How To Ruffle Fabric With Your Sewing Machine
December 15, 2010 12:11 pmI think the number one question I get is how to ruffle fabric. I thought I would show you how I do it with my sewing machine. There are different ways to do it, by hand or with a basting stitch, but this is my favorite way. Not all machines will do this. If you have a very inexpensive machine the tension and stitch length might not be capable of this. But my first brother machine did it, so most of yours will. Here’s how to make an easy ruffle.
Locate on your machine your tension dial and your setting for the length of the stitch. These are my settings.
First, set your stitch length to the longest stitch. Mine is 6.
Then set your tension to the tightest tension, or the highest number.
Now you should be all set.
When you stitch away it will automatically ruffle.
A couple notes- you will come to see that different fabrics ruffle more or less than others. You can control how ruffly you want the fabric to be with your length and tension. You can make something more ruffled by the tightest tension and the longest stitch, or for just a slight ruffle, use looser tension and a shorter stitch. You’ll learn the settings you like for knits, cottons, upholstery etc…
Hope you enjoyed an easy way to ruffle!
Tags: how to ruffle fabric, ruffle tutorial
Posted in Original Designs, other | 76 Comments »
76 Responses
to “How To Ruffle Fabric With Your Sewing Machine”
1 Trackback(s)
- Dec 24, 2010: Ruffled shoulders | He Cooks… She Sews!
By Maria on Dec 15, 2010 | Reply
Thanks for sharing Lex! I didn’t know this way of doing ruffles. Pretty awesome!
By GabbyRM on Dec 15, 2010 | Reply
Neat! Thanks for posting this!
By Sarah on Dec 15, 2010 | Reply
Great tip!! I’m going to give this a try. Thanks.
By Nena on Dec 15, 2010 | Reply
Thanks for sharing. This should make some projects much easier for me.
By Justine on Dec 15, 2010 | Reply
Thank you! I definitely need to try this out
Just Better Together is having 2 giveaways!
By Heidi on Dec 16, 2010 | Reply
Thanks for the tip! I knew machines could do this but I never stopped to figure it out! SOOO much easier than basting and pulling the stitch!
By Michelle H on Dec 16, 2010 | Reply
This is GREAT I’m going to try it ASAP!!!
By Pam on Dec 16, 2010 | Reply
Thank you. Thank you and again I thank you. This will be such a big help. Love to added the ruffles but it was such a pain.
By Shanna on Dec 17, 2010 | Reply
Thank you! I check you blog often becuase I have used so many of your ideas and tips! Love your blog!
By stefanie on Dec 17, 2010 | Reply
Thank you so much! I have just started doing these ruffling projects and I have been dying for someone to mention the tension and length settings that work best. I am too busy with my little kids to sit down and figure it out with trial and error. By the way, LOVE THIS BLOG. Just discovered it a week ago.
By ohbrooke on Dec 19, 2010 | Reply
Oh thank you! I’m tension-illiterate. I’ve never tried to ruffle, but now I will! Thanks!
By Rachel on Dec 21, 2010 | Reply
This is GREAT! Thanks so much, I’ll be linking.
By Heather on Dec 22, 2010 | Reply
Perfect … thanks so much for this advice!
By Megan on Dec 22, 2010 | Reply
I just have to say, I think your post has changed my life. Seriously. I tried this last night, and it worked perfectly. Look out world! I’m going to be ruffling everything now!
By Pam on Jan 2, 2011 | Reply
Thank you so much for posting this. I tried it yesterday. It was the easiest thing to do. I usually have trouble with the thread breaking when I make ruffles. I will never again make them the old way. I can see more ruffle projects in my future.
By Victoria on Jan 23, 2011 | Reply
Very timely. I’m making an apron for a friend with lots of ruffles. Thanks!
By Victoria on Jan 23, 2011 | Reply
Very timely. I am making an apron for a friend with lots of ruffles. Thanks.
By Gail on Jan 23, 2011 | Reply
I had never heard of this before and when I think of ALL THE YEARS I have been pulling threads!!! Thank you so much for sharing this, can’t wait to try it!
By DL Harmon on Feb 4, 2011 | Reply
I love ruffles but have hated making them. Now I just have to figure out how to get my overly computerized machine to work that way. NO IDEA how to change the tension!
By Michelle on Feb 11, 2011 | Reply
This works great! Thanks!
By Estela on Oct 20, 2011 | Reply
Great tip, I had been looking for a ruffler all morning without success. In desperation I found your tip. Thank you so much. It works great!!!
By Missy on Oct 21, 2011 | Reply
Thank you for this tutorial. Found it on pinterest!
By Diane on Oct 22, 2011 | Reply
This is the Greatest thing
By AO on Nov 3, 2011 | Reply
Woohoo! Worked great. Thanks!
By Bec Clarke on Nov 28, 2011 | Reply
that is the best thing ever. I love my ruffler foot but it’s a pain to set up.
Thank you.
By Josie on Nov 30, 2011 | Reply
Now to make some of those paper ribbons made from book pages for my presents.
Thanks
By littlebittylovies on Dec 2, 2011 | Reply
I can not explain to you the joy this has brought into my life!!! LOL THANK YOU!!
By Melinda on Dec 3, 2011 | Reply
I absolutely can not wait to try this! Thanks so much!!!
By Deb on Dec 3, 2011 | Reply
Bummer, my cheapo Singer at 9 and 4 didn’t do a thing. No ruffle what so ever!
By Yvonne on Dec 5, 2011 | Reply
Great idea, just remember to set your stitch length and tension back to normal when finished or you will be sad when you start to sew your next non ruffled project. Write the setting for your tension down if you have a poor memory like me. Great post. I saw it on Pinterest.
By Anna M. on Dec 5, 2011 | Reply
Definitely need to try this.
By Rhonda on Dec 8, 2011 | Reply
Thanks for the tip! I came across this just in time for me to make some curtains for my daughter’s room!
By Barbara on Dec 10, 2011 | Reply
I’m making Christmas skirts, gathered of course, and was very discouraged about the gathering since it took me sooo long to do. I will now try this technique to get me through this trial!
By Chrissy Floyd on Dec 18, 2011 | Reply
I know this is an old post for you, but I came across it via Pinterest and it was exactly what I was looking to do for a project. Thanks for sharing the tip!
By Bernice on Dec 27, 2011 | Reply
I have a Janome 11000SE and I could not get it to work…any ideas to try????
By Lauren on Jan 1, 2012 | Reply
thanks for this quick how-to guide. Ruffling will be so much easier/quicker now!!!
By Donna Clayton on Jan 8, 2012 | Reply
Great idea – thanks for sharing
By Kim Hewett on Jan 14, 2012 | Reply
Can’t wait to try this on my camo ruffle purse. Thanks so much.
By Dawn W on Jan 15, 2012 | Reply
Great technique. Can’t wait to try it. TFS.
By Raggedy Dolls by Linda on Jan 20, 2012 | Reply
This is a terrific idea!!! I make a lot of ruffles for my dolls and it so time consuming pulling the threads and then have them break. Awesome!!
By Linda L. on Jan 28, 2012 | Reply
Love this! found it on Pinterest, and now I will be repinning, and using. Thanks so much!!
By Ann on Jan 30, 2012 | Reply
Thanks for the tip. I have sewed for years and always done it by hand.This will save a lot of time.
By Elaine on Feb 3, 2012 | Reply
I have heard about this, but to get a tutorial is the best thing ever. Thank you this.
Elaine
By Kelly on Feb 6, 2012 | Reply
Tried it today on my Janome – didn’t work! I’m so sad that it didn’t. I have two little girls and am always making something with a ruffle and this technique would save me a lot of time.
By Megan Hull on Feb 12, 2012 | Reply
I tried this yesterday, and it worked!!! I was giddy with excitement when I showed my husband how you and Pinterest saved me $90, the cost of a ruffle foot for my Husquvarna Freesia. You are brilliant!
By Paola on Feb 17, 2012 | Reply
Pooey!! My machine’s tension will go only as high as 9 and stitch length 4.5. VERY subtle ruffles!! Guess I’ll be back to pulling strings…
By jeri on Feb 19, 2012 | Reply
Thank you. I have needed this for a long time to make gingham ruffled curtains.
By Connie Hill on Feb 20, 2012 | Reply
Thank you so much. I was looking everywhere trying to figure out how to do something I thought should be simple. You are a life saver…or at least a ruffle on the front of a onesie saver…oh and ruffle on the bottom of leggings. Thank you again. Connie
By Tammie on Feb 22, 2012 | Reply
This is so neat thank you for sharing
By Linda L. on Feb 24, 2012 | Reply
going right now to try this on my Janome. Sure hope it works…well, it didn’t. I guess I’ll stick to the old way. But thanks for the tip. If I get a different machine I’ll try it again.
By Kathy on Mar 6, 2012 | Reply
When I think of all the time I’ve spent doing it the old fashioned way!!!!! Thanks so much for this great tip!
By Jennifer C on Mar 6, 2012 | Reply
I’m new to sewing, but knew that I needed to figure ruffles out, having 2 toddler girls. It took some adjusting, but I figured it out! Thank you!!!
By Dendy Seaton on Mar 19, 2012 | Reply
I’m going to try this out as soon as I shut down this computer!! Thanx
By norma on Mar 23, 2012 | Reply
Lex, Thank you for the wonderful tip for ruffling with my machine! My husband & I were married really young also. He was 20 and I was 17! Been married 51 years on May 1…3 kids and 8 grandkids!! Many blessings to you and your family.
By Jane Copes on Apr 1, 2012 | Reply
Cool idea, but it just doesn’t work with my rather ancient Husquevarna threshing machine.
By Shari on Apr 4, 2012 | Reply
It didn’t on my Janome either. It got a little wavier, but not really gathered. Oh, well. I have a ruffler. It just would have saved me all the trouble of taking it off and on, and resetting it (those things are a bit of a pain)! I have an old brother it might work on when my Janome is in the shop. Excited to try it then!
By Carol "Jessie" Wasmuth on Apr 20, 2012 | Reply
This is just great..thanks for sharing!!
By cheryl on Apr 20, 2012 | Reply
Thanks….I did this one time and forgot the settings. I was hoping someone else knew how.
Have it written down now.
By Gail S. on Oct 14, 2012 | Reply
I am going to try this I hope my machine will do this
By Elaine Lawrence on Oct 14, 2012 | Reply
I have a older mechaine and don’t like to mess with it so I just hold the thread and it gathers very easily
By Whitney B on Oct 18, 2012 | Reply
This totally worked !!! Thanks for the amazing tip.
By Sarah on Oct 19, 2012 | Reply
Has anyone tried this with tulle? I’m about to make my daughter’s Halloween costume this weekend and this would make life so much easier…
By Terri on Dec 29, 2012 | Reply
I had a good teacher in school. That is my sewing class. So I have been doing this for forty years.
By Linda on Dec 31, 2012 | Reply
This looks so easy, This might be a crazy question, but what is the ratio of fabric to ruffle?
For example 10″ od gabric equal a 5″ ruffle.
Thanks,
Linda
By Robyn on Jan 2, 2013 | Reply
Found this on pinterest (of course). It’s great! Just wanted to add that if your machine doesn’t seem to do it, don’t despair just yet! Try playing around with your bobbin tension and the height of your machine foot as well. That made a huge difference for me. Happy sewing!
By Rhonda on Jan 5, 2013 | Reply
You are so awsome!This saved me so much time and was so easy! Thank you!
By Danielle Raichel on Jan 14, 2013 | Reply
Thank you for this easily tut! I was searching for the easiest,fastest way to ruffle and ta-DA! here it was!
By Dolores on Jan 20, 2013 | Reply
This is great!! Thank you very much for sharing. I just tried it and it went flawless!!
By Jonnie on Jan 20, 2013 | Reply
I sew have the exact machine in your picture above! So happy to see how to do it on my model!!
By Jessica on Feb 21, 2013 | Reply
Just a note, some machines might need to be set on a 0 width zig zag stitch for this to work, like my machine. Great tutorial other than that little tid bit
Took some playing around to get my machine to do it, but once I put it on a zig zag with a 0 width (so it still sewed a straight line) it worked like a charm!
By Liz on Feb 27, 2013 | Reply
I found out how to do this about 30 years ago – sure saves time
By Penny on Mar 4, 2013 | Reply
OMG! I absolutely love this technique!!!! Thank you so much for sharing! It’s like magic!
By Karene W. Frantz on Mar 6, 2013 | Reply
I’ll definitely try this. I used to have a ruffler for my older machine, but one for my newer machine costs $42. I’ll try this before I buy another ruffler. I’ve also used my pleater before (used for pleating material for smocking).
By Lori on Mar 14, 2013 | Reply
I have probably the cheapest brother machine they make and yet it does just what you said like a charm! Thanks so much. This saves me from buying that ruffler foot I’ve had my eye on.
By Pkae on Mar 27, 2013 | Reply
Thanks soooo much for this! I want to make a ruffle scarf for a friend who has been an angel to me, out of her fav fabric but thought I would have to do by hand. I feared how bad it might look and am limited on the fabric or would have to buy that oh so expensive ruffle foot. I’m sure I can make it on my fairly fancy Brother, now.
THANK YOU!!!!