Gathering by hand, to me, is one of those tedious tasks that I usually can’t stand.  Today though, I’m taking the time and gathering this lace onto the lining fabric of this skirt I’m working on.  The underskirt is a basic circle skirt.

I don’t know if this is a “real” technique or not, (I know there are easier ways, but I like doing it this way when I’m feeling like a perfectionist)  I use two needles and two lengths of thread to gather and secure the fabric.  First I pin off the sections evenly distributing the length of the gathered material in relation to the base.  Then little section by little section I use one needle to gather, pull the thread tight, and secure with a couple knots at the end of the section.  I use the second needle and thread to whipstitch over the top, securing the gathered stitches to the base.

Now when I go to add the waistband I won’t have to worry about the gathering ending up uneven or bunched in areas.  With a different fabric I might not mind, but I think with this lace the unevenness would probably disappoint me later. The rest of the skirt should come together really quickly, so I can enjoy spending a little more time on this one detail.