How to Make Ruffled Streamers

You can easily sew these ruffled streamers with a gathering foot on your sewing machine!

Did you know you can gather crepe paper streamers on the sewing machine and make ruffled streamers? Seriously, what an ingenious idea! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked up crepe paper streamers at the store when loading up on party decorations, but then wasn’t quite sure what to do with them after getting them home. They are so cheap they’re hard to pass up but then I can’t ever hang them in a way I’m happy with. They always end up looking sad and droopy. Enter the sewing machine! You can feed these babies through the machine using your gathering foot, and watch them magically ruffle before your eyes!

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I originally saw the tutorial for these ruffled streamers on my one favorite sewing blogs, Made Everyday. You can check out the tutorial there to see how to make ruffled streamers two different ways — a two color version or a three color version. I opted for the two color version and chose light and dark pink.

Making ruffled steamers is easy! All you do is overlap the 2 streamers by about 1/2 inch, set your machine on the longest stitch you have (usually a 5) and increase the tension. I increased my tension to 7 since I was using a gathering foot, but you might have to go all the way up to 10 if you’re using a regular sewing foot. The more tension you have, the more ruffled the streamers will be. Then sew right down the center of the streamers. That’s all there is to it!

Speaking of the gathering foot, buy one if you don’t already have one! A gathering foot makes the process of gathering fabric quick and easy! It automatically gathers the fabric as you feed it through the machine. It can even gather and attach a ruffle to a garment in one easy step! It’s well worth the small investment. Once you have one, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

It took me about 20 minutes to gather the full length of the crepe paper. It’s easy work but just takes some time to feed it all through. There’s a lot of yardage on those crepe paper streamers!

The only nerve wracking thing about this process is that the streamers can easily get twisted together, which can be VERY frustrating….trust me! Dana from Made Eve ryday shared a very helpful tip for preventing the crepe paper from twisting. Stick a dowel or pencil through the center of your rolls and hold it between your knees. This allows the streamers to gently unroll as you sew and keeps them separated so they don’t become a twisted mess. Do this….it will save your sanity!