Refashion It! The Shirred Scarf Tutorial

 

Now that exams are over, I had a little time here and there to sew and finish some things that were lying around for months. Dress #8 of my 27 Dresses Challenge is practically finished. The weather here in London just hasn’t been good enough to take proper pictures. So check out the blog at the beginning of the week if you’re interested in seeing the ‘ugliest dress I’ve ever sewn’ 🙂

Until then, here’s a quick and easy tutorial for the weekend.

It’s time for upcycling some old scarfs for summer!

All you need:

-a scarf (lightweight fabric such as silk, chiffon, …). Choose a scarf that is long enough. Consider that after shirring it will be only half as long as it used to be!

– elastic thread (and a sewing machine!)

Wind an open bobbin with your elastic thread, not too tight and not to loose. Machine winding with your sewing machine might wind it too tight. If you’re too impatient winding it by hand, you can do it with your machine, holding the thread in your hand. That way you’re able to control the tension and it doesn’t get too tight.

Insert the bobbin as usual. You can make the bobbin thread tension tighter, if your machine has that option. I just left mine how it was and it worked fine.

Pull the bobbin thread up manually. Make sure it doesn’t pop back into the machine (this happens when you don’t pull up enough thread).

Set the machine to a straight stitch and a long stitch length (like a basting stitch).

Sew two parallel rows, both the same distance from the side edge.  Don’t start directly at the upper edge, but a few inches below.

While sewing, hold the fabric behind the needle with your left hand and pull slightly. Don’t let it ruffle until you’re done. With your right hand keep the fabric straight while sewing. 

Before cutting the thread make sure you pull enough elastic thread out, otherwise it will pop back into the machine and you’ll have to pull it up again. You could also backstitch, but I didn’t want it to show on the scarf.

Cut the thread and use a needle to pull the upper thread through the fabric. Knots several times on the left side of the fabric before cutting the ends off.

You could also sew the two rows of shirring closer together to get an even more fluffy scarf. Try it out with a few old scarf or scraps of fabric to see what works best for you.