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Scarves are all the
rage these days, and infinity scarves even more so. I
know, because I own one, which in my elevated opinion
means they must be in vogue. Right? Just go with me
on this.
Infinity scarves
are basically scarves that are just one big long loop,
which makes them a breeze to make yourself. The fun then
comes in adding embroidery and texture to really give
your scarf that edge. I say there’s no better way to be
edgy than to combine the soft and elegant texture of
lace with a delicate but dark embroidery design.
Plus, if you have
the right hoop, this is a great time to pull out a great
big design. Even if it means some of it will get lost in
the scarf! Let your embroidery be more than a “sticker”.
Let it loop and fold into the texture. It’s a gorgeous
but subtle way to let it shine.
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To make an infinity
scarf, you’ll need:
- Scarf fabric 1
1/2 yards long, and at least 14 inches wide
- Lace of the
same length, at least 7 inches wide. You’ll want to
use lace that has a finished, decorative edge.
- Sheer mesh cutaway stabilizer,
like Floriani No Show Mesh or Sulky Soft 'n' Sheer
- Light-stitching embroidery design
- Scissors and
pins
- Invisible
thread (optional, and not pictured because, because,
uh, it’s invisible. Yeah.)
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Let’s start with the piece we need to
embroider. You’ll want one long strip 1 1/2 yards long,
and 7 inches wide, or wider depending on your hoop size.
Hoop up your design about 6 inches up from one end. Or,
anywhere really.
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Designs for a
draping scarf like this are best kept light, but as you
can see, they can be pretty big if you’d like a nice,
bold statement.
I used the
largest size of the beautiful guest artist design from
Meg Adamson, and changed the colors to reflect a
soft, gradual shift from white to pale yellow. Because
if there isn't something great about lace, pastels and
skulls. It will be so in this season, just you wait.
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Once your design is done, you can trim
of the excess width down to 7 inches, or keep it if you
want a wider scarf. Be sure you have enough of the
fabric left to make another strip the same size.
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Cut your second
piece of grey fabric to match, and cut a long piece of
lace the same size. Don’t worry right now about using
the decorative edge, that comes later.
If you're wondering
about the double layer of grey, it's because the lace
won’t be enough to cover the back of our embroidery on
it's own. If you happen to be doing this without
embroidery, you can skip that step. As a next step, I
highly advise you get into embroidery. Posthaste.
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With your design facing up, place your
strip of lace on top of it, taking care to line up the
edges. If your lace has a right side, it should be
facing down.
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Next, place your
other strip of scarf fabric on top, also right side
down. Pin through all three layers along the edges to
keep everything in place.
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Sew a seam around three sides of your
scarf, like shown. Easy peasy.
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Through the open
end, turn your scarf right side out again. Take care to
turn it right side out through the embroidered and the
lace layers, to assure the right pieces come out on top.
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Ordinarily, we would need to find a
sneaky way to sew these two seams together, but we’ve
got a little camouflage trick up our sleeve, so the end
just needs to be secure. I call this trick a "design
element". More seasoned veterans of my tutorials might
recognize this as what is sometimes referred to
as "laziness." Often I find that they're one and the
same.
Tuck one end of your scarf inside the
other, and sew a seam across them to secure your scarf
in a loop. No, that's not the design element part. I
have some standards.
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Ready for it? It's
time for that decorative lace edge to come in handy.
We’re going to add a stylish lace band across our scarf,
to hide our seam and pull in a great accent to the back.
Am I design savvy or what.
Cut a piece of lace
that’s about 14 inches long (or twice the width of your
scarf) and about 6 or so inches wide.
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Placing it over the seam, wrap your lace
around your scarf with the decorative edge facing out.
Now cut another piece of edged lace the
same size. We’re going to wrap this around our scarf
with the lace edging facing the opposite direction. To
hide where the two lace pieces meet, I trimmed the top
piece of lace around the edges of the patterns. This
way, your lace will blend more seamlessly into the
other.
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Wrap and pin them
both in place. Take care to see that the ends of the
lace are meeting together at the back of the scarf in a
way you’re happy with before you move on to the next
step.
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To stitch your lace down, either choose
thread that matches your lace color (thread and bobbin)
or use invisible thread, or as I like to call it, Ninja
Thread. It gets the job done by being all sneaky-like.
To best hide your stitches, sew along
the thickest part of the lace. I followed the thick
scalloped edge along one side. Classic ninja trick. Well
no, probably not. But it would be if they were in the
habit of constructing handmade scarves.
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To secure the raw
edge of your top lace piece, you’ll do the same thing,
though it may be a little more erratic given the shapes
you cut. Stitch as close to the edge as you can to keep
it secure, and follow the shapes through the thickest
part of the lace.
Finally, sew the
other scalloped side down. Your stitches should have
secured your lace at both the back and the front. You’re
done!
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Wear your scarf long, or double loop it
to show off your design.
Modern and edgy, yet delicate and
traditional, your scarf can blend the line between both.
Anything that can pull of both skulls and pastels
probably has you covered for any occasion.
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A large piece of
embroidery makes the perfect texture complement to the
lace, but smaller designs will work just as well.
Just remember, your
embroidery doesn’t always have to shout out loud, or be
always and forever in full view. Let it blend, fold and
sink into texture.
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Trust me, your stitches will still get
noticed.
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Looking for more inspiration for your light
and lacy scarf? Check out these beauties:
A Cup of Sparkle crafted a two-tone jersey
scarf simple enough to stitch by hand...
complete with pretty lace accents.
Wildflowers & Whimsy mixes linen and lace to
lovely effect.
Sweet Verbena rescued the materials from an
abandoned skirt project to make a simple yet
stunning circular scarf. And
Sea lo que sea shares a pretty scarf with
lace on each end, inspired by a schmancy
designer version.
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Suggested designs for this tutorial:
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