I thought a bit of palate cleansing was in order before I hit the last intensity of the coat construction. Last fall I did a seminar on making scarves. I do that sort of thing now and then. One of the techniques I taught was cutting fabric into spirals, connecting them and then grouping them up to make a scarf. They were cute but were a more "stringy" look, but not in a negative way. They were just different from what I am showing today. This technique is one I saw somewhere, after doing that seminar, and I wish I could remember where to credit the person who inspired me. Thank you, if you are reading. This method of construction differs from the seminar in that these are just big fat circles cut of felted wool, so so easy. They were the perfect project to give me a break from all that "black" sewing. And they were both completed in a total of two hours. The time would have been much less without the extra embellishment. I'll show you how I did them which is really easy.
Fold a piece of paper in fourths, you know, fold in half, then in half again. Put your compass at 1 1/2 inches and draw a circle at the folded corner. Then put your compass at between 6-7 inches and again, point in the corner, draw a bigger circle. Yes, you ask, that is my new toy in the background and I love it, a Samsung Tab3, yahoo! We are playing Spanish bolero music while I sew today. Love me some bolero, ay!
I used 3 and a half donuts per scarf. Cut a slit into each scarf. If the fabric is not felted, cut it on the bias.
Then I butted the edges with tape and sewed them together with a zigzag stitch on this heavily felted wool. On scarf number two I sewed a regular seam and trimmed closely as the fabric was much thinner.
Pay attention that the right sides are all facing up. That brings to mind that both sides will show so a fabric that is the same on both sides or really close will work best.
When the pieces are all stitched together shape the two ends into a nice curvy point.
At this point the scarf could be officially completed but I wanted to add a bit of color and texture. Enter Funky Yarn! If you haven't looked at yarn lately you are really missing some embellishment opportunities. There are some really fun yarns out at the chains that are begging to be stitched up. I don't knit but I can't resist them. So I twisted and twirled this nubby yarn, pinned it to the scarve and stitched it on with a straight stitch that barely shows. I then did all the edges as well. WTH!
This scarf took the bulk of the two hours because of the embellishment but then I was on a roll. the next scarf I did was from a felted angora wool sweater, much thinner and drapier than the check coating. I did no additional embellishment.
Now that I have had the chance to dabble in some color as well as pull in a couple of projects at lightening speed, it is time to hit the coat again. Hopefully done and photo'd soon.....Bunny
