Yes, you can create beautiful gather and ruffles with your serger! And, in our opinion, it’s much easier than then stitching 2-3 rows and pulling the bobbin thread.
Once you’ve got the hang of making ruffles, you’ll want to put them on everything — skirts, swimsuits, table runners, bags, etc.!
It’s a good idea to play with the settings to find the right ones before you start, especially if you aren’t simply adding a ruffled strip to the bottom of a dress (where the ratio may vary). Grab a piece of test fabric and measure the length. This way, you’ll know how much you’ve gathered or ruffled with your serger.
Differential Feed = Easy Ruffles
Your Baby Lock serger has a differential feed — meaning that they can feed two fabrics through the machine at different rates. When you increase your differential feed, your bottom fabric will feed faster than the top– that makes gathers or ruffles!
Generally, for full gathers, try with a 4-thread stitch setting the differential to 2 (highest number), needle tensions to 6-7, stitch length at the highest number too, minimum width.
You’ll also want to use your gathering/ruffling foot which will also speed up the rate that the bottom fabric runs through the machine. The foot will have a metal guide. Any fabric that goes over the metal guide will not be ruffled, anything underneath the guide will be ruffled.
Watch a Video on the Baby Lock Serger Ruffling Foot
If you don’t have a ruffler foot– don’t worry! Your differential feed will do the work for you! You might have to make more adjustments in the next step. Just remember to place the fabric you want to be ruffled on the bottom, and the piece that you are attaching (non ruffled) on the top.
Try out the Ruffling Foot with a Serger Project
Ready to try your ruffling technique on a serger project? Check out this Ruffled Table Runner Serger Project — click here.