic tape flush with the fabric edge.
Sew a few stitches with a straight stitch to fix the tape in place.
Then stretch the band evenly, making sure it lies flush with the fabric edge. When stretching, you can hold onto the center mark. If your fabric edge is longer, simply divide both sections into quarters, for example.
Now sew the elastic tape to the fabric edge.
When you reach the center mark, bring the ends of the elastic tape together, stretch it again, and sew it to the second half of the fabric edge. Afterward, I shirr the lower fabric edge in the same way.
This is how it should look now:
Now I can sew the fabric edges together right sides facing.
This is how it should look now:
Shirring with the sewing machine and a straight stitch
Here is a method you can use to achieve the same effect. It is also wonderful for easing sleeve heads.
How it's done: Set your sewing machine to a long straight stitch, for example, a stitch length of 5 millimeters. For some machines, this method works better if you loosen the upper thread tension slightly. You just have to try it out. On my Juki UX8 (feel free to read my test report: Juki HZL-UX8: Test and experience report | What makes this sewing machine special), I keep the basic settings, and it works perfectly.
Sew two parallel seams within the seam allowance. Keep the beginning and ending threads long.
For my round sleeve edge, I simply sewed around it once.
When sewing the second seam, make sure it does not cross the first one. Otherwise, pulling it together later will not work as well.
Grab the ends of the bobbin or needle threads (you can choose, it makes no difference) and pull the fabric together until the fabric edge has the desired length.
Distribute the gathers nicely along the entire length.
Now you can pin both fabric edges right sides facing again and sew them together.
Afterward, pull the easing threads out of the fabric.
Shirring with a zigzag stitch and an oversewn thread
Here is a great little trick that you might like to try out.
A sturdy thread (e.g., a piece of hosiery yarn or embroidery floss) is oversewn with a zigzag stitch.
Again, the ends remain long so that you can easily grasp them for gathering.
Make sure the needle does not pierce the wool thread.
Now you can grab the thread ends and gather the fabric as desired.
After sewing together, the wool thread is simply removed.
Gathering with the gathering foot of the sewing machine
Gathering with the gathering foot is also very simple.
This is what the gathering foot looks like:
Place the fabric edge you want to gather under the presser foot and sew with a straight stitch.
The trick with this foot: You can also use it to sew two layers of fabric together. One stays smooth, the other gathers. To do this, place the two fabric layers together right sides facing.
Slide the top edge into the slot in the presser foot, while the bottom one lies under the presser foot. Then sew the edge with a straight stitch. It should look like this:
Gathering, easing, and ruffling with the overlocker
You can also easily gather fabrics with an overlocker. However, it is not as precise and predictable as with the techniques shown above using the sewing machine. It is best to cut the fabric piece you want to gather generously and then shorten it to the required length.
Without a gathering foot, with the differential feed at the highest setting, the difference between the gathered and smooth fabric edge looks like this:
Gathering with the overlocker's gathering foot
By the way, there are also special gathering feet for the overlocker that make gathering fabrics even easier.
With the gathering foot of my Babylock*, I count on a 1:2 gathering ratio, which means I cut the fabric edge I want to gather twice as long as the fabric edge I want to sew it to. The gathering effect intensifies if you also increase the stitch length and differential feed. I always do a test sew beforehand so I can be sure everything looks the way I want it.
Afterward, I can sew the two fabric layers together: one stays smooth, one gets gathered.
Easing with the overlocker
This technique is absolutely essential if you like sewing clothing with round hems. Why? Have you ever tried to pin a rounded hem neatly? It often looks like this:
To press the fabric edge neatly, set the overlocker's differential feed to 1.3 - 2, depending on the severity of the curve. Again, it's worth experimenting a little.
Then finish the fabric edge with the overlocker.
You can see while sewing how the fabric pulls in, right? It should look like this now:
Now you can press the edge quite easily:
Subsequently topstitching the hem is really a breeze.
Gathering and sewing two layers of fabric with the overlocker
With the same sewing setting and technique, you can also sew two fabric layers together in one step so that one remains smooth and one is gathered. The gathered length is again not exactly determinable; to find out how much the edge shortens, I marked it with a line.
This is what the result looks like. The lower fabric part arches slightly due to the gathering.
Gathering, shirring, or easing by hand
Do you want to get back to basics and practice gathering fabric edges by hand? No problem! There are many different ways to do this. In this section, I will show you how it works and what you need to pay attention to.
All you need is a needle and thread.
Weave the thread through the fabric edge at regular intervals.
Make sure the thread ends extend generously beyond the fabric edge so you can grip them easily to pull them together.
This is what it should look like now.
Grip the thread ends and gather the fabric as much as you need for your project. I want to maintain the round edge of the fabric so that I can iron and hem it.
You can already see how the hem curves inward.
Now you can iron it without any trouble.
This is what the ironed hem looks like from the right side:
Sewing ruffles with a serger and sewing machine: Picture tutorial
Ruffles decorate clothing like blouses or aprons, home decor like pillows or potholders, accessories like bags or book covers, and much more. You can use them to add a good dose of romance to your sewing projects. And you don't always have to rely on store-bought ruffles; you can easily make them yourself.
Here’s how it's done: For a sewn-on ruffle, cut a fabric strip approximately 5 - 7 cm wide (e.g., cotton fabric or jersey). It should be about twice as long as the fabric the ruffle is to be attached to.
Finish the long edges of the fabric strip with the serger.
Sew one (or two, as shown above) seam in the middle of the fabric strip. Set a long straight stitch and use a sturdy thread. I am using jeans thread here because it is very tear-resistant.
Grip the thread ends and gather the fabric until the strip creates nice ruffles. It should fit well onto the main fabric to which it is being sewn.
Baste the ruffle onto the main fabric and sew it in place down the center with a straight stitch.
Afterward, pull out the gathering thread.
Variation: Sewing a ruffle between two layers of fabric
You can also sandwich a fabric strip between two pieces of fabric.
To do this, gather the fabric strip, folded wrong sides together, using your serger. The differential feed should be set to maximum gathering (on my Babylock, this is setting 2).
This is what it should look like now:
Pin the prepared ruffle between two layers of fabric and sew along the edge.
This is what it should look like now:
Variation 3: Sewing a double ruffle onto a fabric edge
For this variation, prepare another ruffle sewn wrong sides together. This time, however, simply sew it onto the fabric edge:
Afterward, you can continue processing the fabric as desired.
Have you been inspired to put your newly acquired skills to use?
Then our Maris sewing pattern is just right for the job.
Or would you prefer to sew a blouse with elegantly gathered sleeves? Then definitely check out Charlie!
Did this post help you? Feel free to leave a comment. I would really appreciate it.
Happy simple sewing
Yours, Sabine
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