i'm so excited to share this with all of you! this scarf has been on my mind for a long time now. i've sketched it a few times, daydreamed about it, dreamt about it at night and finally, finally found the time to make it happen (thanx jer). i've been drooling over the infinity scarves out there right now but just couldn't find one i loved enough to buy. i knew i wanted something warm, comfy and snuggly. i also knew i didn't want a knit one and that i wanted to be able to wear it a few ways.
i wear my pj's a lot when i'm at home, what can i say - i'm just a jammy girl. i figured what better material to use than a soft flannel that reminds me of a fave pair of jammies. how comfy would that be! i thought the flannel would still be soft enough to drape, but strong enough to hold the buttons and loops i wanted to use to be able to style this scarf the way i had imagined.
in total so far i have styled this scarf 13 different ways and show them all in this post, but i'm sure there are tons more. i repurposed an old elastic headband for the loops and some old buttons to add a sublte pop of color. this infinity scarf is designed to be worn a variety of different ways, use the loops and buttons and get creative! as moms we don't always have time to change our outfits during the day but we can have fun with our accessories and whip this scarf into a new style and instantly change our look. it will keep you warm, stylish and it's also fun to wear. i know if i spotted one of you lovely ladies in a grocery store line up with this on i would ask you where you got it.
there are a lot of possibilities for you to add your own personal touch to this scarf. applique, fabric choices, button picks, loop style and placement, heck if i had more time in my day a ruffled one would be gorgeous as well. i hope you all enjoy it and let's see if we can give cozy knits a run for her money this week and thanks to my gorgeous baby sister camille, for modelling for me even though she was sick with a cold - luv ya!
Infinity & Beyond Scarf Tutorial
Materials:
-Material for scarf. I used flannel. Make sure your fabric is pre-washed and shrunk before starting project, it sucks to have to do this, but it's very important.
-Elastic headband, or (3) hair ties or elastic/fabric/etc to be used as loops for buttons.
-3 buttons
-needle and thread
-scissors and pinking shears (optional)
*All seam allowances 1/4"
**Copyright 2010 www.luvinthemommyhood.com
All rights reserved. For personal use only. Please do not sell items made from this tutorial.
1. Lay your material out flat and cut the length you would like your scarf to be. I cut my scarf to be 10"w (when folded & cut like pic above - 20"w if layed out flat) x 64 1/2"l. To style the infinity scarf in the styles shown in this post I recommend using this length. I cut my fabric as shown incorporating the fold into the scarf so my lazy self didn't have to sew up 2 side seams. I also trimmed my short sides with my pinking shears to help prevent unravelling for us non-serger gals (more on that later).
2. Fold your material right sides facing each other (you will see your wrong sides). Pin along long edge. I like to pin as shown in the pic due to it being so easy to remove pins as you sew, but it's not the only way to pin.
3. 1) Grab your elastic headband & buttons. I wanted a simple, quick way to do the button loop & even though I love elastic headbands they look horrible on me and always slide off my head so I was happy to cut mine up!
2) Try a corner of your elastic headband around your button to determine the size you need to cut your loops. My loop was 1 1/2" long.
3) Hold onto where you made your loop test and cut along the base. Cut (2) more of lengths of elastic the same size. You will have (3) pieces of elastic now.
4) Next determine where to pin your elastic loop onto your scarf. I placed the button card near the end of my scarf & then simply placed the loop onto the scarf to see where I wanted it. I wanted a bit of stretch to the loop so I made my button loop a bit bigger than I normally would have. Pinch your fingers on the loop where you want to pin on the edge of scarf.
4. Now place (sandwich) the loop in between your two pieces of folded fabric like in the photo. When you sew your side seam this cute little loop will be hidden inside just waiting to pop out after and say hi! It feels weird to pin it this way but trust me, it will turn out ok.
5. Pin all loops onto your fabric as shown in the picture above. Make sure your pin goes through both sides of your fabric and also through both pieces of your loop. It's a bit tricky but I used a long pin and it worked out ok. I pinned the left and right loops 1 1/2" from each edge and the middle loop approx. 4.75" from long edge.6. Bring scarf to machine and sew only this short side. It was a bit tricky to get the hair elastic under the needle but a gentle push of the fabric helped to give it that extra oomph to make it through. I backstitched over them a few times as well for extra strength.
7. Now sew the long side seam. Now if you aren't lucky enough to have a serger like me, when you are done sewing the seam simply trim along it with your pinking shears to help with unravelling. I know it's going to be inside the scarf, but I plan on washing mine and can't stand the idea of all these unravelling threads inside it. If you don't have pinking shears you could also zig zag stitch along this as well.
ok...we're almost there......
8. Before you sew up the final short edge, you are going to turn the scarf right side out and admire it, pet it if you like...maybe wrap it around you for a minute, ahhhh, so warm :) Ok, back to work. Now while wearing your soon to be new scarf, mark where you would like your buttons to go with a washable fabric pen/pencil. Sew your buttons onto only one side of the scarf making sure not to go through both pieces of material. *Remember to use a button that is raised so you can actually loop around it. Make sure to place the buttons far enough away from the edge that you have room to actually machine sew your seam closed.
9. Turn the scarf inside out again (right sides facing together) Pin your short seam closed. Sew this seam making sure to leave a 2" opening to pull your scarf through. Clip your corners so that you can have nice clean points for your scarf. Ok...pull that lovely scarf through, gentle now, we don't want to rip it. Get out whatever handy little notion you would like to use to push your corners out, even the end of a ball pin will do or the point of a knitting needle. Once right side out simply hand stitch your opening closed using an invisible stitch. If need be, gently iron the scarf and then...voila!!!! you are ready to go....TO INFINITY & BEYOND!!!!!
If anyone is interested in learning how to wrap all 13 styles shown in this post, let me know and i may just put together a pdf with instructions.
**Ok, ladies, a PDF has been requested, glad you all want to learn how to wear it! I've been busy working on it but it's taking a while to get it all put together. Bear with me and hopefully I'll have it ready in the next few weeks :)
*Terms of use: This tutorial is for personal use only. Please do not sell items made from this tutorial. Thank you.*
make sure to add pics of your projects inspired by the tutes below to our flickr group! i love seeing all of your creations!
so, what do you think? you like? are you gonna make one? what's your fave way to wear it? i heart the scoodie version. i can't wait to see yours! hope you all had a great, comfy, cozy weekend and stay tuned this week for more tutorials, giveaways and round 3 of our comfy sews VS cozy knits! fun!
so, what do you think? you like? are you gonna make one? what's your fave way to wear it? i heart the scoodie version. i can't wait to see yours! hope you all had a great, comfy, cozy weekend and stay tuned this week for more tutorials, giveaways and round 3 of our comfy sews VS cozy knits! fun!
**all images copyright luvinthemommyhood