Hey everyone!
This is Sarah with Sewing Parts Online.com and today we are going to go over how to use
a shirring foot.
This is similiar to a double shirring foot, but what this foot we can only gather one
layer of fabric.
So, I'm going to show you how to install it and how to use it with your machine.
So, this is our shirring foot.
This is the needle hole right here.
So when you do get ready to sew just make sure that your needle is going to go through
that hole.
So, you'll probably have to put it in the center position.
So, to install this you take off the shank and the presser foot you have on.
And you just need to come bring it to the front and kind of wiggle it on like that.
And then just tighten it.
Make sure it's nice and snug.
And you're ready to sew.
So now we have our shirring foot installed.
Once again, make sure your needle is in the center position and that is not going to hit
any metal.
So, to create the gathering effect, we need to take our stitch length and put it all the
way up to 5.0 and we need to move our tension up as well.
So, the higher the tension and stitch length, the more gathers you'll get.
So, let's go ahead and start sewing.
You can also, if you want more gathers, place your hand back here.
Watch out for the needle.
You can see how those gathers are starting to form in the back.
And I'll show you what it looks like.
There we go.
Much easier than gathering by hand.
And if you want even fuller gathers, you can go ahead and grab the thread tails right here
and pull them in closer together.
And move the fabric closer together.
So, I'm holding the bobbin thread right now.
I'll just move it in even more.
Pretty cool.
So, the cool thing we can do with a shirring foot is you can add elastic thread in your
bobbin.
I showed this before with the double shirring/ Gathering foot, but we're just going to show
it again.
If you have a Brother, there is a tiny little screw right here that you need to turn one
full rotation in order to do this.
If you have a different machine, you're fine.
So, you'll have to put back in the bobbin case.
You take you're elastic thread, pull it over like that.
You might have a little guide up here, but don't pay attention to that.
Grab your thread tails and pull it on up.
You want the elastic bobbin thread to come to the top.
Now, you can replace all of you're covers.
Replace that.
Get your fabric.
With this one, you can put your tension at the regular setting for your fabric.
So, mine is at a 3.
And keep your stitch length up as before.
to lock in your stitch you need to bring your stitch length down.
So, bring it all the way down, as far as it will go.
Lock in your stitch.
Now bring it all the way back up to as high as it will go.
And then you just start sewing.
The cool thing about having the elastic thread in the bobbin is it will give your fabric
some elasticity.
Like you see in summer dresses.They're shirred.
Or what you see in smocking.
This will have some flexability to it.
It sews really easily.
It's very, very simple.
One thing to note about having elastic thread it the boobin is that you do have to hand
wind it, which can be a little frustrating, but well worth it.
So this is what my gather looks like, but the benefit of this is it's stretchy.
What I will have to do is take this under a steam iron and the steam will cause the
elastic thread to shrink like this.
And then it will be really elastic.
So you get the gathers and you get the flexability.
So that was the shirring foot.
To purchase your shirring foot, visit us online at SewingPartsOnline.com or on Facebook at
Facebook.com/sewingpartsonline.