Have you seen an instruction to “gather fabric” recently but have no idea how to do it? Here are step-by-step tutorials with pictures for different methods of gathering. Plus guidance on how to choose the right method for your project.
For most projects, the machine basting and u-turn basting methods with 2 rows of stitching are ideal. If you have a gathering foot or serger, these are the fastest ways to gather most projects, but the volume of gathers will only go up to 2x the finished width. If you want to gather your fabric 2.5x or 3x, don’t use these methods. For thick fabric, try the cord/zigzag method. For small lengths of fabric where you want more control, use the hand basting method. For stretchy knit fabric, use the elastic method.
Different methods:
- How to gather fabric using a sewing machine:
- Basting method
- U-turn basting method
- Cord / yarn / floss and zigzag method
- Gathering foot method
- Elastic method
- Hand sewing method
- Serger (aka. overlocker) machine method
Tips:
- 1, 2, or 3 rows of stitching?
- How to get even gathers
- How much fabric do I need for gathering?
Quick Q&As:
- Which thread do you pull?
- How to gather thick fabric
- How to gather stretch fabric
- How do you finish a gathered seam?
- Gathering vs shirring
- Easiest way to gather fabric
- Quickest way to gather long lengths of fabric
Different methods:
Machine basting method
This is the most widely used method of gathering, and for good reason. It’s really versatile and customizable, as it allows you to completely control the density of the gathers. It can be challenging to execute on long lengths of fabric or heavier weight materials, but as long as you go slowly you should be fine.
Pros and cons:
Pros:
- It’s a really customizable method that allows you to achieve whatever density of gathers you want.
- You can get really neat-looking results by sewing multiple rows of basting stitches and arranging them freely.
Cons:
- It’s a time-consuming method, especially on really long lengths of fabric.
- The thread can easily break if you accidentally put too much tension on it while gathering the fabric, in which case you will need to start over.
- If your fabric will clearly show any needle holes (test on a scrap first), then alter this method so you only sew the basting stitches inside the seam allowance. This way any needle holes will be hidden inside the finished garment.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Start by drawing some guidelines on your fabric using an erasable fabric marker. The blue line shows the seam allowance (I drew mine at 1.6 cm / ⅝”). The white lines on either side of the seam allowance show where we’ll be sewing our basting stitches. I drew them at 6 mm / ¼” apart from the blue line.
- Set your sewing machine to a straight stitch and turn the stitch length to its longest possible setting – in my case, it was 5 mm.
- A) Sew a line of basting stitches at the line closest to the raw edge. B) When you get to the end of the line, raise your needle, leave a long tail and snip the threads. Don’t backstitch at the beginning or at the end.
- Repeat step 3, this time sewing on the third line (at the bottom). [Note: if your fabric will clearly show needle holes when you take the basting stitches out, then sew along the second line – the seam allowance line. This way all the needle holes will be hidden inside the seam allowance.]
- Find your bobbin threads, and tie them together on one side. I used a red thread for the top thread and a black one for the bobbin thread. You too might want to use different thread colors to make gathering fabric and removing your basting stitches easier.
- Hold the two bobbin threads on the back of your fabric, and gently pull on them. The fabric will start gathering as you pull.
- When the gathered edge reaches the length you desire, tie the free bobbin threads together so that your gathers don’t come out.
- Arrange the gathers so that they are evenly distributed. You can use a steamy iron to carefully arrange and set them in place.
- If you want to sew your gathered piece into another piece of fabric, start by pinning them right sides together.
- Sew the two pieces together following the guideline you drew at the start which indicates the seam allowance. I like to keep the gathered piece on top so that I can control how the gathers lie as I sew over them.
- Take the basting stitches that were below the seam allowance out using a seam ripper. I like to remove them by gently pulling on the bobbin thread as it comes out much more easily that way.
- Give your piece a final steam with the iron and you’re done!
“U-turn” machine basting method
The U-turn method is very similar to the machine basting method, but instead of sewing 2 separate parallel lines of basting stitches, you sew one continuous line.
Pros and cons:
Pros:
- This method creates really even, beautiful gathers because the stitches are perfectly aligned on the two lines.
- It’s safer because it has a closed edge that doesn’t allow the gathers to fall out.
Cons:
- It’s a time-consuming method, especially on really long lengths of fabric.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Using a long stitch length (eg. 5 mm), start sewing on one edge of your fabric. 6 mm / ¼” before you reach the other edge, stop with your needle down.
- Pivot the fabric 90 degrees, and sew 2 stitches down, perpendicular to the first line of stitches.
- Pivot again at 90 degrees, and sew the second, parallel line of stitches to the first one.
- When you return to the edge you started, leave a long tail and cut your threads. Hold the two bobbin threads that are sticking out of the edge of your fabric and pull on them to start gathering.
Cord / yarn / floss & zig zag method
This is a great method for gathering thick, heavy weight fabrics. You can also use it on light or medium weight fabrics where you need to gather really long lengths without the risk of breaking the thread when you pull on them.
Pros and cons:
Pros:
- It’s great for gathering heavier, thicker fabrics like taffeta or medium to heavy weight wool as the cord, yarn or floss won’t break as easily when you pull on them.
Cons:
- You have to sew quite slowly and carefully to make sure you don’t accidentally catch the cord / yarn / floss when you’re sewing the zigzag stitches.
- If your fabric will clearly show any needle holes (test on a scrap first), then alter this method so you only sew 1 line of stitching with 1 piece of cord (so skip Step 4). This way any needle holes will be hidden inside the finished garment, but it may be a bit harder to make the gathers perfectly even with only 1 row of stitching, so take care in Steps 7 and 8.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Start by drawing some guidelines on your fabric. The blue line shows the seam allowance (I drew mine at 1.5 cm / ⅝”). The white lines on either side of the seam allowance show where we’ll be sewing. Cut some floss, cord or yarn to a length that’s longer than the length of your fabric. I used a thin but strong cotton yarn.
- Set your sewing machine to a zigzag stitch. I used a width of 4.5 and a length of 3.0, but I recommend experimenting on a scrap piece of fabric to see if these settings work for the fabric and yarn you’re using.
- Lay the yarn over the first guideline and start sewing zigzag stitches around it. Keep the yarn centered on your presser foot and make sure your needle doesn’t accidentally catch the yarn, or you won’t be able to pull on it later. Backstitch at the beginning and at the end to secure your stitches.
- Repeat Step 3 on the third guideline at the bottom.
- Grab the two ends of yarn that are sticking out of the side of your fabric and pull on them to gather the fabric. For this method, I like to leave both ends untied so that I can pull on them both to gather the fabric more evenly. Because the yarn creates some friction against the fabric, the gathers don’t come out as easily as they would in other methods, allowing you to skip the knotting.
- Once the gathered edge reaches your desired length, knot the two strands of yarn together on each edge of the fabric.
- Evenly distribute the gathers and steam them into shape using an iron.
- If you want to sew your gathered piece to another piece of fabric, simply pin them together with the right sides facing each other. With the gathered piece on top, sew along the seam allowance guideline you drew in Step 1. Remove the cords once everything is secured.
This is one of the easiest and quickest methods of gathering fabric, so it’s perfect for really long lengths of fabric. Think tiered dresses that use meters and yards of gathered fabric.
Pros and cons:
Pros:
- It’s a really quick and easy method of gathering long lengths of fabric.
Cons:
- It requires you to buy a specific presser foot, but you can usually source it for an affordable price.
- The density of the gathers is not as adjustable as it is with a machine or hand basting method. The highest density I could achieve was 2x gathers.
Step-by-step instructions:
You have 2 options for using a gathering foot to gather fabric. You can either choose to gather a single layer of fabric to be attached later to a different piece of fabric, or you can gather the fabric and sew it to a flat piece in one go. I’ll walk you through both processes.
Gathering a single layer of fabric:
- Start by putting the gathering foot on your machine, and change the settings of your machine. Increase the tension as far as it will go, mine goes up to a 9.8. Set your stitch length to its highest possible setting, mine goes up to a 5.0. The higher the tension and the stitch length, the more gathered your fabric will be.
- Place your fabric under the gathering foot, and just sew in a straight line using a straight stitch.
- Arrange and steam your gathers into place.
Gathering a length of fabric into a flat piece:
- Start by putting the gathering foot on your machine, and change the settings of your machine. Increase the tension as far as it will go, mine goes up to a 9.8. Set your stitch length to its highest possible setting, mine goes up to a 5.0. The higher the tension and the stitch length, the more gathered your fabric will be.
- Place the fabric you want to gather under the gathering foot.
- Place the flat piece of fabric that you want to attach to your gathered piece inside the little shelf that’s on your gathering foot.
- Start sewing and hold the top piece of fabric taut using your hand. You’ll see gathers forming on the bottom piece, while the top piece remains flat.
How to gather fabric using elastic
Using elastic to gather fabric is perfect for projects that use stretchy knit fabrics. It allows the fabric to keep its stretchiness while creating a gathered look. It creates really neat and even gathers on all weights of fabric.
Pros and cons:
Pros:
- The resulting fabric is stretchy, so it’s perfect for areas that need to remain flexible after being gathered, and on knit fabrics.
- The density of gathers is easily adjustable by changing the length of the elastic and the fabric.
- The resulting gathers are uniform and neat.
Cons:
- The gathered section may feel bulky due to the elastic that’s permanently sewn onto the fabric.Some people may also dislike the feel of uncovered elastic on their skin.
- The gathers cannot be adjusted once the sewing is completed. You need to make a decision on the density of the gathers before you start sewing.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Start by cutting a length of elastic that matches the final length you want your gathered fabric to be. I used a 20 cm / 8” piece of elastic and a 40 cm / 16” length of fabric for the sample. A clear, soft, stretchy elastic would be a better option, but I used some thick wide elastic so it’s easier for you to see what I’m doing.
- Quarter your elastic using pins or a marking tool (this means to divide it into 4 points).
- Quarter your fabric, the same way you did on your elastic. You might want to use more or fewer points depending on the length of your fabric.
- A) Pin the elastic to the fabric, starting at the center marking or pin. B) Continue to pin them together by matching up all the points you created in steps 2 and 3.
- Place the fabric and the elastic under your sewing machine. Using either a medium zigzag stitch or a straight stitch at 2.5 mm or longer, start sewing the two materials together. Drop your needle down at the beginning of the elastic, hold on to the first pin and gently stretch it so that the fabric lays completely flat under the elastic. Sew up to the pin by keeping the elastic stretched out. Then remove the pin so you don’t sew over it. Repeat this process until you reach the end of the elastic. Don’t forget to backstitch at the beginning and end of the seam to secure your stitches in place.
- Steam your gathers to give them a neater look.
How to gather fabric by hand – running stitch
This is a great method for gathering small sections of fabric, or achieving really neat and controlled gathers. If you use a really heavyweight and strong thread, it can also work well for gathering thick and heavy materials.
Pros and cons:
Pros:
- You can create some really neat and tiny gathers using hand stitches.
- It’s easier to do in small and fiddly areas.
Cons:
- It takes longer than other methods that use a sewing machine.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Start by drawing some guidelines on your fabric. The blue line shows the seam allowance (I drew mine at 1.5 cm / ⅝”). The white lines on either side of the seam allowance show where we’ll be sewing our basting stitches. I drew them at 6 mm / ¼” apart from the blue line.
- Prepare your materials. I like to use a longer needle and polyester thread as it’s stronger than cotton thread. You can also strengthen your thread by running it through some beeswax and melting the wax using your iron. This is a good idea especially if you’re working with a heavier fabric or a longer length of fabric. Alternatively, you can use some heavier, thicker thread.
- Thread your needle and start sewing running stitches on your first guideline, which is over the seam allowance line. The smaller you make your stitches, the finer the gathering will turn out. Try to keep them as even in length as possible.
- Repeat Step 3 on the third guideline which is under the seam allowance line.
- When you finish sewing the two lines of basting stitches, tie the two threads together on one side.
- Gently pull on the two threads on the back of the fabric to form gathers.
- When the gathered edge reaches your desired length, tie the two free threads together.
- A) Arrange the gathers so that they’re evenly distributed. B) Steam them into place using an iron to set them.
How to gather fabric using a serger
Due to how quick this method is, it’s a great option for gathering really long lengths of fabric. It’s ideal for light and medium weight fabrics, and for cases where you won’t need to gather more than twice the length of fabric into your desired length. Note: a serger is called an “overlocker” in some countries. They’re different words for the same machine.
Pros and cons:
Pros:
- It’s a quick and easy way of gathering long lengths of fabric.
- It gathers and finishes the raw edge of the fabric in one go.
Cons:
- It requires expensive equipment – a serger machine (aka. overlocker).
- Sergers use a lot of thread (4 threads) so this creates a slightly bulky finish.
- You can’t arrange the gathers too much after you finish serging your fabric.
- There’s a risk that the threads may break, so sew slowly and experiment with your thread tension settings.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Start by threading your serger with 4 threads, and adjusting the settings. A) Keep the tension settings of the loopers as usual, but increase the tension of the needle threads. It’s usually recommended to increase them to the highest available setting, but I had issues with my left needle thread breaking so I kept it at a lower setting of 2.5 but increased the right needle’s thread tension all the way up to 9. B) Turn the differential feed setting all the way up. Mine goes up to a 2.0. C) Increase the stitch length to its highest possible setting, which was 4 for me.
- Simply feed the fabric through your serger and watch it gather. I like to go slowly so that my threads have a smaller chance of breaking off.
- Arrange and steam your gathers into place.
Tips:
Should you use 1, 2, or 3 rows of stitching when gathering?
I tested all three options to see which one is ideal.Sewing 2 rows of stitching is the best option for most projects. It produces even gathers. For even neater gathers, 3 rows of stitching works well, but it does take longer to do and isn’t necessary in most cases.
A single row of basting stitches produces gathers that are difficult to work with, especially when it’s time to sew the gathers into a flat piece of fabric. I wouldn’t recommend this method.
2 rows of stitches doesn’t take too long to sew, and it produces really even gathers that are easy to work with. This is a good place to start for most projects. Unless you’re working with a really thin and delicate fabric that’s prone to holding onto needle marks, sew between the two rows of basting stitches when you’re attaching the gathered fabric to the flat piece, and then remove the basting stitches that show on the right side of the work.
3 rows of stitches produces even neater gathers, but it does take a bit longer to do. It would be a good option for special projects that don’t use excessive lengths of fabric. When you go to attach the gathered fabric to a flat piece, sew between the second and the third rows of gathering stitches.
How to get even gathers (3 tips)
- Stroking the gathers: This is a historical sewing method that was commonly used in the 19th century where you stroke the gathers downwards using a pin to arrange them into perfect little folds that fall neatly where you want them to fall. While it is traditionally paired with the hand basting method, it also works well for the machine basting, cord & zigzag, and gathering foot methods.
- Dividing your fabric into sections: It can be difficult to distribute your gathers evenly across a long length of fabric. Try dividing the length of fabric into quarters or eights before you gather it, and distribute the gathers within those sections for a neater even look. This is also a great method for achieving even gathers while using the elastic method.
- Sew extra rows: The more rows of gathering stitches you sew, the neater and more even your gathers will look. Try sewing 3 rows in the machine basting, hand basting, and cord & zigzag methods for excellent gathers.
How much fabric do I need for gathering?
2x and 2.5x of the finished length of fabric is ideal for most projects. It creates full, medium volume gathers. 1.5x creates a small and underwhelming volume of gathers. 3x creates very full and dense gathers that suit dramatic garments and very light fabrics that need extra volume.
I sewed 4 samples using different lengths of fabric. I was aiming for a finished measurement of 15 cm / 6”, so I used 22.5 cm, 30 cm, 37.5 cm, and 45 cm (9”, 12”, 15”, and 18”) strips to get 1.5x, 2x, 2.5x, and 3x the length of my desired finished measurement.
The 1.5x sample produced some really soft, barely there gathers. I found it a little underwhelming, but it’s a good option if that’s the effect you want.
2x and 2.5x samples are full, medium volume gathers. I think they would be ideal for most projects like gathered dresses, aprons, or decorative ruffles.
The 3x sample produced some really full and dense gathers. It’s a really dramatic result that would be good for statement projects, or really light and fine fabrics that you want to give volume to.
Quick Q&A’s:
Which thread do you pull when gathering?
Pull on the bobbin thread to gather your fabric, as it’s less likely to break and the fabric will glide more easily on it. I recommend using a different color bobbin thread to easily identify it.
How to gather thick fabric?
I recommend using the cord / yarn / floss and zigzag method, or using a really strong thread like some upholstery thread and doing the hand basting method. Other methods that rely on the use of lighter weight threads can be difficult to use on heavier fabrics, as the thread will be more prone to breaking. You can also use the elastic method to achieve even gathers on thick fabric.
How to gather stretch fabric
You can use most of the methods on this list to gather stretch fabrics. Machine basting, hand basting, and using a serger all work well, but my preferred method is using some clear elastic as it retains the stretchiness of the fabric. You can also use a strip of the same fabric as long as it’s stretchy enough to be used instead of elastic.
How do you finish a gathered seam?
To finish a gathered seam, knot the ends so that your gathers don’t come out. You can remove the gathering stitches once you attach your gathered piece to another piece of fabric, securing the gathers in the process.
What’s the difference between gathering and shirring?
Gathering is done by drawing the fullness of a longer piece of fabric into a smaller length. Shirring is achieved by sewing multiple rows of elastic thread into the fabric to achieve a stretchy piece of fabric that has many rows of gathers.
What’s the easiest way to gather fabric?
The easiest method is using a gathering foot.
How to gather long pieces of fabric quickly?
You can use a gathering foot or a serger to gather long pieces of fabric quickly.
This article was written by Nisan Aktürk and edited by Sara Maker.
Nisan Aktürk (author)
Nisan started her sewing journey in December 2019 and already has a fully handmade wardrobe. She’s made 50+ trousers, 20+ buttoned shirts, and a wide array of coats, jackets, t-shirts, and jeans. She’s currently studying for her Sociology Master’s degree and is writing a thesis about sewing. So she spends a lot of her time either sewing or thinking/writing about sewing!Read more…
