A post for Sam, who has a pleater and doesn't use it.
Those who know me understand that I have a love of gadgets. The ruffle attachment is an old friend of mine. $1.00 at a garage sale and a few hours and I was on my way. I had no idea what the thing did or how to use it. The price was right- cheap entertainment.
The darn thing may look intimidating but it's not. There are 3 things that control the finished product. Another hint is to make the ruffle longer than needed. The fist few inches are usually flat, just needed to feed the fabric into the machine.
The first control is the screw. It is on the right center of the picture. It controls the depth of the pleat. The deeper the screw the deeper the pleat.
The second control is the little tab and slot thingie. It is in the right above the screw, and faces you when the pleater is on the machine. It is numbered 1, 6, and 12. That is the number of stitches the machine takes before it takes a pleat. The 1 will take a pleat every stitch. The 6 (personal favorite) takes 6 stitches and on the 6th stitch takes a pleat. Now the 12 is rather difficult to use, no matter how much I play with it.
The third control is the stitch length on the machine. The shorter the stitch the closer the pleat, the longer the stitch the more distance between pleats. Simple-
To use the gadget you just feed the end of the fabric between the front guides on the foot to keep the line of stitching even. Run the fabric under the "grabber", and go. Hold the fabric in front gently so the grabber can do it's work.
Some combinations work better than others. A tab setting of 1 (one pleat per stitch) works well with a shallow pleat
and a bit longer stitch length. If you really must use the darn 12 setting, tiny stitch length combined with a deep pleat is about the only useful setting. If anyone out there has a useful combination/application for the 12 setting I would love to hear about it!
My absolute favorite setting...... slot of 6, 2.0 to 2.5 mm stitch length, and the screw all the way in. It makes a wonderful full ruffle.
It's Monday and the holiday is over.
Back to the workroom.........Cheryl
You know, I've never messed with the screw at all, just the little lever. I'll have to try that. Thanks for the info.
Happy New Year!
Posted by: Pam | December 31, 2007 at 02:39 PM