The feet are all the same style only varying in size. The one on the left belongs to the Featherweight, the one in the back belongs to the treadle, and the one on the right belongs to the Husqvarna. At one time, this was considered a basic foot on a machine and was provided with machine along with instructions. I suppose that is why the Featherweight and Treadle have this foot. Here's a close up of the foot from the Singer book:
The parts are as follows:
A. Foot - the part by which the ruffler is attached to the presser bar.
B. Fork Arm - the section that must be placed astride the needle clamp.
C. Adjusting Screw - the screw that regulates the fullness of the gather.
D. Projection - the part that projects through the slots in the adjusting lever.
E. Adjusting Lever - the lever that sets the ruffler for gathering or for making a plait once at every 6 or 12 stitches; also, will disengage the ruffler when neither the gathering or plaiting is desired.
F. Adjusting Finger - the part which regulates the width or size of the plaits.
G. Separator Guide - the guide on the underside of the ruffler containing slots into which the edge of the material is placed to keep the heading of the ruffle even; also for separating the material to be ruffled from the material to which the ruffle is to be attached.
H. Ruffling Blade - the upper blue steel blade with the teeth at the end to push the material in plaits up to the needle.
J. Separator Blade - the lower blue steel blade without teeth, which prevents the teeth of the ruffling blade coming into contact with the feed of the machine or the material to which ruffle or plaiting is to be applied.
Lines 1 through 5 indicate where the fabric is to be placed for the various operations:
Line 1 - the correct position for the material to which the ruffled material is applied.
Line 2 - material to be ruffled.
Line 3 - the facing for the ruffler.
Line 4 - the strip of piping material.
Line 5 - the edge to be piped.
The little book includes instructions for Adjusting the Ruffler for Gathering, Make a Ruffle and Sew it to the Garment in one operation, Ruffle and Sew on a Facing in One Operation, Piping a Ruffle, Adjust the Ruffler for Plaiting, Adjust the Ruffler for Group Plaiting and Gathering, and How to Oil the Ruffler. There are many pages devoted to the use and care of the ruffler.
The instructions that came with the Husqvarna shows a similar picture:
There is no explanation as to what the letters are pointing to in the picture. The Husqvarna instructions provide How to attach the ruffler to the machine (5 steps), how to set your ruffler (2 small paragraphs), Gather & Sew Pleats (2 small paragraphs), Gather a Ruffle and Sew It on a the same time (2 small paragraphs). The instructions are about the same size as the picture.
So, how in the world do you learn to use this foot? There are not that many resources available. My little library has "Learning and Using Your Ruffler Basic Instructions and Projects" by Leota Black and "The Sewing Machine Attachment Handbook" by Charlene Phillips. I'm pretty sure that the book by Leota Black is not longer in print. I know that there is someone in Canada that is producing a book. It is Labors of Love.
So, I went on-line to see if there were any resources. YouCanMakeThis has a free ebook. It looks like it does a good job explaining the ruffler. I found this blog - See Kate Sew which has a couple of posts regarding the ruffler. The pictures show a slightly different version of the ruffler.
Oh, I see lots of opportunity to run a ruffler. The best would be learning how to gather with it. Think about how much time that would safe. Think about how nice it would look. Think about adding decorative ruching on items.
I'm going to do a weekly discussion of attempting to use the ruffler. Most likely, this will start small and hopefully will turn out a couple of projects. So please join me as I explore the ruffer foot.
Happy Stitching!
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