Using A Vintage Sewing Machine: The Gathering Foot

This is the Gathering Foot or Gatherer -as it's called in vintage sewing books. I've seen it called a Shirring Foot in newer books. The Gatherer does as its name indicates and pulls the fabric into a light gather with each stitch. I don't know how it does this but it does.

The Gatherer is not really for gathering skirts and that sort of thing although you can use it for that if you want a very light gather. After you've experimented with it you'll know more about where to use it in your sewing. It's best used for shirring. An example of shirring:
When you get ready to use this foot have plenty of time, plenty of scraps, and a good steam iron. The Gatherer and steam go together. I normally use muslin for my demonstrations, but the Gathering Foot works best on lightweight fabrics, so I'm using batiste today.

The foot seems relatively simple. A long stitch produces more fullness than a short stitch. The tensions need to be balanced but a heavier tension produces more fullness. That's all there is to it. I will be honest and tell you I have spent more time adjusting stitch lengths and tension for this foot than any other. Don't be thrown off by this--once you try the Gatherer and get to know it, you'll always know how to use it. That's worth half an hour of playing at your sewing machine. This next picture is a scrap showing one side with very little gathering while the other side with a tightened tension made a more full gather.

To help get you started on getting familiar with the settings needed for this foot we'll use it to make a Puffing Strip. Those of you who do historical/re-enactment and Heirloom sewing will know what this is. Basically it's a strip of fabric that puffs by being lightly gathered on both sides. These are used on a lot of Victorian blouses, dresses, undergarments, and baby clothes.

A Puffing strip is usually about a 2-1 fullness. I had to get out sewing book here to help because I'm not very good at math or explaining it. In Antique Sewing: French Sewing by Machine, Martha Pullen explains, "a child's garment, which is 45 inches in the front and 45 inches in the back, would have a 45 inch + 45 inch + 45 inch = 135 inch ruffle or three 45 inch strips gathered onto the bottom."

To get your Gatherer set for this ratio you will need a 9 inch scrap of fabric.

You will be trying to gather both sides of it so you end up with a 6 inch piece. Then you'll have your settings correct--write them down in your sewing notebook. Unfortunately I can't tell you exactly what to set your machine at here to get the right settings. And no, Martha Pullen can't either. She says that your first stitching line will probably not be correct. Try starting with your stitch length long and sew the edge of your strip with the fabric edge guiding along the foot edge. You will then need to adjust your stitch lengths by seeing whether you need more or less fullness. If you need the the 9 inch piece shorter, you will need to lengthen the stitch--this might seem the opposite but it's not--the longer the stitch the more fabric is pulled into the gather. And opposite if you need the piece longer.

Here I'm gathering one side. I then turned it and stitched the other side. (I had to iron it first and spilled water on it, in case you're noticing that splotch).

I had to make three strips before I got my settings right. I used a stitch length of 8 with a slightly tighter tension. That doesn't mean this will work for you though; you'll have to experiment on your machine. The strip doesn't look like much in the next photo:

But after it's steamed it falls into shape better. Imagine long strips of these around the bottoms of petticoats or long baby gowns with lace adjoining either side.

Now that you know more of how to use the Gatherer we'll move on to more modern uses for it. Specifically shirring. The crosswise grain of the fabric usually shirrs the best. Also soft fabrics work better that firmer ones. My Singer book says that for shirring crisp sheer fabrics you should steam them and sew them while they're damp. Not all shirring is done with elastic. Today's examples are using regular sewing thread--because of this the shirring doesn't stretch and is mostly for decoration and textural effect.

I have put my tension back to normal and shortened the stitch length to about 12. I don't want my example to be too full or sew down the gathers of the row before. I stitched the first line then used the side of the foot to guide along the previous stitches. You can make them further apart too.

I never think my shirring looks very good when I'm finished. But hold a steam iron over it without touching and the steam blocks the piece into shape. After the steaming I'm usually pleased with the results. If you have made your rows further apart you will definitely need to steam it and block it. To do this, pin the piece out on your ironing board, steam it well, and let it dry. (Make sure you're not using pins with plastic heads.)

I don't think my photo does my shirring justice--it looks better than this really.

I used matching thread so you can see the effect of shirring, but you can use a contrasting thread if you like.

If you do the shirring as I just described and then turn the fabric and stitch in the opposite direction you'll get what is called Waffle Shirring. My Singer book suggests using it for details on children's dresses, blouses, and lingerie.

My photos really haven't shown up the shirring well--it looks much nicer in person.
Tomorrow we'll use the Gatherer with elastic thread.