Brother 1034D - gathering....

Ok so I my relationship with my fancy little serger is new and I am looking for some tips...how do I gather one piece of fabric while serging it to a non-gathered piece (I have the gathering foot). I am making a pettiskirt for my girls and I tried hand gathering then serging the tiers together..yeah well that little knife cut the gathering thread and it all fell out as I was serging and didnt realize it till the end...soooooo I would like to avoid that frustration on my next attempt...any tips???
Thanks!!!

You can turn the knife off.

I always have to go back to the DVD because I don't do the gathering that often, did yours come with one? You put the flat fabric on the bottom and the fabric to be gathered on top and when you set the knobs all the right way the machine will do the gathering for you.

Sorry that's not much help is it?

No, that is a great help! Exactly what I needed to know, thanks!! I will give it a shot tonight

would love to know how your gathering worked out on this! I have the same machine and haven't really used my gathering foot.  I tried it once and it seemed to create very loose gathers.  Is there a way to make really tight gathers?