Sunday, October 11, 2009

Shirring Problems - I Cracked It!!!


I have been trying to get the hang of this shirring thing for a little while now. I upcycled a t-shirt recently doing some shirring, and managed to conduct sewing machine surgery in the process. Ugh! Always upsetting having to take your new machine apart for the first time to untangle all the threads!

Well, the last few days I have been trying to work out how to shir a new pillowcase dress for Maia. Nothing I was doing worked. I had been staring at a thread on the Crafty Mamas forum that had been started last year, of various people trying to work out their shirring problems. There seemed to be a similar link with shirring problems - Brother machines. Well, I like to think that I solved the problem... Well, I solved mine anyway, and since I could not find this solution on the net, I thought I might share what I discovered with others, hoping that I might help another shirring soul out there.

I decided to take a trip to the shop where I bought my Brother Innovis 600. The technician said that the problem is in the tension of the bobbin. I needed to tighten the bobbin tension. So, I asked, "How do you do this?" There is a very, very small screw at the front of the bobbin casing. This needs to be screwed tighter so that the elastic thread catches and is quite tight as it pulls through.

Firstly, take off the needle plate cover & take out the bobbin casing.

Use a very small screwdriver to tighten the screw in the front of the bobbin casing. Mine actually has a bit of paint on the screw. Now, I was very concerned about getting it back again when I was finished. Take note of exactly how many turns you do. Otherwise, you take the lazy way out. I decided to buy a second bobbin casing while I was at the shop as the technician there changed the screw so that it was at the perfect shirring tension. He placed a small dollop of nail polish on it for me so I can differentiate between my 2 bobbin casings (very important). This set me back $34 AU.

Now, test the elastic thread in the bobbin casing to ensure that the tension is quite tight, so that it pulls once it is linked in. Notice how I am pulling the elastic with my fingers.

Hand wind the elastic on to the bobbin without stretching it, as the bobbin casing will do the stretching with the tightened tension. Place the bobbin into the bobbin casing, while the needle plate cover is still off. Link the elastic thread into the casing. This was another problem that I was having, that I eventually figured out on my own. If I threaded the bobbin with the needle plate cover on, the elastic thread was not linking in correctly to the casing and I could not shir. **Note: I actually tried my old bobbin casing once I figured this out. It worked but the shirring was much looser than with my new tightened bobbin casing.

Now, use the needle to pick up the elastic thread.


Place the needle plate cover back on. I didn't bother putting the screw back in, as I was taking it on and off quite a few times. Now, holding the thread and elastic thread with one hand, place your fabric in position and start to shir. Perfect shirring!



I made the shirred pillowcase dress at the top of this post using this tute. The only difference is that I sewed down one side to secure the ends of the shirring, as recommended in this tute. Another 50 cent dress thank you very much! I love it and can't wait to do more shirring.

Well, I hope I have been able to help any needy shirring souls out there, as I feel lucky to have solved my own shirring problem. Happy shirring!!!!!!

135 comments:

  1. OMG!!!!!!!! I have been trying to shir with my Brother for nearly 2 years, I had a project that I had all but given up on, then I find this! and guess what less then 5 minutes later, Im shirring away with a big fat grin on my face!!!! THANKYOU!!!!!

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    1. Brother sales person I bought my machine from said NEVER wind the elastic on the bobbin but she showed me a neat trick to do the shirring very easily. Stick a bit of paper tape over the front of your zipper foot and poke a hole in the centre. Thread the elastic through this hole and keep the roll of elastic behind the machine. Select zigzag stitch 4 and use the stitch length the machine selects and just go for it. Works like a charm.

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    2. Ha! I'm going to try this! I hate having to mess with the bobbin tension and the elastic thread breaks before it even begins winding the bobbin (and it's Gutermann, so I don't think it's the quality of the elastic).

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  2. Thankyou, I have been googling for hours trying to find the answer to my problems..and it is you!
    I have a Brother N600 and my elastic is looking like a squiggly snake underneath....i am off to see if I can follow your advice to find my way to Happy Shirring land..otherwise I am going to toss the ruddy elastic thread in the bin ( very cranky after multiple unpicking ! )
    Thankyou so much for sharing :x

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  3. I am back...hooray..success...seems I was not feeding the elastic through that casing as you mentioned...now I have a nice straight stretchy line.
    Big smile on my face...off to shirr some more...Cheers and thanks!!!

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  4. I just wanted to pop in and say THANKS so much for this post. I was so frustrated with my shirring failures on my Brother machine. I had actually managed to shirr once quite successfully (no idea how) and then could never replicate it. Very strange! Anyway, after reading your post I bought a new bobbin case, broke the paint seal and tightened the tension and now it's shirring beautifully. so thanks very much. You've saved me many more hours of frustration and I'm grateful!

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  5. SERIOUSLY! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW YOU SAVED ME FROM THROWING MY MACHINE OUT THE WINDOW!!!! I have a Babylock - same company as Brother and I bet this is the problem. They put some sort of green glue to fix the screw in place on mine -but I'm going to buy another casing as you suggested and I'll increase the tension on the new one! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

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  6. I had just about given up!!! I am on my 3rd project in the last 6 months with shirring and never could get my Brother machine to do it right. Thank you soooooooooo much!!!!!

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  7. youre my hero! was looking for the sulotion hours and hours , i thank you verry much from the cold and winters Holland (the Netherlands

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  8. Thank you!!!! I have been searching and searching to find out what the problem was. It worked for me to just pull the bobbin thread up manually. I didn't have to tighten the bobbin tension. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

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  10. You have saved my sanity!!!!! Everyone saying that shirring was so easy had me feeling like a complete idiot! Thank you so much for your detective work!!!

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  11. Thank you so much for this post! I have been trying to get my Brother to shirr all day and getting so frustrated! It's supposed to be easy but it wasn't until I finally found your post through google and now 15 minutes later my project is done, perfectly! I just needed to take off the plate and make sure the elastic thread got threaded right! Your pics are so detailed and helped a ton. Thank you so much!

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  12. Haven't tested this out yet, but THANK YOU! I have a new Brother Innovis, so I'm assuming this should work- I've been through probably 2 spools of elastic thread trying to use it. Thank you again!!!

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  13. Woohoo. Thank you Thank you Thank you. I have a Brother and haven't been able to successful sheer yet. I will play with my machine tonight and am so excited to see this.

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  14. Yay! This worked with my Singer machine that has a drop-in bobbin. It looked a little different than your pictures, but there is still a screw on the front of the bobbin case that can be tightened. My manual explained how to remove the bobbin case in the back of the book under "Caring for your Machine".

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  15. Thank you for posting this!! I tried making some shirred sundresses for my girls several weeks ago on my Brother 6000i, but was failing miserably. I googled, but couldn't really find much. Found your blog today via the MADE blog, and I'm so glad! I'm certain this was the problem I was having. You are my hero!

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  16. I just found you via Made and am SO grateful!! I tried to make some scarves with this method as Christmas gifts and couldn't make it work - was absolutely ready to throw my Singer out the window!! I read the comment from a fellow Singer user and just checked my bobbin case - just the same! I can't wait to work on some shirring now. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!

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  17. OMG!! it worked, I've looked and I've tried and nothing worked. I'M HAPPY!! THANK YOU

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  18. I am so exited still. I have 3 girls of my own and plenty of nieces so have tons of dresses to make for this summer.... SORRY I CAN'T HELP AND LET GO YOU ARE SOMETHING.. AND CAN'T EVER THANK YOU ENOUGH.....

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  19. THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! I purposely bought my Brother because the basic sewing machine I had didn't allow me to lengthen my stitch to do shirring. That was the one thing I wanted it to do and I've been struggling ALL DAY!!! You just saved me! It worked beautifully! i can't THANK YOU ENOUGH!!!!

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  20. I am just wondering how many times you had to turn the screw to get the correct bobbin tension for shirring??

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  21. Unbelievable. I agree with everyone above. I was seriously beginning to doubt my sanity. I couldn't figure out why everyone else was able to do this so easily!
    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!

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  22. Jessica, so sorry for the late reply, my daughter has been unwell. From memory, I think I turned the screw about 3.5 times. But there was one fabric that no matter what I did, I could not get it to work. I figured that it may have had some polyester in it (unbeknownst to me when I bought it) that affected its shirring performance.

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  23. To everyone else, thank you so much for all of your lovely comments! They make it all worth the time I put in to the tutorial!

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  24. Thank you for this post. I had rigged my machine to use the elastic thread where the normal thread would go and the normal thread on the bobbin, and then just sewed on the wrong side. It worked but still had some issues with consistent tension. I'm so excited to have an easier answer to making these cute dresses for my daughter!

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  25. Hi,

    The bottom of my sewing machine is the same. I never change the position of the screw when I use the elastic thread. When I twist the thread on the bobbin I twist it wery tight. I always use the elastic thread like that.

    Regards
    Katie

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  26. oh oh oh, I don't have a brother machine, but my kenmore is causing me troubles. I can't wait to try this out. Always wondered how to adjust the bobbin tension.!
    thanks a bunch!

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  27. I have cursed my Brother machine many, many timnes for not shirring. Thank you!

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  28. thank you thank you thank you!!! i spent many frustrating hours wondering why i couldn't get this to work! and here you've provided the answer to all my frustration/tears!!! thanks again!!!!
    kim

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  29. I have been avoiding all shirring projects (with great sadness) because I have a Brother sewing machine, which already has serious bobbin tension issues.(I have to tighten that screw before every project, and a few times throughout the project.) Now that I know what I have to do to shirr successfully on my Brother, maybe I can muster up the courage to tackle on a shirring project this summer!

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  30. Miss Scotty - I have tried your suggestion multiple times and never had any success on my machine. Glad you managed to make it work.

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  31. Thank you sew much!! After literally hours upon hours of googling for answers on this problem, I stumbled onto your explanation and you've saved the day. I tried your solution and it worked like a charm. Thank you again!!

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  32. OH Thank you! I have been so frustrated with my fancy Babylock that couldn't do what other seems to be able to do. I pretty much ignored any shirring ideas I saw because of it.

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  33. Oh wow! Thank you so much for this! I've been trying for two years trying over and over to shir! I've read tutorial after tutorial, tips, tricks - EVERYTHING I could find and NOTHING helped! I have a Brother too - and I had no idea you could do that with the tension! I can't wait to try it on my machine! Thank you again!

    I linked on my Treasures for Tots Facebook fan page:
    http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Treasures-for-Tots/189979926301?ref=ts

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  34. You have a lot of comments here, but I hope you might see this one! :) Question for you- - I shirred with my Brother. It worked fine. Then I tried to go back to sewing- - simple lines & zigzags on cotton... and my bobbin is spitting out a ton of thread now. It's near impossible to sew with. I even ordered a new bobbin online to try to just get around the problem, but that didn't work. Do you have any suggestions? I need some help, but can't figure it out. Thank you so much for your time!

    Blessings,
    Sarah

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  35. oh, thank you!!!!! seriously...thank you. I have tried and tried and tried...I cannot wait to try again now that i know this. I love my brother sewing machine, but it has never shirred like it should. I cannot wait. I might go do it right this second. I just hope i can get my tension back again...maybe yoru idea of getting another bobbin case is the way to go! thank you!!!

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  36. So now I'm actually doing it, and it is gathering, but the stitches seem to be loose around the elastic thread. So, I guess my top thread is too loose now? Is that right? Or is that the way it is supposed to be? it seesm quite loose. very loopy.
    thanks for any help,
    Alison

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  37. you are awesome. thanks for sharing this. visit my blog for free tutorials. http://callmecraftymomma.blogspot.com/

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  38. Sarah - Oh goodness! Sorry to hear this has happened with your bobbin. You might want to take it to see a sewing technician if you can. I wish I could be of more help to you than that!

    Alison B - the stitches should not be loose around the elastic thread. You may want to still work with the adjustment of the bobbin tension. Goodluck!

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  39. Heather - Thanks so much sharing the link to your blog and all your tutes!!!

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  40. This worked on my babylock!!!!!!!!!! thank you!!!!!!!!!

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  41. Thank you! This was a huge help!!! I found this through the MADE blog and had just gotten a Brother (using a Singer before) and I knew that shirring was easy but couldn't figure out why it wasn't working - this helped a lot!

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  42. Thank you for letting me know about how many turns. What setting do you have your upper tension and thread length on? I have been trying and trying this, but somewhere I am not getting the correct tension!

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  43. Jessica - I have the upper tension on the highest: 5. Hope this helps. Check out what sort of fabric you are using too. I used a cotton/poly and no matter what I did it did not work. I thought I had bought cotton but alas it was not.

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  44. you are an angel,me and my sister have been using the john lewis mini and have been stressing for the past 3 hours trying to get it to gather.i read this and removed the cover and tightened the screw and it worked straight away.THANKYOU X

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  45. I know everyone else is saying it, but, Thank you!! I tried for about an hour before turning to the internet to find a reason. I read your blog and 10 minutes later, I am shirring!! So excited. My mind is now running with possibilities!

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  46. Oh God!!!! you really saved my ass!!! i have to make a dress for tomorrow and there are NO solutions in spanish so i had to try in english, thank god you didn´t use odd words so i could understand!!! THANK YOU!!!! i was so stressed out!

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  47. Hi there, Kathleen from Grosgrain Blog has just posted re: your tutorial here: http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2010/08/shirring-with-your-brother.html

    :) Seemane

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  48. Hi! Thank you for this tutorial- I have been frustrated for DAYS over this. I finally got the shirring to work but then when I pulled the fabric, the elastic thread broke? It wouldn't hold. Any ideas? Do you think changing the bobbin tension would help?

    Thanks so much!

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  49. echoing everyone else's thanks! irritated over shirring with the brother for an hour before googling it and finding your tutorial...5 minutes later and I'm up and running, you're a lifesaver!

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  50. Thank you very much; just did my first successful Brother shirring!

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  51. Thank you for the explanation and the detailed pictures. Without them, the words alone wouldn't have been enough for me, I fear. I had no idea how to change the bobbin tension on a brother and the sewing machine manual never said! But now I managed to semi-successfully shirr a scarf. Only semi-successfully because I think the elastic thread I used was old and not as stretchy as it should have been.

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  52. Thank you thank you!!! I'm going to try it out with your tips!

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  53. Thank you so very much for the solution to my shirring problems! I got a hint to read your blogpost, immediately after that I've bought an extra bobbin casing en now it's easy-peasy... I've just made the sweetest salopette with that lovely shirring! xoxox from the other side of the world! (the Netherlands) and hooray for the www!

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  54. You're a legend! I was starting to go crazy! After countless attempts at shirring on my Brother machine I was about to give up! then I stumbled on your website and hopped straight onto my machine to try what you suggested. Guess what??? PERFECT SHIRRING! THANK YOU!

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  55. Oi. Thank you SO so so much!!! I was frustrated to TEARS over this not working for me! This was the fix! I have a Brotherm Project Runway edition with a drop in bobbin, and it doesn't pull the bobbin thread (or elastic) through the tension... I have to do that by hand -but now it works!!! Thank you!!!

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  56. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have been driving myself crazy trying to shirr on my brother machine for months. I spent 4 hrs. just today trying to get it right. I just read your post, went and rethreaded but made sure the elastic was feeding correctly, and it worked!!! I'm so excited. Now I can finish my dress tomorrow, yay!!!

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  57. Thanks for this tute, I was making thepink fig olivia top for my daughter but had all but given up on it, 5 mins later I'm planning to make more! Thanks so much!

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  58. Thanks so much! I got the link from Dana's shirred summer pattern and your info helped immensely. It is so frustrating to be excited about a cute dress and not be able to figure out the machine. This rocks.

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  59. I had no idea there was such a problem. Thanks for sharing with my readers on A Little Tipsy!

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  60. Thank you SO MUCH! I have a brother machine with a drop in bobbin. Thanks for teaching me how to tighten the bobbin shuttle! In addition to that, for those others who have drop ins, Brother tries to make it easy by creating a path for you to drag your bobbin thread around so the upper thread catches it, but the elastic thread is so thick that when you do this it actually misses the little slot down in the shuttle that it needs to pass through. Guide your elastic thread through this and up through the top to join the upper thread, then put the face plate on again. Yay! I was cursing at my machine and seriously considering getting a new one (this was a cheapie from Walmart) but now it and I are friends again. :)

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  61. wow im so happy you blogged about this, i adjusted the screw my self w my nail , lol, and wuala!!!!i made it i got to shirr for my very first time!!!!!!!! thank you so much for sharing this with us.i added your link to my blog so the word keeps spreading. again thank you, thank you, thank you !!!!

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  62. THANK YOU SO MUCH! I never would have figured this out on my own. I have a Baby Lock and I followed the directions of other tutorials but it just wasn't working! The elastic was all like sssss instead of ------- :( But with your help I was able to make a shirred maxi dress! :D and it worked perfectly!!!! YAY

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  63. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! Thank you so much for this post--if I hadnt found this I may have just thrown my sewing machine out the window!!! Thanks!

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  64. thank you so much for the tutorial! Thanks to you I was able to get this going on my second try at it. to bad I ran out of eleastic thread and will have to continue it on another day.

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  65. thank you! i finally figured it out! thanks to you!!

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  66. i am learning... thanks for sharing

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  67. Thanks for that detailed tute!! I tried shirring on my Brother IN 1200 yesterday for the first time and just about broke my machine sob sob... so I will try your suggestions because it looks like it also has worked well for others. Thanks heaps!!

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  68. thank you so much for your post. you saved my project, my machine, and my sanity! i was making a dress for myself (which i never do...) out of some gorgeous designer fabric - the only thing left to do was the shirring, and i got so frustrated that i nearly threw it in the bin. i was using a Brother BM2600, and i tightened my bobbin screw 2 turns (as tight as it would go), and turned my top tension to 6.

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  69. OMG THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! I have a Brother SE-350 given to me by my mother in law and I had the hardest time figuring out - that it was just because I'm a complete novice and crafty mama wannabe! What settings did you set your's to?

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  70. Thank you I've been trying to figure out how I'm gonna make my own version of my favorite nursing top...with this I'll easily be able to duplicate it and change what I don't like about it without a lot of hassle! Thank you!

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  71. wow, thank you! I was also trying to shirr with my brother to no avail. Now I am a happy camper :)

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  72. Thank you one million times. This helped me, as I have a Kenmore with a drop-in bobbin and other sites that explain how to do this shirring don't mention which kind they use, and I couldn't figure out why it didn't work. I have a BIG TIP for any other Kenmore users: DO NOT TIGHTEN THE BOBBIN TENSION. No, in fact what worked for me was LOOSENING the bobbin tension! My thread tension is normal, I hand-wound the elastic onto the bobbin and with the excellent tips here figured out how to get at my bobbin's tension screw. You want it loose enough to pull the elastic through the feeder easily. Thanks, now I can make those shirred skirts for spring!!

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  73. Thank you so much for this! I was not having any luck & now I can do it. I went through so many tuts & no-one mentioned the bobbin tension.

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  74. Posted in 2009 and here it is 2012 and you are still helping people with this wonderful post! Thank you SOOOOOOOO much!!! I can not express how thankful I am to finally be able to shir with my Brother machine. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

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  75. At first this did not help me but after well screwing around with it a bit the machine kicked in and it totally worked! I wasable to finish sewing my Derby Party dress tonight ....I placed a link to this post on my blog thanks for the help!

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  76. Yes rightly said Mindy, this post has been so helpfull for everyone... i tried and tied then have to loose heart and went shopping and bought new Kimono dress for me.

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  77. I saw a pattern for a skirt with a shirred waist made from an old t-shirt and I was really excited to try it. I bought a couple spools of elastic thread and started. It wasn't gathering at all really. I read somewhere to lengthen the stitch length and after a couple more rows I noticed it was gathering a little bit and I little bit more when I spritzed it with water. By this time I ran out of elastic thread. I didn't think it was gathering as much as it should be. So, in anticipation of getting more elastic thread tomorrow I decided to see if there were any solutions to my problem. I have looked at several different tutorials searching for answers. I too have a brother machine and I am hoping that adjusting the bobbin tension will solve my problem too. I am excited to try!

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    1. Hi Squirt,

      Please do keep me updated as to how you go! Goodluck!

      Amber

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  78. I am on my second hour of messing with my Brother Project Runway CE5500PRW. This time I have loosened the bobbin tension as the elastic thread just will not pull through. I am terrified myself as one person commented that their bobbin tension will not go back to the same! I'm on a deadline for my 1st art fair & if my machine goes out I'm screwed! (yes, not a good time to try this, i agree)..wish me luck! If this works, I will post all my settings.

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    1. Oh bless your heart Amanda!!! Goodluck! Please do let me know how you go.

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  80. I got it! I figured if everyone could get it somehow, so could I. I ended up zigzagging the elastic thread down but it was a bit too wonky for me. It was really shirred though, but not perfect enough. I figured that since my stitches were getting close at the end there, when I gave up the 1st time, I MUST have been getting somewhere, so I went back at it. My upper thread tension is set at the highest-9, I'm using my regular straight stitch at it's longest stitch (#1 on my Brother CE5500PRW) and I couldn't tell you what my bobbin tension is set at! I ended up making it REALLY loose so the elastic thread ran through it like regular bobbin thread. My machine started to stitch just like normal, no jamming OR shirring. So then i just gradually increased tension on the upper thread and the bobbin until it started to shirr where i wanted it to. It's shirring perfectly now! PHEW! It also helps if you re-thread your top thread once inna while after making so many adjustments. This took me HOURS. But I really don't care. It's finally working!! (and my bobbin goes back to normal when I need it to) I did read in some other tutorials that some machines need the bobbin tension to be loosened, which seems to be the case with mine. It's slightly taught, but not as much as is was when I started. Thanks for all the info!! <3

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  81. Thank you so much for posting this!!! I was trying to make this adorable dress http://asmallsnippet.blogspot.com/2011/09/wanna-make-dress.html
    and my elastic was not bunching up. Your blog was the ONLY one that hit the nail on the head!!!
    YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    1. Yes, very adorable dress!! Would love to see yours when you are finished on your blog. So glad that I could help.

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  82. Really, you changed my life. I tried it. It worked. I'm happy for EVER ! Thank you !

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  83. OMG I am so happy I found this. I was totally about to give up on this. I can't believe how perfectly it worked. Thank you so much. Watch out world, here I came a shirring! :)
    -Kelly

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  84. Thank you a million times over! I was so excited to make dresses for my nieces and I could not for the life of me get the tension right for shirring. I finally found your post through the magic of Google and you saved me a lot of frustration (and no doubt, a lot of tears!)!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have dresses to finish!

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  85. I am a beginner at sewing! I've only done a few tiny projects. I'm now trying to make a skirt with a shirred waist. My Brother is a VX-1435 so the bobbin case opens from the front, not the top. I still haven't been able to get my machine to shirr. I've searched and searched and was hoping this would help me. Do you think my machine could be having the same problems even though the bobbin case is accessed in a different way and looks different than yours? I have tightened my tension on the case but my elastic keeps breaking. When I loosen it a tad it doesn't shirr. Any suggestions?

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    1. Hi Katie,
      Firstly, I must say that you are very courageous to try shirring after doing only a few tiny projects! I really wish I had some advice for you. I imagine that it is probably the same problem. You can keep trying with the tension, however, the most important thing is that you do not lose where your tension originally was, as you want it to work well for your other projects. Goodluck!

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  87. Thank you for this tutorial. However, I never got my Brother to do this and tried repeatedly AND followed the steps precisely. Ended up pinning and pleating the ***** dress. I would love to sew if it weren't for machine failure and fits. Grrrrr.

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    1. Sorry to hear that Beth! I hope your dress still looks good.

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  88. I was getting frustrated this evening working on some Christmas gifts. Thanks to you, they are turning out very nicely! Thanks a lot for posting this and for including photos!

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  89. Thank you, I just made a ruffled scarf

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  90. very nice thank you so much =)

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  91. Thank you sooo much! I've been trying to make a shirred dress for weeks now and I just found you via MADE. You're amazing! Thank you!

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  92. After realizing I would not get back those three hours of my life, I found you and this tutorial. I own a Runway Brother. Great machine until I tried shirring. You saved my life!
    Thank you and God Bless with more joy for sewing.

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  93. I have a Brother machine as well, an SE400, and though I am not in a position to buy a new bobbin casing (nor would I even know where to look for one!) your explanation has helped me immensely! I HAD wrapped my bobbin by hand before, but I guess I wrapped it too tight, because when I unwrapped and then re-wrapped it just now, it shirted my scrap fabric perfectly. Thank you so much!!! :)

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  94. I have a Brother Sewing Machine that I bought SEVERAL yrs ago & I only sewed 1 crib size quilt, a queen size quilt, two aprons, some mending & I started sewing another quilt but my machine broke. Well the thread started doing the bird nesting thing on the bottom of my material, I couldn't fix it. I had it fixed but as soon as I started sewing on it again it started messing up, just like before. Now I'm wondering if it wasn't the bobbin tension that was messed up from the beginning. I just didn't know that you could change the tension on the bobbins in drop in bobbin machines. I always wondered why machines with the bobbins that went in sideways were the only machines you could change the bobbin tension on. I have since bought a Janome Sewing Machine & a Singer Sewing & Embroidering Machine which I LOVE!! I'm going to try moving the tension on the bobbin of my Brother & see if it fixes my machine & if it does then I'll give it to my daughter to use. I was just wondering though if anyone else has had problems with their Brother machine messing up or if I just got a lemon, which is my life's story!! LOL Thank you so much for your help. Maybe my lemon just turned into lemonade.

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    1. Hi Kathy, please do keep me in the loop! I would be sooo interested to hear if that was the problem!

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  95. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  96. Did anyone have the problem where the top/bottom edge of the shirring curled over? no amount of ironing is keeping mine flat and it's at the bottom of a top...so it looks pretty dumb!

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  97. Awesome! Thank you so much for this tutorial. Worked like a charm. :)

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  98. Thank you very much,I now can shirr away and make that swim suit cover up ,but, I will use it every day at home ,your smart and we are richer for it, thanks again

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  99. Thank you so much for this! I stirred beautifully for 40plus years with my Singer but have failed with the Brother and resorted to zig zagging over the hand pulled elastic, not the nicest result. Now away I will fly. THANK YOU

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  100. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

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  101. Thank you for this tutorial! I have the same sewing machine and I was wondering how you got the bobbin casing out, as mine seems to be stuck? Thanks xx
    Izzy

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  102. Just want to echo the other HUGE THANK YOUs!! You have saved my dress and my sanity. Thank you so much!!!

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  103. PS - and like some of the others have commented here, I only had to manually thread it through the bobbin case. Didn't even need to adjust that little screw. Hooray!! :-)

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  104. Omg!!! So loving you right now! It works on ls14 too! Tughtened by 2 turn of the screw!

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  105. Thank you so much! I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong! Took 2 turns & works perfectly!

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  106. I didn't read all the comments so apologies if it's repeat. I simply wound my elastic thread using the machine. Just like regular thread and no problems at all. Shirr looks great and no need to adjust the bobbin tension at all.

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  107. I didn't read all the comments so apologies if it's repeat. I simply wound my elastic thread using the machine. Just like regular thread and no problems at all. Shirr looks great and no need to adjust the bobbin tension at all.

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  108. Well - I too was ready to throw my machine out of the window. But then, I found your blog. You are truly a lifesaver. I played with my screw, rewound the bobbin with zero tension, caught the elastic in the tension slot and pulled it through to the top before fitting both plates back. Lift off. I have shirted the top of my grand-daughters summer dress. Everything is perfect. I can't thank you enough. Keep up the good work. ��

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  109. Omg I want to hug you!! I've been struggling for ages and thanks to you, I'm finally shirring like a pro!! Thank you!!

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  110. Perfect! Thank you so much šŸ˜Š

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  111. This worked like a charm. I have an Innov-is 2800D. I marked the original position of my screw and the made the adjustment including pulling it out bobbin case and being sure it went into the slot. If I find I am going to do a lot of this, I will look into another bobbin case just to set up for this. Thanks so much.

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  112. Thank you for your post. I will try some of the hints you have kindly shared. What is wrong with the makers of these sewing machines that they can't make them function properly? I have a Silver 1040, and nowhere in the instruction manual is there any reference to shirring! Thanks again.

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  113. Beneficial blog for developing knowledge about embroideries techniques. Now get high standard Embroidery with perfect result is possible.

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  115. YOU ARE AMAZING! I spent most of my weekend trying to figure out how to shirr on my babylock (I haven't tried in years and couldn't remember how to rig it) but couldn't get it to work correctly. You have absolutely made my night.

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    1. I have a baby lock Elizabeth and I’m struggling With wavy elastic. How did you get it to work on your baby lock? Did you fool with the bobbin screw? That scares me lol

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    2. I have a baby lock Elizabeth and I’m struggling With wavy elastic. How did you get it to work on your baby lock? Did you fool with the bobbin screw? That scares me lol

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    3. I have a baby lock Elizabeth and I’m struggling With wavy elastic. How did you get it to work on your baby lock? Did you fool with the bobbin screw? That scares me lol

      Delete
    4. I have a baby lock Elizabeth and I’m struggling With wavy elastic. How did you get it to work on your baby lock? Did you fool with the bobbin screw? That scares me lol

      Delete
  116. Thank you so much for posting this it has made my life so much better.

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  117. Good afternoon from here in Spain. I have just found your blog thank you so much for posting it as I can now finish my dress.

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  118. Thank yoooooooooooooooou!!!! Now I can make my dress

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