Sewing help needed -- gathered legwarmers and what not...
 

Bit of a weird one, I know, but we'll go with it...

I'm just wondering if anyone can tell me how to do this gathered thing? I haven't a clue. The gloves are from a screenshot in Gypsy 83 and the legwarmers are from www.designsbybear.com -- I'm just curious to know how to do it, if any of my fellow Stevie fans have any ideas....

Any advice?

I wish I knew and could help you. There's got to be a simple explanation...it's such a common thing to do...ruching (or whatever it's called)

i dont know all the sewing terms but...
i would imagine it would be done with a loose stitch and then when done, the thread ends are pulled and the material gathered?

I think the easiest way is to use elastic or something a little strong, almost like Stitch Witchery. Then you basically just gather the fabric along the line of it, and hand-sew it down.

Does that make sense?

Sounds good to me....:nod:

Not quite ... sounds like it could be along the right tracks though, definitely. What's Stitch Witchery exactly?

Yes, this is how it is done. You use a really wide stitch then you hold the thread while you push the fabric down to create the gathers.

Those black velvet ones are hot, me want.

looking at it... it has that seam on the side. I don't know how to sew at all, but if I had to wing it, I'd get some sort of very thin black elastic thread ...sew it together and gather it a bit...it doesn't seem too hard, you just have to sew carefully. The people at the fabric store can probably help you find appropriate thread. I've seen thread like that at bead stores.

Edit: Yeah, what Haley said...:p
and Suze.

Stitch Witchery is fusible tape- basically, you can fuse stuff together without sewing by using it and an iron. But really, it's not what you want- you just want some bias tape or something with a similar consistency.

That's the way I've done it. You can also just use a string and sew with zig-zag on your machine.

Here's a kinda confusing but better than I could explain it description:

http://sewing.about.com/library/weekly/aa021798.htm

:cool: I was trying to think of that stitch's name, I've used the basting stitch to do this.

You guys are great, thanks a million for all your help.

:thumbsup:

I'm such an amateur with sewing, me trying to explain anything borders on ridiculous. Now, if you ask me about knitting or crocheting, I'm on it like white on rice!

I wish my grandma was still alive. She was unbelieveable at sewing.:nod:

Me too. Most of it I just make up as I go along...:cool:

You can also sew a straight line, then cut the underside thread and move the fabric specifically where you want the gathers. You can tack it down by hand to secure it, then stitch another line over that to hold it in place. That's really only if you are totally particular about how you want the gathers to lay out.