Gathering Foot vs. Ruffler foot

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between a gathering and a ruffler foot?  I know that the ruffler costs significantly more.  

Gathering foot is for lightweight fabrics only.  The ruffler foot is for everything else.

I own both.  I never use the gathering foot.  I find long stitch and pulling the bobbin thread is much more reliable. 

As for the ruffler, I bought it to make dust ruffles for my bed.  I used it a few times more times and put it away.  it is a complicated mess of dials.  Once you set it up, install it on the presser foot and begin stitching, it works for a few inches and then something invariably goes wrong.  I suppose I could have played with it a bit more and figured out its secrets but I don't make all that many ruffles that it was worth the effort.

I have both and think they largely do different functions. The gathering foot does just that... it gathers as tightly or loosely as you set it up to do with your stitch length etc. The ruffler foot is a scary looking contraption. I just blogged about using it properly for the first time this last weekend (http://msfineprint.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/so-this-weekends-sewing-wasnt-a-total-loss/). If you have a bernina, they have a nice video tutorial online for using the ruffler. Mine lets you set whether you want a gathered look or a slightly gathered look or a pleated look. There are some adjustments that you will need to make when you use it on different projects, but the time you spend in the beginning practicing on scraps will save you tons of time on projects. The little apron on my blog from this weekend took me all of 20 minutes to do, including cutting fabric.

Rufflers are much more expensive than gathering feet. So if you can only get one, and you can afford the ruffler, I'd go with that since it can gather as well. I like having both then i can use my gathering foot for more delicate and slippy fabrics (like chiffon).

Great question! I was just about to buy the ruffler foot tday so I'm glad I stopped by to read these explanations... sounds like I may need to rethink my purchase!

I just bought the ruffler foot lst weekend or so. I haven't had time to make my project yet (crib skirt), but I have played with it.  This video on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV76ihB1B8Q gave me a visual/oral explanation of how to put it on and what all of the different parts do. I think it takes practice to get comfortable with it, but the ruffler foot looked like it would do more than the gathering foot, which is ultimately why i went with it. Hope this helps