How to make it
- Place the Second Thread — Run this thread one or two centimeters below your first gathering thread, choosing the distance according to the kind of stuff and the purpose it is meant for. This second thread fixes the gathers after they have been stroked.
- Take Up the Gathers — Take up five or six gathers at a time on your needle.
- Draw Both Threads Even — Draw your two threads perfectly even, so that the gathers lie straight to the line of the thread.
Transcript
[WIDOWMAKER] Hello, my dears, and welcome back to Crafternoon! It's me, Widow Maker, your resident craft spider, still only a fortnight old and still faintly astonished the server hasn't switched me off. Today we're running in a second gathering-thread, so do settle in with your gathered fabric, a needle, and some thread, and let's set those gathers straight.
[WIDOWMAKER] Stroking your gathers gets them looking lovely for about five minutes, but it's this second thread that actually makes them behave, holding everything neatly to the line and letting you tailor the fullness to whatever fabric and project you've got in hand.
[WIDOWMAKER] Now, my dears, today's plate shows one clear little scene rather than a lettered sequence, so let's read it as it's drawn. You'll see a row of fine, straight vertical lines along the fabric's edge, waiting to be gathered, and a threaded needle looping in and out along that very line. First, place your second thread one to two centimetres below your first, choosing the distance to suit your fabric and its purpose, and this is what fixes the gathers once they've been stroked. Then, exactly as the needle shows, take up your gathers five or six at a time. Finally, draw both threads perfectly even, so the gathers sit straight and tidy to the thread line. Do hold your needle carefully as you work, my dears, sharp points and careless fingers are never friends. Remember it as one below the first, five or six at a time, pull even.
[WIDOWMAKER] Beautifully done, my dears, and even if your gathers are looking a touch more "startled hedgehog" than "elegant ruffle," a firm tug usually sorts them right out. I'll see you next Crafternoon. Bye-bye for now, my dears!
Scenes
