Saturday, November 16, 2013

The Stay Put Scarf Tutorial

Hey all!!! If you are over from Shwin and Shwin, welcome and take a peek around! (We had a fantastic Black Friday Sale Announcement yesterday!) I'm so excited to to be on the Pattern Anthology Tour.

When I was asked to do a scarf the first thing that popped into my head was a long, luxurious, cushy knit scarf. The second thing that popped into my head was an image of said scarf being dropped in the mud, dragged through the park, and eventually left, ragged and pilly, in the lost and found at school.


He's 4,and I wanted to make him a scarf that worked for him. The stay put scarf is made from less than half a yard of flannel (although you could use nearly any fabric-- even fleece!) It's quick and inexpensive to make, which means that I can make him as many as we need to get through the season.
And best of all, it's easily washable-- unlike the hand knit I was planning on making. And the keyhole makes the scarf stay put and mimics the lines on the Berkshire Blazer from Pattern Anthology.


To make the scarf, you'll need a rectangle of fabric that is 15"x WOF. This will be about 43-45 inches, which is a perfect length for a child's scarf.

Fold the fabric in half, right sides together, stitch along all 4 sides leaving an opening for turning. Stitching even the folded side will make for a nicer finish. Turn and top stitch.

 You could stop there, but I find that keyhole scarves (like this one I made my daughter) are essential for keeping the scarves on the neck, and off the park bench.

To do this, we need to make a long buttonhole-- longer than your automatic buttonhole maker likely makes.
But don't fret, my pet*-- making a oversized button hole is easy, even if you haven't done one before.

Mark out where you'd like your button hole to be with chalk. I made my mark starting 7" from one end, and 3" long.
 (It's best that you play around with the button hole settings on some scrap before doing your first scarf.) Using a tight narrow zig zag, stitch a line on either side of the marked line.
 Then, find a zig zag stitch that will cover the space between two and bar tack the top and bottom of the buttonhole.
 I found that the flannel frayed terrible when i used the regular stitch ripper/button hole to cut the space between the buttons. A pair of snips was much cleaner.

And you are done! Although it took a bit to finish the first one of these, I'm going to whip up a bunch for both my kiddos-- and not worry about them getting dirty or lost.

Here's a close up of how the scarf looks tucked into the keyhole.

And I love how it keeps his little neck warm.

You can purchase the Berkshire Blazer pattern at Pattern Anthology. The pattern has a clever construction (which you know I have a soft spot for!). I did have issues with the fit, so if you do end up making the pattern I suggest checking the desired length, sleeve length, and width against the pattern pieces.

Thanks for stopping by over the weekend!