Straight stitch pulls out like a gathering stitcj

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.

All you need to do is set the machine to a straight stitch with the longest stitch length possible. One more thing that is helpful is to loosen the upper tension so you can pull the bobbin thread to gather.

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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I can't see what model machine this is, however in general terms a straight stitch is achieved by setting stitch length to 2.5 with stitch width of zero. If you are sewing a very heavy fabric, then lengthen the stitch length up to three. If you make the stitch length longer such as four, then the seam will pull up and gather the fabric.

hi, have the machine set at the longest straight stitch length, usually 4 or 5. Then sew 2 rows of stitches side by side without reversing at either end. remember to always pull the bobbin threads up to gather and not the top one.

Gathering stitches is same on most makes and models, you just set up for a straight stitch but turn stitch length up to 4 and loosen off the top tension by one number, ie turn it down a little. Then sew two straight stitch seams where you want to gather, one at 10mm from raw edge and one at 20mm from raw edge, leaving long thread tails on both. Then draw up the bobbin (underside) thread to gather the fabric.

Stitch length of 4, loosen your top tension by half a number and always pull up the bobbin threads.

If you need to gather yards of fabric then get a gathering foot. Janome make one - it looks like this


This foot is for creating soft gathers in lightweight fabrics. The underside of the foot is raised behind the needle and has a thick bar in front of the needle to gather the fabric. This works great to create the gathers as you sew. You can also gather and attach a ruffle onto a flat piece of fabric simultaneously, run the flat fabric through the top groove of the foot and the underneath fabric is gathered and stitched to the top piece, you need to keep the bottom piece feeding smoothly though so it takes practice to guide it evenly. Once mastered it is great to ruffle on valances and cushion frills.

Other option is use a ruffler foot, these will make a little ruffle every 12, 6 or 1 stitch so give a set result, and to obtain a more dramatic gather. They look like this.


The arm of the foot with a C'shape sits over the needle bar of the machine so it is moved up and down to activate the device. The little blade at the front moves backwards at regular intervals forcing a "tuck" of fabric into the feed to be stitched. Again you can ruffle and stitch to straight fabric at once but it is an art to master.

The weight of the fabric you are gathering is obviously the key variable, ginghams and poplins are lightweight so gather easily but if you need to gather something heavy like cordoroy it is going to be a battle and threads may break. If so, stitch two lines of gathers and don't try to do long runs, you'll just break a thread and have to start over.

Another good way is to zig zag over a length of perle cotton, taking care not to actually stitch the pearle at all. You can then gather up the fabric along it, this works well for heavier weights.

Try to make two parallel lines of straight sewing on a big stitch, then pull both ends together. this gives the best gather. Tighening the tension to make the thread pull doesn't work as well, although its OK

Hi! I've had this happen to me many times and it is so very frustrating! First, take the bobbin out and also the bobbin assembly and clean the entire area of all lint, fuzz, little bits of thread....get it as clean as you can. Take out the upper thread too. Clean and oil. Change the needle. Make sure you're using the appropriate size and type of needle and thread for the fabric. Take off the needle plate and look for any nicks or scratches. If you've got them, you can get emery cloth from a good hardware store (often in the plumbing department) and polish them out (or mostly out).

Rethread the machine, carefully following the instruction manual. Use your basic, normal settings. Using a scrap of the fabric you're trying to gather, sew a seam and see if everything works ok. You may need to hold the top and bobbin thread firmly behind the needle as you sew the first few stitches (I find this little trick helps a lot to prevent birdsnests).

To gather, sew three parallel lines of long, basting stitches (you really don't need a special foot or special settings other than to make the stitch a long one). Don't backstitch, reverse, or lockstitch either end, and leave the thread long when you cut it. Pull the three bobbin threads and the fabric with gather nicely along them.

Something to keep in mind--if you're trying to gather very sheer fabric on a zigzag machine, you may need to replace the throat plate with the zigzag hole for a throat plate with a single, small hole for a straight stitch. I've run into this situation before, and ended up using one of my antique straight-stitch only machines to do the gathering.

If you don't have a throat plate with the single hole, you might try some light weight interfacing to give some density to the sheet fabric.


Hope this helps!