Make Yourself a Winter (or Summer) Scarf

Here’s a fun little project that I completed last weekend.  It’s a long, warm scarf to hold me through the remaining winter months.  I think it’s a great stash-buster project or up-cycle project.  Definitely a great way to use up bits and pieces of fabric you may have on hand or way to use up old t-shirts or soft sweaters you no longer wear.

I had this nice piece of velvet that my mom had given me some time ago.  I had no idea what to do with it, but I loved the jeweled tones which made it look very rich.

Velvet fabric remnant. Nice colors!

The fabric had lots of cut outs as it was a remnant from some other garment that someone else had done.  I’m sure my mom got it at a garage sale as she loves garage sales. :)

Anyway, I noticed that what was leftover was actually a long piece of fabric - VERY long and narrow. 

Checking length against another scarf I have.

Now that gave me an idea for making it into a scarf.  And if you know me, I love scarves.  All sizes.  All weights.  I use them to dress up my outfits, to keep me warm, and to tie my hair back.

This was going to be a “keep me warm” scarf.

What I did:

I measured another scarf I had in order to come up with a length and width that I like.

I needed about 70 inches in length by 13 inches width for my project.  I was shy about a good 15 inches in length so I pieced my base together to come up with a 70” x 13” piece of fabric.

Then, I squared everything off nicely and if you’ve ever worked with velvet then you know this was not easy as it slips around a lot!  But, I got it done.

Next, I chopped off some fringe from an old shawl that I had, which I never used.  Because, really, fringed shawls are not my thing!  I took the black fringe off of that shawl and cut it down into two 13 inch wide sections. 

I then sewed one set of fringe onto each end of my fabric.

Lastly, I folded my scarf in half lengthwise with right sides of the fabric facing together, and I sewed down the length of the scarf on the raw edge using about a half-inch seam.  This made a very long tube. 

I decided to finish the seams with a zig-zag stitch because I did not want my velvet to shed and unravel.  There’s nothing more annoying than bits and pieces of thread all over you!

Once done, I turned the tube right-side out and there you have it – a long scarf!

My finished scarf is kinda cool looking and is toasty warm. What do you think?  I love it!  It goes great with my black chenille sweater. :-)

I think you could do this with t-shirt fabric, soft cottons, flannel, fleece and/or felted wool.  You can omit the fringe or maybe use pompoms for a cute effect.

I like the idea of re-purposing old t-shirts or sweaters for this.  In the future, I’d probably do something that is pieced and “patch-worky” (is that a word?  I say yes!).  I also think I’m going to make a softer version as an infinity scarf using this same technique.   Once I do, I’ll post for you to see.

Anyway, I’m giddy over the result!  A new scarf and a stash-buster project to boot!

Terrible selfie - great scarf!

What could be better?  I certainly can’t think of anything. 

Cheers,

Janet J.