Making your own scarves

[DawnM]

I would like just a few scarves to dress up my wardrobe.

 

I found one scarf that I kind of liked at a thrift store for $2.

 

I went shopping at the mall yesterday.  Scarves STARTED at $28 and I didn't even like any of them.  I also hit Target and Walmart and didn't like any of those either.

 

Here is what I need:

 

thin material, not wool or thick stuff

skinny scarf, not those wide bulk things

long enough to come down to my waist area to wear along the edge of a sweater or light jacket as an accent

 

I am thinking of hitting the fabric store and just making my own since i am not finding what I like online or at stores.   I do know how to sew and they don't seem hard to make, although I would prefer working from a pattern.

 

Has anyone made them?  

 

I am SHORT, very short, and I don't have a lot of neck, so anything bulky makes me look cut off at the neck and shorter.  Most scarves seem to be for tall, long necked people who look fine with bulk around the neck area.

 

 

[DawnM]

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Silk-Scarf

 

I am looking at this tutorial.  I need to figure out exactly what size I want I guess.  I like the longer, skinnier scarves.

[Guest]

I have not made any yet, but I was thinking of doing exactly this. Scarves can be absurdly expensive. (I have made knit scarves, but haven't made fabric ones yet.) You need to use a tape measure to decide how long you need the scarf to be. If you are planning on a drape style, this is very easy; just measure the length you want it to be by draping the tape measure as though it were the scarf. If you wanted to do tying, it would need to be longer and the standard is for the scarf to be as long as the wearer is tall. But it sounds like this is not what you want to do.

 

To sew it, you would need to put a narrow hem all the way around all the edges. To make a narrow hem, you fold in a 1/4" edge, then fold it again, then sew it closed. When I do this, I iron it and then pin it so it stays, removing the pins as I sew it down.

 

You could also buy Bias Tape. You would sew the bias tape all the way around the edges so the raw edges are sandwiched inside the bias tape. I'm thinking there's bound to be some YouTubes that show how to do either/both these techniques.

 

Good luck!

[DawnM]

I have not made any yet, but I was thinking of doing exactly this. Scarves can be absurdly expensive. (I have made knit scarves, but haven't made fabric ones yet.) You need to use a tape measure to decide how long you need the scarf to be. If you are planning on a drape style, this is very easy; just measure the length you want it to be by draping the tape measure as though it were the scarf. If you wanted to do tying, it would need to be longer and the standard is for the scarf to be as long as the wearer is tall. But it sounds like this is not what you want to do.

 

To sew it, you would need to put a narrow hem all the way around all the edges. To make a narrow hem, you fold in a 1/4" edge, then fold it again, then sew it closed. When I do this, I iron it and then pin it so it stays, removing the pins as I sew it down.

 

You could also buy Bias Tape. You would sew the bias tape all the way around the edges so the raw edges are sandwiched inside the bias tape. I'm thinking there's bound to be some YouTubes that show how to do either/both these techniques.

 

Good luck!

 

 

You are most likely right.  I will have to look later.   I will be out most of today.  While I am out I think I will hit a fabric store.  

 

Although now that I am thinking about all of it, there may be some scarves at the thrift store that just need to be altered too.  That would be even cheaper than the fabric store.

 

If I can get 3 made, that will give me a good head start.  

[Guest]

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Silk-Scarf

 

I am looking at this tutorial. I need to figure out exactly what size I want I guess. I like the longer, skinnier scarves.

Yes! This is exactly what I was describing with the tiny hem. It's a pretty good tutorial. (Although, did you notice? "Velvet's" using an apostrophy for a plural! Mrs. Mungo would not approve!)

[Caroline]

You could do a rolled hem, also, for a nice finished edge.

[DawnM]

Yes! This is exactly what I was describing with the tiny hem. It's a pretty good tutorial. (Although, did you notice? "Velvet's" using an apostrophy for a plural! Mrs. Mungo would not approve!)

 

:lol:

 

Dead kitty.

[Guest]

You can ALWAYS find scarve's at thrift store's. I have been given about 50 scarve's from my MIL. And my mom and have kept about 20 of them. The rest were of trendy-back-in-the-day color's.

 

I wear scarve's all the time to camo my hair loss. Some of them have serging on the edge; the one's that have a very narrow hem (1/8" or less) are my favorite's. Quarter-inch hem's give the fabric too much structure, so the scarf will not drape as nicely. Most of my nicer scarve's are hand-stitched rolled hem's. And most sewing machine's have a special foot for doing super small rolled hem's.

 

I hope you got my little joke. Dave Barry said that the apostrophe is used to tell the reader that an "s" is coming.

[ChrisB]

Or you can try hand dyed silk scarves.  DD makes them for herself and selling.  She buys these from Dharma Trading and dyes them with art tissue paper from Dick Blick.  There are online tutorials to explain the application how-to with a water and vinegar solution and then drying in the dryer for about 5 minutes to set the colors.  Happy creating!!

Edited July 24, 2016 by ChrisB

[PrincessMommy]

Or you can try hand dyed silk scarves.  DD makes them for herself and selling.  She buys these from Dharma Trading and dyes them with art tissue paper from Dick Blick.  There are online tutorials to explain the application how-to with a water and vinegar solution and then drying in the dryer for about 5 minutes to set the colors.  Happy creating!!

 

I was going to recommend this too.  I made that exact thing last year. 

 

You can also tie them up in knots and then do a tea bath.  It turns a very nice creamy tan color. 

 

 

Dawn, do you have Pinterest?  Look there for dying silk scarves.

[justasque]

You are most likely right.  I will have to look later.   I will be out most of today.  While I am out I think I will hit a fabric store.  

 

Although now that I am thinking about all of it, there may be some scarves at the thrift store that just need to be altered too.  That would be even cheaper than the fabric store.

 

If I can get 3 made, that will give me a good head start.  

 

You might also find a skirt or top in the thrift store from which you can harvest the fabric for a scarf.

 

I agree with others that a hand-stitched rolled hem would be the best finish for the kinds of scarves you are describing.

 

To get the right finished size, measure the scarf you have that you like, and add about 1/2" on each side to allow for the hemming.  (That is, 1/2" + 1/2" on the length, and the same 1" total on the width.)   Or you could simply lay the scarf you like on the fabric and cut 1/2" away from each edge.

 

Note that when buying fabric off the bolt, the selvage-to-selvage width might not be long enough for the length of your scarf, meaning you will have to either seam pieces together or buy a piece long enough to cut the fabric lengthwise.  Do a little sketch, with measurements, of how you will lay out your scarf so you can determine how much fabric you will need to buy.

[abcmommy]

Do you knit?  I love the lacy knt scarves.  I do knit and pick lovely yarns and make them for me and friends

 

[GailV]

Or you can try hand dyed silk scarves.  DD makes them for herself and selling.  She buys these from Dharma Trading and dyes them with art tissue paper from Dick Blick.  There are online tutorials to explain the application how-to with a water and vinegar solution and then drying in the dryer for about 5 minutes to set the colors.  Happy creating!!

 

Wow, that sounds really really cool!  Thanks for posting -- I'm inspired!  (And having a terrifically hard time not ordering the blanks and paper immediately, in spite of various other projects that must be done before I go off on a new tangent.)

 

I would think binding with purchased bias tape with ruin the drape of the scarf since it's usually that stiff cotton.  

[ChrisB]

Wow, that sounds really really cool!  Thanks for posting -- I'm inspired!  (And having a terrifically hard time not ordering the blanks and paper immediately, in spite of various other projects that must be done before I go off on a new tangent.)

 

:thumbup1:   They're not hard to make, and it's cool to see what you can create.  Have fun with your new tangent!!   ;)   

[DawnM]

Um, guys......I have a FULL TIME job starting......learning a new trick of dying or hand painting.......makes me twitchy.  I am quite sure I would ruin 50 of them before I would get a good one in there.

 

I appreciate the thought, and I would buy them FROM some of you who sell them, but sewing is about the extent of my creativity.

 

Thanks for the tip about shirts, that is a good thought too.

 

If I find them already made, in what I want, at the thrift store, I will leave them as is, but my guess is that I will need to do some tweaking to get what I want.

 

And no, I don't knit, and have no desire to do it.  I just don't.  

[domestic_engineer]

bumping this for you in the hopes that you can find it!

[DawnM]

THANK YOU!  I now have about 12 scarves.  I found 10 at a very loaded thrift store.  Actually, I found 11, but I hand washed all of them, and one disintegrated when I washed it.

 

I will wait to make anything.