Wednesday, December 1, 2010

handmade gifts- day 2

Today, Echino scarves!


A few months back, I ordered some incredible Echino double gauze from Runner Girl Fabric when they had a 30% off coupon. Have you ever felt this stuff??? I am in love with its softness and beautiful colors. I paired the Echino up with shot cottons, and backed each scarf in wool and cashmere suiting that I had in my stash.


How to:

Cut your fabric:

(2) 9" x 21" rectangles double gauze
(1) 9" x 19" rectangle shot cotton
(1) 9" x width of fabric rectangle wool

Sew the two pieces of double gauze to each 9" end of the shot cotton rectangle using a 1/2" seam allowance, making sure that the pattern is oriented correctly on each end. Iron the seams open, and topstitch 1/4" along each side of the seam.


Lay the wool, right side up, on your work table. Lay the pieced double gauze and shot cotton right side down on top of the wool, smoothing well, and pin every few inches along the edges. If the ends don't match up (which they probably won't), even them up with the old rotary cutter. Sew together using a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving a 4" gap along one edge for turning.

Iron to set the seams. Clip the corners, turn right side out, poke out the corners using a knitting needle, and iron the edges flat.

At this point, you can pin the edges again. I chose not to, but did decrease my presser foot pressure from a 7 to a 3 to keep the double gauze from shifting. You could also use a walking foot for this step. Topstitch 1/4" around the edges using a coordinating thread. And done!


The completed scarves are lightweight yet cozy, and decadently soft! The measurements allow for very little waste, as each cut of the double gauze and wools are a straight 1/4 yard. I figured out the cost of each scarf to be around $12, and they took approximately 45 minutes from start to finish.

(Please ignore the horridness of this low light bathroom self portrait--
I forgot to ask Rob to take a photo for me this morning!)
Rob comes from a family of 5 boys (plus a bonus brother who essentially makes it an even 6), plus I have a brother of my own. Tomorrow, I'll be sharing my gifts for the guys!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are gorgeous! I've made voile scarfs, which are lovely in spring/fall, but not exactly cozy when it's snowy out, but backing them with wool is a great idea.

felicity said...

Wow, are these ever beautiful!

Amy Friend said...

They came out so nicely Krista! And I actually really like the self portrait shot too! They will make fabulous gifts!! I would love some ideas for men so I look forward to seeing what you have for tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

Wow, those are REALLY gorgeous!

Leslie said...

i love these...i think you have some very lucky family members(i am assuming that is who you will be giving all these wonderful things to).

Lee said...

What a great idea. They're beautiful! Thanks for sharing this.

Rachel at Stitched in Color said...

Oh my goodness, those are fabulous! I love the way you paired up those fabrics, especially on the one you're wearing. I wish I could give my family such cool gifts, but they are so traditional in taste. Looking forward to tomorrow's post!

Claireabell said...

Oh my, these are so lovely! I have a lot of Echino but it's all cotton canvas - I had no idea they made double-gauze. Hmm... time to go shopping.

Poppyprint said...

Stunning. I've never felt that double gauze, but now I really want to! You look adorable smiling in your fabulous blue/green scarf. All of them are really, really beautiful.

I can't wait to see what you've made for the guys!

Poppyprint said...

p.s. who do I have to talk to about getting on your Christmas list?

Ariane said...

Oh these are gorgeous!! Such a great idea for gifts!!

Mary said...

THese are very nice! And what a great gift idea! I have thought of using voile but not considered the double gauze...excellent choice.

Dani said...

You are cute!

As are those scarves.

Would it be selfish to make myself one of these for Christmas? I'm thinking an all cotton version would go well down here in Houston. It's just too darn hot most of the year.

Andie Johnson said...

Yum - great idea yet again! Ok - I thought I was pretty well-educated about fabric, but double gauze? Might have to look that up.

Michele said...

I love, love, love these!