Decanting cones into spools

Occasionally you find an amazing tip on another blog that's to good to ignore. The Makery have come up with this amazing tip on what to do when you have one big spool and want to turn it into 4 spools for overlocking. I'll talk more about thread another day but in the meantime check out this
top tip to transfer thread from large cones to small spools

Taking your needle out and NOT losing it!

If you're anything like me, when you change from 4 thread to 3 thread you take the needle out and promptly lose it. This means every time you change from 3 thread to 4 thread you have to get out a new needle. 

My Frister and Rossman machine has its own handy in built needle storage place,  but most machines don't.

In the front fold down section of my F&R

If your machine does not come with its own anti-needle-losing device, try this simple trick. Cut a small approx 2-3" square of thick fabric like a fleece that will be difficult for your needle to slip out of. Put a tiny hole in the middle and slip it over your rightmost / lower looper spool. 

When you take a needle out pop it into your needle holder and voila!  When you go back to 4 thread you'll know exactly where to find your needle.

And the best thing about this, you can pop your spool on top and it won't affect the functionality of your machine at all.

TECHNIQUE: Gathering

Threads: Can be done with 3 threads with either needle, or 4 if you want a really strong gather
Tension: Normal
Stitch Length: 4-5 or as high as possible
Differential Feed: 2 or as high as possible.
Knife: Usually engaged but can be disengaged if needed

My thread length dial at the front on 5 and differential feed at the back on 2

When to Use: 

Any item that you want to overedge and give a strong gather to at the same time. Especially useful for long straight seams such as gathered skirt waistband and any sort of frill on a dress or cushion.

About:

I don't understand why this technique isn't more widely known. I much prefer it to a sewing machine gathering when even the most experienced sewer can run into issues with lining up the gathering stitch perfectly between a raw edge and the seam line. We've all had that moment where gathers run out below the seam allowance to the finished edge of the fabric and you have to unpick it. Or worse the gathering stitch snaps or comes loose at the edges because its designed to be a loose, impermanent stitch.

In the right situation this trims, overedges, keeps your gathering stitch away from the stitching line and gives a much smoother, easier to manage gather

Eureka Moment:

This technique does 2 very important things. 

1. It shows in a very practical way just what a differential feed does. Yep, this is entire purpose of a high differential feed, to gather the fabric up. Knowing this tecnhique will help you understand how to adjust your differential feed to get a perfect tension when sewing those pesky jersey fabrics
2. The other thing this tecnhique does it help to understand the difference between a needle and a looper thread. This shows you that the needle threads on your overlocker really aren't all that different than the needle threads on your sewing machine

How:

Adjust your settings as above and stitch as normal, cuttting off whatever you require.

The fabric is starting to gather on its own already

Separate your needle thread/s (Mine are the green and yellow ones) at the start of the seam. 

My big fingers find this easier with the help of a needle or pin.

Pull on the needle thread/s as you would a normal sewing machine thread to gather the fabric to the required amount

That's it. Done. Wasn't that easy!!!!

Real World Example:

Here's a pink skirt that I gathered up in a 3 thread gather. I chose to do 3 thread because it's a fully lined dress so I didn't want as much bulk on the seam.  It's exactly the same but you need to be careful identifying the needle thread

This is a duchess satin so quite thick but it sill works

Always identify from the needle thread from the right / top side of the fabric.Its the one that forms the straight seam line

You man lose a couple of stitches at the start. Don't panic, that's ok

My fully gathered skirt

And the fully gathered lining

And the skirt attached.

Tips for Advanced Players:

• If you are not bagging out your lining you can join and gather the top and bottom layers together in one move.
• There is a gathering foot that deserves it's own post, but suffice to say it exists and it is wonderful because it can join the gather and join the skirt to the flat bodice in one step. The downside is that I am yet to work out how to control the amount of gather when using the foot. This way has much more finesse.