How to make a beautiful Faux Chenille Scarf

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Sewing Machine
Walking Foot
Chenille Cutter
1 1/2 YD of fabric or more
Pins
Rotary Cutter and Board
At least a 6 in. wide Ruler
2 paperclips

Step 1

The first step is obviously gather your supplies. This technique does not require a lot of skill, but does require a couple of specialty tools. One of which is a walking foot for your Sewing Machine, and the other is a Chenille Cutter. These are simple to find at your local craft store.
Step 2

Next after you have your supplies you want to pick out your fabric. This technique literally cuts the fabric apart, sews it together, then cuts it apart again. What makes these scarves beautiful is how they fray. So you want a fabric that frays easily. Another thing to consider is when you want to wear your scarf. If you looking at a spring, summer or fall scarf I would suggest rayon, its a light fabric that is silky an frays beautifully. It is not the greatest choice for winter scarfs though because the fabric can be very cold. For winter scarfs look for homespun flannel, fleece, some cottons, really anything that will fray well. You can tell what will fray well by looking that the end of the fabric, if there is a lot of fraying and loose strings at the end this fabric will work well. Once you have found a fabric, you want at least a yard and a half. If you want a longer scarf you can get more, more fabric the longer the scarf.
Step 3

Once you have your fabric you need to prep it. There is no need to wash your fabric, but you do need to iron it. Unfold your fabric and make sure you get all the wrinkles out. If you are using rayon this step can be difficult.
Step 4

Next you want to lay your fabric flat on a surface, your going to want enough space for all of your fabric. It doesn't matter which side of the fabric is up.
Step 5

Now for the hard part (well its not really that hard, but this part is as hard as it gets). We are going to start folding the fabric. With it laying flat on a surface you want to grab the lower right corner and bring it up parallel to the top of the fabric. Make sure your corner in the now upper right corner is perfect if you have more than 1 1/2 yards of fabric you could have some overhang from your now triangle of fabric, that is ok.
Step 6

Your fabric should look like this after this step.

You now want to grab the upper right corner and bring it down to meet the lower triangle. Try to make sure that the fabric stays flat and that it doesn't shift much.
Step 7

Take the middle point and fold it down to the bottom corner. This fold will make the fabric into a rectangle. If you have an extra flap you can now fold that over the rest of your fabric.
Step 8

Transfer your folded fabric onto your rotary board. Your first cut will be the folded straight edge. Cut off about 1/2 in. Just enough to get a perfectly straight edge to start off with.
Step 9

You are now going to cut your fabric into strips. How thick you cut your strips will determine how thick your scarf will be. I cut mine at 5 in. Cut as many strips as you can.
Step 10

As you unfold the strips that you cut you will find that each section has 2-3 separate pieces. Organize these strips by length.
Step 11

Find the longest strip. This is going to be your foundation piece. Add a paperclip to each end of fabric (this will make it easier to identify later). You want three layers of fabric on top of your foundation. You can put two shorter pieces together to make the length of the foundation. Just overlap the two pieces of fabric by about an inch. Once you have finished you should have one foundation piece with three layers of fabric stacked on top.
Step 12

Flip your stack of fabric over. Your foundation piece should be on top. Again add three more layers. You should now have 6 layers with one foundation layer in the middle. You can now pin your layers together.
Step 13

On one end of your scarf pull back the layers on both sides, leaving just the foundation piece. Cut the layers straight across. JUST the layers. You want the foundation piece to be longer to prevent accidents later.
Step 14

Now pull out your ruler and mark a line straight down the middle. This will be your first stitch line.
Step 15

Pull out your sewing machine. Make sure your walking foot is properly attached. Sew straight down your center line. Then move 3/8in over to sew your next line. 3/8 should be the size of your machine foot. Double check though because every machine is different. Continue to sew lines every 3/8in until you are 3/8in away from the edge on both sides.
Step 16

Here is the fun part! Now that you have sewn all of your layers together it is time to cut them apart! Use your chenille cutter for best result but you can use scissors if needed. Start with the end that has the long piece of foundation sticking out. Slip your scissors or chenille cutter under the first row. Cut this row all the way down to the end. Continue on until all rows on one side have been cut. Now flip the scarf over and cut open the layers on the other side.
Step 17

Now create the tassels. You can do this any way you want. Cut straight across or cut diagonally. Then you want to cut the rows, foundation and everything, about 6 in up (or however long you want your tassels to be).
Step 18

Finally just wash. You will want to take the scarf outside and shake real well as there will be lots of excess fabric that can clog up your machine. It is best to wash with jeans or towels and this will help really fluff up your scarf. Then dry and enjoy!!!!

Comments

timelystitches said

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on 10/30/2009 These are great directions. If you want to make a contrasting scarf of solid colors you need 1 yard for the foundation and 2 yards for the outer scarf that gets cut. If you are using print fabrics you will need two yards of each since the foundation will need to be doubled back to back for the print to show on both sides of the scarf.