You-ma'am- are a GOD. After searching EVERY single question posted to Google about whether or not computerized machines or late model Brother machines could shirr, you have certainly saved my little behind from thinking I had done wrong not investing in one of those Husqvarna Viking monsters that cost upwards of $1000. How could I not have more faith in my trusty Brother?! It has been a trooper since I started teaching myself to sew last fall!!! Thank you Lady Flarborta!!! And so I shirred! :-D

Thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU! I have read and watched a gazillion tutorials to try and get my Brother to "SHIRRRR!!!!" but the best I got from my Brother was a 'shur?' until I watched your video. So clear! I can SEE what you're doing and it's explained so well and your patient pace is perfect for me. Thank you and YAY!

thank you for this vid. I have a brother sewing machine too and by tightening the screw it helps to shir. I tried with the highest tension that is 9, but my top thread keep breaking and if I'd put the tension to 3 -4, the stretchiness of the bottom thread seem to be gone. The best for me is 6 on tension. Thank you again, now I can try to make a summer dress by using your technic.

Thank you!!!!!!!! My other Brother did this fine, but when I moved it couldn't come with me and I have a different Brother. I wanted to try everything else before messing with the bobbin holder but nothing worked. Your video makes it very clear how to remove and adjust the bobbin and Yes!!!! Now it works!!!!

Spent the last three hours trying to sort out this problem on my FS130... Tension is located differently from my old machines .. Thank you so much for the clear demonstration it was so very useful.

Well that "shirr" worked for us! Thanks for being awesome today!

Thank youuuuu!! 12 years later you're still helping people figuring out how to make their Brother machines do shirring!

how do you know when you loosen your screw back to where it originally was. right now my machine is perfect an i dont wanna mess it up ya know

THANK YOU! You literally saved me from throwing my machine out the window. I was soooo confused why I was having such issues when everybody else made it look so simple! Now I'm gonna shirr everything I own! Ha!

Glad I found your video! I didn't have to mess with the bobbin tension screw and just threading the elastic into the bobbin case by hand seemed to do the trick! Thanks again!

Finally a solution that helped. Thank you!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! I was beginning to lose hope! This helped tremendously ! This was my first time trying to shirr and I thought I was doing something wrong with all the tension settings. What a relief!

Thank you for this. Think I will order a second bobbin holder that will be used for just this purpose.

I so appreciate you putting this on you tube, I am needing this so much right now, I'm copying one of my store purchased dress the shirring was very disappointing using my Brother's, this will build my confidence once again. Janet

Finally, someone told about the little screw on the bobbin casing! I was getting the gathering, but no stretchy. I had tightened that little screw, but I guess not enough. I have that little bugger turned all the way and Wah-Lah!!! Thank you so much!!!

After trying to figure out this same shirring issue and watching multiple videos I finally found your video and this helped see out too much!! Thank you!!

Thank you! I had no idea as to how to fix this problem.

Wow, I wish I could hug you right now. I like a lot of responders have spent countless hours trying to make my brother machine shir. I am so grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

@Brennieg Highest tension, longest stitch. If that gathers TOO much lessen the tension. Hope that helps!

Thank you so much for this tutorial! I was watching all the how to shirr videos but nothing was working for my brother, until this worked like a treat.

A lifesaver! Thank you!

Thank you! I have been trying so many different techniques. I saw one video that was close, but no banana. The difference between that video and yours was that you slid the elastic into the little notch instead of just dropping it in.

Thank you so much, I never knew how to adjust the bottom tension....I took it apart and clean it and thought I was putting it back together wrong, I wasn't. It just needed to be tightened. Again thank you , now I wont have to take it to the repair man. You saved me about $60.

Omg, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!🥳 Just only this tutorial helped me a lot. I've seen so many different tutorials, I've tried so many times to repeat and nothing happened, I lost my hope in my sewing machine, I thought that my "Brother" doesn't work with stretch thread at all. But noooo, I did it. Amazing!

I got so mad at my machine earlier that I had to just turn it off and walk away... Thank you for this. I just tried it out and it worked perfectly! Amazed at the difference it made!

Super helpful video. Now I want to shirr a the time I see my machine

Fantastic, I have a brother NS30 and I did have a go when I got it and it came out like your first go, but now I know how to tighten the bobbin so I will have another go asap. Happy Sewing Patie

Thank you so much! I've been trying to shirr all summer long...now I need to finish some of my shirred tops before it starts getting colder out. :)

Thank you!!! I spent an hour trying to figure out how to shir with my Brother until i finally saw your video!

Totally awesome I cannot wait to try this. I was getting VERY FRUSTRATED, which seems to be a common theme!

thank you so much for your video! i have a brother too and I was trying to shir last night and was almost pulling my hair out because the elastic just wouldn't gather up even after 3 rows. lol. i'm going to try your method tonight! i'm so excited! :):)

Fantastic - thank you Sew much! 😊

WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH THIS HELPED THANK YOU SO MUCH. i was trying EVERYTHING to make my shirring actually gather and nothing worked.

Thank you so much!! This worked like a charm. It's a huge pain in the butt but at least I know I can shir if necessary.

AMAZING! Thank you so much! I didn't have to tighten the screw at all, but loading the bobbin backwards totally did the trick.

I have a Brother and it's just a couple of years old. I tried shirring and like yours, it just came out kinda flat. Which brought me to searching for help on YT. I hope it will apply to my machine. I'll be checking it out tom as it is night time already from where I am. Did adjusting that screw sort of tightened the bobbin or something? So this is just a one time adjustment? I used to do shirring on my mom's Singer back in the 70s when I was in my teens and it was easy as pie. Can't wait to check mine out🤞🤞🤞

Sometimes it is better to have another bobbin case that you use as dedicated for shirring, etc--also there are bobbin cases made for dedicated heavy thread/elastic thread--loosening/tightening and screwing your bobbin case can sometimes mess up the screw and tension settings-- where it becomes too loose (from machine vibration) as you sew later projects. Think of the bottom case tension screw as being "factory-set" like spark plugs in a car. Use a separate bobbin case for special "threads."

At the beginning of your video, the trick to get the bobin case would be to take the metal plate off with the plastic plate. :3 Its less frustrating. Thanks for the advice though I was going nuts with trying to figure this out hopefully tightening that tension will help!

Thank you so much! I watched countless videos and tried countless tensions and stitch length combinations and nothing worked until I watched this and now my machine is shirring away! One question, do I need to loosen that screw again if I want to sew with regular thread?

Hello Kathleen. Firstly...thank you for your tutorial it's very helpful. Your Brother sewing machine should not use a metal bobbin though...only 156A plastic bobbins. For the sake of viewers that should be corrected since someone else could end up with a damaged sewing machine.

A million thank yous for making this videos!!!!

Oh u helped me lot.. Thank U soo much.. May u have blessed day evryday 😊

give up with shirring for awhile...will try your technique..Thank you ^^

Thank you very much.It really helped me. I also had trouble shirring and now I can sew better. :)

Thank you for sharing the technique. I'm having issues with Shirring atm also a Brother machine. May i ask what number stitch you used please? This is on polycotton btw. Also what size needle as I'm new to sewing. I did manage last year once but its playing me up now. Many Thanks 😊

Thank you so much for this tutorial. I was about ready to blow my head off trying to get my machine to give a decent shir! Can I ask at what tension and stitch length you've got yours set to?

OMG, you are my new best friend! I have been struggling with this for soooo long. This is the most helpful video ever, especially since i am having a hard time with my brother. I will watch any sewing video you post. Thank you thank you thank you!

I only see one screw and there is a green spot on the left side is this what you are talking about? and if I want to go back to regular sewing I have to unscrew it again?

This is awesome, I never could get mine to shirr. I will be excited to try this. Also, do you have to put the screw looser once done shirring? Like will it adversely affect my regular sewing? Thanks :)

Found your video and tried to follow your instructions. I managed to get it to shir properly once, but it was actually too tight. I pulled it out and made a slight adjustment (barely a whole tension digit) to get it to give a little more, but then it didn't work. Put it back to my original tension and it still won't work. I don't know why it's not working. I've tightened the bobbin screw as tight as possible without making the thread impossible to move and still no luck after the first go. :/

Thank you so much! That solved me shirring problem!

Great video! Other people seemed to have solved this by hand-winding the elastic thread on the bobbin. Problem with that is, how do you know how tight to make it? Your solution surely produces an even tension. Thanks.

This was SO helpful, thank you!

Amazing!!

this technique works great, very satisfied with the out come. But does any one have any pointers on how to get the tension even again afterwards?

AWESOME VID!! THANKS FOR SHIRRING.

I love this video! Thank you! Do you have to unscrew back the bobbin or leave it tight?

thanks so much i was shirring for the first time and was having the same problem what a difference on my Brother👌

Excellent post but very blurry!!

thank u soo much ur a life saver. i had soo much prop wit my brother that i get mad and give up but now its all good thanks to u. thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello flarborta This video is very good and the instructions are easy to understand. This will be very useful. Are metal bobbins recommended by this sewing machine's manual? As you said...it's a Brother but I can't tell what model. IMHO it should use plastic bobbins.

OH MY GOSH you saved me a day of migraines!!! Who knew it was just a screw that was driving me crazy. I have this booked marked now. :D Thank you sooo incredibly much.

This is gold, thank you so much

@flarborta You mean the screw on the bobbin part? Yes, I tried that, and that didn't seem to work, except to make the fabric tightly gathered, but not at all stretchy.

Hi flarborta, I did try it and its really work... thank you thank you so much your very smart

YOU JUST CHANGED MY LIFE I CANT EVEN EXPRESS TO YOU

I hate this type of bobbin casing. Mine is always hard to to get casing back in machine.

thank you for this wonderful tutorial!

@hummingbirdlady11 Funny that was the first thought that came to my mind the first time I watched this vid. My Brother machine manual recommends the Brother bobbins and says never to use metal bobbins. It isn't the same model as the one in the video, but the bobbin mechanism is the same. I purchased about 100 of the Brother bobbins for $10 on ebay just to be safe. I don't know if it matters, but they are slighter shorter than generic bobbins. Better safe than sorry.

Hi, thank you so much for the video! I have a little question though, what stitch and tension were you using? I have a brother JX17FE and I dont have the sewing length to change just different stitches to choose from and I was wondering what stich were you using to see if i can find it on my machine. Thank you in advance 🙏🏼

It worked! Thank you so much!!!

Thanks for your lesson, was there any adjustment for the tension?

I've tried playing with the tension (highest tension, normal tension, less tension) and none of that seems to have an effect. While this trick allowed my machine to be able to "shir," it more just gathered the fabric. Any attempt to stretch it results in the thread breaking. Any ideas?

I have a dreamweaver XE and I cannot get mine to shirr. What do you have your stitch length and tension set at?

Bless you

I still cant figure mine out ugh 😩

I realize I'm commenting on a three-year-old video, but here's hoping... how can I get rid of the green paint on that screw? It seems to be there to keep it from moving and I'm not sure how to get it off.

@BargainBeauty365 Did you try adjusting the tension of the screw?

What are the settings?

Awesome! Thank you so much for replying. :0)

I also have a brother and I did the same steps you showed. it is not working out for me at all.🤦‍♀️ someone Welp please

How to take out this may machine

does anyones squeek?

i think this is good to0