I'm sure you've probably heard of the famous Evelyn Griffin of Lil' Liza Lou.

What??? You haven't???

Well then, you must not be a member of the incredible Facebook Group PDF Pattern Sales And Promotions. I think each of our 4,029 members knows her by name, and some even consider her to be our patron saint. One day, not long ago, Evelyn Griffin was experimenting on her serger. Like many seamstresses, she had been struggling to gather miles of ruffles for her beautiful handmade creations, and it struck her, "There must be an easier way!!!" I think we've all heard rumblings here and there about gathering on a serger, but I know, for me, change is scary. So, whether it is out of fear or laziness or both, I keep on doing the same old same old-- gathering my ruffles by hand with upholstery thread. No more! Evelyn's original post to the group about gathering on her serger now has 529 comments and she has changed the lives of many seamstresses already--I will be next on the list. I promise to get out of my old school, boring but oh-so-comfortable box and try this time saving technique, and I hope you will too!

Here's a tutorial Evelyn has put together for gathering on a Janome Juno 3434D. She also is including settings for some other popular models at the bottom of the post. If you are already a pro at this, and your model is not listed, please share your model and settings in the comment section for others.

Oh, did I mention...she even made us a video?

Evelyn Griffin:

I have had my Janome Juno Serger, now, for almost 2 years. I love using it for rolled hems, and, for that reason alone it is invaluable. Today, I learned something new with it. I learned how to gather ruffles with it. (Insert Ohs and Ahs). Gathering ruffles is a VERY time consuming process. My previous method entailed first hand gathering the ruffles, which were never even, and I spent HOURS trying to get them evenly distributed, and then, sometimes the gathering threads would pull back through the stitches which means you have to redo the whole thing... Never EVER again. I changed all my serger settings, and it turned out PERFECT. Here are my 25 Minute (including cutting) Ruffle Pants. (Pattern Info HERE).

Here's a little basic how to

Turn top screw 3 times counter clockwise

Needles Tension to 9, Loopers tension to 4

Disengage knife and set to serge

Differential and Stitch length to highest settings

Perfect 1:2 ratio.

Doesn't that look nice? :)

Watch Evelyn's video....

Settings for other popular models:

Brother 1034D Settings-

3:1 Ratio-

Dif Feed: 2

Length: 5

Width: 4

Needles: (from left to right)

7, 7, 4, 4

2:1 Ratio-

Dif Feed: 2

Length: 5

Width: 4

Needles: (from left to right)

5, 5, 4, 4

PAFF

Tensions- 7,7,4,4

Babylock Imagine- Set Stitch Length Dial to 4, and Differential Feed to 2, and B.

I hope you find the courage to try this! Every machine can be a little different, so don't get discouraged if it doesn't work on your first try. Just get a pile of scraps and keep experimenting! There are tons of Youtube videos on the subject, and you can always Google your make and model + ruffling to find your solution.

Join the Ruffle Revolution!

Once you've mastered it, you're going to need some extra ruffly patterns, so go try one of these: