A sewing machine and a method of operating a sewing machine able to gather one or more materials through a variable speed transfer disc or transfer cup. The gathering operation can assist in joining materials of different lengths without causing a warp or other unintended variation in the sewn article. The gathering operation may be used in connection with sewing of an article of footwear upper with an insole portion to form a foot-receiving cavity. During a sewing operation, a tension on the thread may be adjusted and confirmed with a display output. Similarly, an indication of pressure applied to decrease a rotational speed of the transfer disc or the transfer cup may be presented on a display output to achieve repeatability across operators and articles.