There are people out there in the great wide internet that say shirring is easy. The tutorials I found all said that it was incredibly easy, requiring very little fiddling and adjusting and sobbing. These people are lying.
It is likely my machine – a Brother VX-1435 that I got three years ago at a Kohl’s mega-clearance – is the problem. But man alive, I cannot shirr to save my life. The example above is seriously the tidiest, least disastrous of my attempts to shirr.
And the fact that I cannot shirr brings me so much torment. (Well, perhaps torment is the wrong word. But it feels something similar to torment.) Last year I blithely read through shirring tutorials and patterns that required shirring, confident that when I got around to it, shirring would so enhance my sewing skillset.
Let’s be honest: This picture was taken on February 2. Soon after, the pre-thread serger I bought ran out of thread. The combination of this disaster and the threat of learning how to thread a serger has kept me from sewing anything at all since February. It’s putting a serious damper in my Etsy-shop plans.
Anyway, as far as I can tell from various forums, Brother machines often have trouble shirring. It is something to do with the bobbin tension. However: most experts recommend never messing with the bobbin tension, as you’ll never get it back to factory accuracy. Also, every tutorial I can find for messing with bobbin tension is for top-loading machines, whereas mine is a front-loader.
UGH. FRUSTRATING. Anyway, I just found this tutorial, which seems much more helpful than others. Maybe after reading through all the comments I’ll give shirring another go. Right after I clean off the two months of accumulated junk from my sewing table.
Funny. I spent two straight hours shirring yesterday. And even using shirring tape, it’s still frustrating.
Ohhhhhh man. Shirring makes my blood boil. People really do gloat over its apparent ease and simplicity, how even blindfolded chickens can shirr an attractive sundress. I just shelved an idea utilizing gathered ruffles. Maybe this is just a summer for minimalist sewing projects.
I know just the basic basics about sewing, and I can tell that it is looks like bobbin tension, plus stitch length, plus that fabric.
I say that companies telling you not to adjust your bobbin tension is their way of saying “Walk in fear, gentle seamstress! For then you will pay money to have people that are affiliated with our company do things that you could probably do yourself for free!”
You know what is easier than making shirred fabric? Making shirred eggs.
Also, if you ever want to feel great about yourself (which I think people should do, you know, it’s nice) you an come over and look at the apron that you made for me which has THE THINNEST binding on every single panel and it is done METICULOUSLY. You have great sewing talents and skills.
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