Elegant Gifting Silky Scarf Tutorial
If you love fabric, you’ll know how much this rings true: I saw this pattern and immediately thought, “This would make a great scarf!” The most difficult part of this project was deciding what size to make it. There are so many choices — no really, there are! Just look at your own collection and see if they are all the same.
I have skinny width, light weight scarves, skinny, heavy weight ones, medium width light and heavy, chunky ones, scarves with fringe, scarves with tassels, squares, rectangles, pashminas, wraps, and tiny neck kerchiefs (that are great for accenting a purse handle).
Never having sewn a scarf before, I can tell you this: I will make one (or 50) again. Scarves are an accessory that has stood the test of time for more than 3,000 years, first appearing circa 1350 B.C. We all know the scarf is more than a bunch of fabric to hide your neck away from cold weather. Hermes, Pucci, Ferragamo and Cartier all have sought-after pieces, inciting bidding wars over some of their most famous (and coveted) designs.
Luxury doesn’t have to have have a $1,500 price tag, however. Run to your fabric store and pick out your favorite silky print. A few straight stitches later, and you’ll have yourself an elegant accessory.
This is a medium width, medium weight scarf, perfect for spring and cool summer days or as an accent to an outfit in any season. It has enough substance to stand on its own little scarf feet, but it isn’t really going to keep you warm in winter. For a winter piece, you could try this tutorial from Martha to make this petite, cozy scarf.
But let’s get right to how to make an elegant silk scarf, shall we?
Your cuts will depend on the fabric width and shape you choose for your scarf. For a scarf that measures 12 inches wide by 70 inches long, I cut two pieces of fabric at 13 x 36.5.* Other than your standard sewing supplies, that’s it!
* I chose JoAnn’s Simply Silky Prints Cosmos Poppy Spray Peachskin and got this $12.99 / yard fabric for $3.89 (in store). I bought one yard because I wanted to make a project with the left-over. This
is the one I’m getting next because I think it would make a beautiful scarf (partner link).
Step 1: Join the fabrics (French seam)
The first step is to join the two pieces together. I used a French seam because the fabric I chose frayed. The French seam locks in the raw edges, and because the joining of the material was right at the neck, I knew it was the right choice. You could follow this tutorial from Sewing Arts Center if you aren’t sure how to do a French seam. Look at how it locks everything in so neat and tidy.
Step 2: Hem.
I learned how to make a hand-sewn rolled hem but the length of this scarf made me rethink doing it by hand. If you’re making a kerchief or a small square scarf, the rolled hem by hand on silky fabrics looks both polished and posh.
Because I wanted to use my machine, I followed this tutorial starting at about 1:50 in (if you want to skip ahead). I didn’t follow her tutorial (I wanted the French seams), but you could if you had fabric that doesn’t fray. This technique was so easy because I only needed one pin (to get it started). The rest of the ‘hemming’ is done while you’re sewing.
It goes very fast and I’ve already used the technique on another project. Even though there was no pinning, it looks very clean.
I folded down the short sides while hemming to get the look below, but you could try for mitered corners… I am not yet ready to jump into that part of the pool just yet.
Whatever way you decide to sew the snazziest corners, you’re done with your scarf!
I wanted to wrap this in a way that could travel well because I’m bringing it with me on an airplane. Packing and presenting it in a box would take up valuable space in my luggage (that I’m sharing with the kiddo), so I needed something that could pack flat.
Now listen: there might be a tutorial for this somewhere but I don’t even know what to call it, so I don’t know where to start looking. I’m going to call it the fold-over gift pouch.
I used a piece of black satin at 10 x 16 inches (I had this on hand, so you’ll have to price this). I also had a scrap piece of the floral fabric at 4 x 9.5 inches.
I used the fold over hemming technique (video link above) on every side before proceeding. Although this satin isn’t the cheap stuff I use for my daughter’s dress up clothes, it still frays and I wanted to hide all of that.
After all sides were hemmed, I folded the bottom up 3.5 inches and sewed along the edges, trying to get right on top of them hemming stitch. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t, but I couldn’t get too worked up because it’s not as though this was the actual present.
I folded down the top and tucked in the sides at an angle, sort of like the top of an envelope. I’m sure there are ways to get this exactly the same on each side – it probably involves math – but I just kind of guessed at it.
Once the pouch had the shape, I used my 4 x 9.5 inch piece of floral fabric as an accent for the front. Tucking under the raw edge, I sewed it directly to the satin bag.
And you’re done with a beautiful, silky pouch that matches your beautiful, silky scarf! What do you think? Is this a share-worthy gift? If so, I would love it if you would use the sharing buttons (hovering at your left) to share this with your friends and followers.
