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Whimsy Couture Sewing Patterns
Childrens Sewing Patterns
Whimsy Couture Sewing Patterns
Childrens Sewing Patterns
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I made a shirred dress from this pattern and it turned out very nicely. You can see it on my blog. The secret is getting the elastic wound on the bobbin. I found that winding it tightly worked best for my machine. I also recommend practice as well.
I’d never shirred anything until just a couple months ago. Now I’m kicking myself for being too scared to try it before. I LOVE it!
Shirring is so much fun for me. Like mentioned before, hand winding the bobbin with some tension will give me the best turn out. Instead of cutting the thread at the end of each row, I backstitch, lift presser foot and needle, slide the fabric to the next row, lower presser foot and sew. This way I have a continuous strand of elastic, with no worries of my backstitching becoming undone. Just be sure to check your bobbin occasionally to be sure can finish your row without running out of elastic!
If you find your shirring to be too loose, lightly steam your stitches with an iron… do NOT place your iron on the stitches, just right above them. It will gather like “magic” 🙂
This helps too! I am still fighting with it…some say wind tight…wind loose, wind with a little tension….UGH…I am on my 4th spool of 30 yd elastic thread…no bull…..are you all using a straight stitch with the settings like Whimsy says in her patterns? My bodice is not gathering very well after 4 rows and the steam….can someone come to my house…lol…will pay airline. And to think I consider myself advanced…let me back up to intermeddiate. More tips…can someone do a VIDEO of the process!!!!
Do you double the fabric around the chest to get it to fit?
you cant tell how much it will gather, will it come out to small or to large?