Stitching keeps gathering while I'm sewing

Pin as needed to hold gathers in place. Adjust sewing machine to balanced tension and appropriate length stitch for seams before stitching seam with gathered and straight edges. Stitch on the seamline with the gathered side up- watching that pleats are not formed.

there is a few things I know of that can cause this !

one is if supply thread tension is too great , this can be caused by spring tension knob misadjusted or broken

thread not routed properly


needle is bent ,

last but not least using some candle wax to lube base plate it sure helps to keep thigns from sticking

You can always gather on a sewing machine, no matter its age or model.

Usually, I like to set the upper tension looser so the upper thread shows on the bottom of the fabric. Set the straight stitch length to very long. Stitch two lines of stitching about 1/4" apart on the fabric.

how to gather fabric

How to Gather basic sewing tutorial

How to Gather Fabric Sewing Machine

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Set the stitch length to the maximum, ie 4 or higher depending on your machine. The other important thing is to loosen the upper tension as far as it will go, ie 0 or whatever. Sew with a straight stitch and sew two parallel lines of stitching about 1/2" to 1" apart.

There are other ways of gathering, but this is usually the first one taught.

try a new needle
rethread the machine top & bobbin
make sure the bobbin is wound correctly & inserted correctly
into the bobbin case
it's also possible that the machine could be out of time & needs to
be checked at a sewing machine shop by a technican

try changing the needle
check the top thread tension to make sure it's not to loose
rethread the machine top & bobbin, make sure the bobbin is wound
correctly & inserted correctly into the machine
make sure the thread has not come off the thread take up lever

put in a new needle
rethread the machine top & bobbin--use every thread guide
make sure the zig zag settings are correct
it's also possible that the machine could have a worn or damaged gear or cam--which would have to be checked at a sewing machine shop

Your thread tension is too high. Also, since you are sewing light-weight fabric, you may want to add some tissue paper to the fabric sandwich to help give it more body and limit the gathering effect.

Understanding Thread Tension Threads

Normally to gather fabric, you select the regular straight stitch, turn the stitch length up to maximum (4 or 5 usually), and stitch two rows of stitches, one at 10mm from edge and one at 20mm from edge.

Then gather by pulling the bobbin threads (underneath ones) from each end to gather the fabric. If doing lengths of more than 1 metre, then stop, leave long thread tails, and start a fresh length of gathering threads to avoid gathering long lengths of thread which might break on you.

If your machine has a basting stitch it might look like " .___.___.___" on the dial however, I've never been that happy with machine basting for things like attaching slippery fabric to underlining, I've always done it with needle and thread to keep the two layers matching and not stretching/slipping. For example, stitching a piece of chiffon to a underlayer of satin, even pinning carefully, these two fabrics will slip under the machine foot so I'd always do it by hand.

If you have masses of fabric to gather, sometimes what is quicker is doing a large wide zig zag over a length of perle cotton (heavier than thread) at the 15mm seam, don't let the needle pierce the cotton though. Then you can gather the fabric along the perle cotton.

Sewing machine instruction manual often assumes a knowledge of sewing techniques that you may not yet have. I have the Vogue Book of Sewing on my shelf and refer to it often. Or Singer do a good range of sewing books too, its worth investing in a good reference book.

I also love www.patternreview.com, this is such an awesome website for dressmakers/sewing enthusiasts and you will find loads of helpful tips here.

Hope this helps you a little.

Try setting the differential feed to it's lowest setting.

Test with scraps of what you will actually be stitching.