Hassle-free ruffles with your overlocker
Want to add ruffles to your clothing, but can’t stand the idea of having to sew rows of gathering stitches?
Imagine if there was a way to create ruffles without having to pull rows of stitches up and pin them, without having to then trim and zig zag…
That would be pretty cool, right? Well, with the gathering foot on your overlocker you can do exactly that!
The overlocker gathering foot (affectionately called the ruffler foot by me since it just sounds cuter) is a pretty amazing little attachment, and once you get the hang of it you will be ruffling away.
How does it work?
The gathering (ruffler ;P) foot looks like a normal overlocker foot, but has an extra plate at the bottom. This allows you to feed one layer of fabric straight on to the feed dogs, while the other layer is fed through flat.
The bottom layer – your ruffle – will be gathered while the top layer will remain smooth, and the two layers are sewn together and overlocked, all at the same time. Making a dress or skirt like the ones in our main picture is so fast when you use this useful little attachment.
How to use the ruffler foot
Remove the existing foot by pressing the black button at the back of the shank. Attach the ruffler foot.
Change the machine settings. You can view our easy tutorial video here or see below:
Needles: 2
Threads: 4
Tension: 4 on all dials
Differential feed: 2 (maximum)
Stitch length: 3 (normal)
You will also notice that the top layer is not being cut – just make sure you keep this layer aligned with the plate on the right side. The bottom layer (the ruffle) is fed through the blade. Make sure it cuts at least 5mm off the edge of the fabric to ensure a neat seam.
