[Harmony]

So here are the popover PJs two ways. https://www.flickr.com/photos/125267367@N07/14634654916/

Both girls love them, and the younger one would wear hers 24/7 if she could.

I tried to put a ruffle on the nightgown. It went, shall we say, poorly? The miserable gathering thread kept breaking on one side. So I ask for your help: when sewing the gathering threads, does the tension on the machine need to be loose or tight? How much in either direction?

[JohannaO]

Your bobbin tension needs to be very loose to pull through the fabric, unless, and this is a big unless, you’re using a very flimsy fabric. In that case, you can turn your bobbin tension all the way up, and it will gather as you sew. I still don’t like that high tension method, because I don’t think I can stitch it onto my fabic as neatly as I can when I use two gathering stitches that are 1/2″ apart.

[Nicole]

Super cute jim jams!

As for ruffling, two rows of straight stitch at your longest length (#4 on my machine) is my favourite method. I really don’t like touching my tension if everything else is working well.

I then like to knot the ends of my threads so I can perfectly adjust the ruffles without them coming undone.

[Harmony]

Thanks, guys!

I sewed using my longest stitch but normal tension on the machine.

It occurred to me last night that I also have no idea how old the thread is that I used. I inherited my husband’s grandmother’s sewing box when I started sewing more frequently.

Frustrating to say the least, but this is how we learn 🙂

[Robin]

I’d stay away from old cotton thread. Sewing can be challenging enough without thread breaking.

[Nicole]

Thread breaking when gathering requires wine!

[Deb]

Sometimes for gathering long lengths or when working with difficult fabric, I set my machine to a long and wide zig-zag and then stitch over thin crochet cotton being careful not to catch it in the zig-zagging. I pull the crochet cotton to create the gathers. But I don’t agree with Nicole. Wine should be required whether the thread breaks or not. 🙂

[Lightning McStitch]

No to old thread, yes to wine for all crafting occasions, yes to long stitch length and yes to two rows.

For what it’s worth I loosen the needle thread tension when sewing gathering stitches. This is easy to do on my (and most?) machines. Turn the number down for low needle tension then turn it back up to continue sewing (don’t forget that bit, I have, many times).

Adjusting the bobbin thread tension is another thing altogether. On my machine it’s a little screw on the bobbin casing, so there’s no way of knowing how tight or loose it is, or where to turn it back to. That’s one I don’t mess with. But, I have two bobbin casings. One at normal tension for sewing and another that’s super low tension for doing double needle hemming. That certainly solved my popping knit hems. But that’s another thread breaking story altogether. 🙂

[Harmony]

That’s what I did wrong! No wine!

I’ll definitely have to try this ruffling thing again, the right way.