What stitch length will provide the greatest gather in shirring?
A longer stitch length allows you to jam more into a smaller space. In hand worked gathering there is a technique called “gauging” and it uses long stitches alternating with short stitches to jam the maximum amount of fabric into the smallest space. This idea is applied to machine gathering by using a long stitch length. Shorter stitch length works better for easing because there is less gathering and puckering, so longer length is best for gathering. If you make the top thread looser it gets pulled to the bottom of the fabric and the bobbin “floats” on the bottom. This makes it easier to pull the bobbin thread while gathering with less friction between the top thread and the fabric. Just be sure to secure one end of the gathering thread before pulling the gathers up. There’s nothing more aggravating then accidentally pulling the thread out completely because you forgot to secure one end. trust me.
