Smocking and Shirring

• Make sure that your bobbin is not too full of the elastic thread.
• Try re-threading your whole machine.
• Make sure your elastic thread isn’t too tight or too loose on the bobbin.
• Make sure you didn’t mess with the tension (or any other settings) of your machine while adjusting your stitch length.  This can mess up the stitch and cause you problems with the smocking.
• Try putting regular thread back into the bobbin and sew on some scrap fabric.  Make sure that it is sewing normally with regular thread.  This way, you can see if all of the settings are correct.
• Pull the fabric flat in both directions with both hands, away from the needle in opposite directions, as you sew.
• Make sure your stitch length is set to the largest stitch length.  (Or at least a larger one than you generally use.)
• Take a look to see if you are sewing through multiple layers of fabric.  Sewing through multiple layers will make it too hard for the elastic to pull the fabric together.
• Make sure to use cotton or other lightweight fabric.  Thicker fabric is harder to gather.
• If you left your tension alone and it still isn’t working, try adjusting the tension a bit and see how your smocking reacts.