12 Gifts of Christmas: Scarves

I love scarves. Whenever they’re on sale, I walk v-e-r-y slowly by to decide if I need a new one. I especially love fashion scarves that I can wear during the school day (my work area is right by a vent… burr).

But it’s not about me… It’s about the gifts. And since I love scarves, I decided to make some varieties to give away this year too.

*Each of these scarves are backed with a second fabric. This is optional, but I like the look when you wrap it, since the fabric will twist as you wear it.

Infinity Scarf:  2 pieces of fabric that measure 24″x42″ (or one piece that measures 48″x42″ and fold it in half lengthwise)

1.  Sew the long sides of your front and back fabrics together.

2.  Match up the two short sides so the top and bottom seams line up (right sides together). Start sewing, matching the right sides together as you go. This is really awkward, because the fabric will twist and you can’t make it all the way around the circle.

3.  When you can’t sew any further, push the unfinished part through the opening. Hand stitch the rest of the way around (see this tutorial if you need help).

4.  Press your scarf and topstitch around the top and bottom.

My sister, Shannon, reluctantly agreed to model the scarves. This is the "lampshade" way to wear the scarf.

This is her high fashion pose, but it does show you what the finished scarf looks like!

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Patchwork Scarf:  variety of squares and rectangles (raid your scrap box!), backing fabric that measures 120″x24″

1.  Lay out your scraps to create a large rectangle that measures 120″x24″. I just put mine right on top of my backing fabric. Make sure you leave yourself a little extra to take into account your seams as you sew your patches together (or cut down your backing piece when everything is sewn together, nobody will know!).

2.  Sew your patches together using a 1/2″ seam allowance.

3.  With right sides together, sew around the edge of the front and back of the scarf. Leave a gap about 4″ wide so you can turn the scarf right side out.

4.  Turn right side out. Pin your gap and topstitch around the whole scarf.

5.  Optional:  Quilt your patchwork scarf. I chose to do some running the length of my fabric, but widthwise stitches or free motion would look great too!

Can you imagine anything more exciting than wearing this scarf? Right?

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Braided Scarf: I used this tutorial from Put Up Your Dukes because there were such good pictures and directions.

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Pleated Scarf:  2 pieces of fabric that measure 120″x24″
The idea for this scarf came from the Make It and Love It tutorial for a pleated pillow.

1.  With right sides together, sew around the edge of the front and back of the scarf. Leave a gap about 4″ wide so you can turn the scarf right side out.

2.  Turn right side out. Pin your gap and topstitch around the whole scarf.

3.  At one end, make a line of pins across your scarf at every inch. Do this for 16″. Repeat on the other end.

4.  Match the first two rows of pins together. Repin so that you’re creating a gather. Repeat for rows 3 and 4, etc.

5.  Sew a 1/2″ seam, lining up the fold created in step for on your 1/2″ mark. Press so the pleats lay flat.

6.  Following your topstitch, restitch just the pleats so they continue to stay flat. I also ran a stitch down the middle. Repeat on the other side of the scarf.

This was before we started getting ridiculous.

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Mitten Scarf:  2 pieces of fabric that measure 120″x24″ (make sure one fabric is warm and fuzzy since this is for cold weather)

1.  With right sides together, sew around the edge of the front and back of the scarf. Leave a gap about 4″ wide so you can turn the scarf right side out.

2.  Turn right side out. Pin your gap.

3.  Time to create the mitten pockets. Fold up the end 16″ (make sure you have the warm and fuzzy fabric on the inside of that fold). Stitch the sides of the pocket down. I did two stitches–one at 1/2″ and one at 1/4″ just to reinforce it. This stitching will also close the gap from where you turned your scarf right side out.

Warm and Cozy

And when your arms are cold, you can put them in the pockets too!

Since this friend has to be outside so much, I also made her a pair of handwarmers to stick in the mitten/pocket part. That tutorial is found at A Girl and a Glue Gun.

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