Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today I thought I would attempt to make my perfect headscarf.
As I have mentioned in one of my previous blogs, the main reason I want to make
headscarves is because I find it difficult to find the perfect dimension to fit my head comfortably and have
enough material left over to do a bow or
something on top. This is also a simple project for a novice to begin with so I got stitching.
So in order to make the headscarf I looked at how to do
hemming and more importantly, mitered corners. These little corners make square
and rectangular fabric so neat and tidy that I just had to learn how to do
them. I went on to You Tube and found this great tutorial by TreadleLady - link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdOSLpZ37kU
...plus another great site was recommended to me by my Twitter
sewing friends - see link below:
http://www.craftstylish.com/item/13024/how-to-make-cocktail-and-dinner-napkins/page/all
Both tutorials are great and looked easy to follow so I began on my
stitching quest. BTY - I'm not going to give a blow by blow account as you can
get this from the super tutorials above. I'm going to describe how I got on as
a beginner and what additional pearls of wisdom I can share to all you new
fellow stitching novices.
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| First attempt - the willie warmer |
I thought I ought to practice first as although it looked
simple from the tutorials, I had a sneaky suspicion that these little corners
were more tricky than they seemed. I used some left over material from my tote
back and ironed the edge to about an inch (sorry if I jump from inches to cm -
I like to mix a bit of old and new together !). I then brought this back to the
sewing machine and followed the tutorial. Well, my first attempt was a
shambles! It ended up looking like a willy warmer gone wrong and the corners
were so uneven that I could only sew the hem three out of the four sides!
So attempt two - I measured the fabric and cut it using my
new Pyrm rotary cutter. With even corners and ironing back about a half an inch
of fabric I took to the sewing machine again. This attempt was better although
the corners were still not great and the hem was rather wonky.
My new motto has definitely got to be 'if at first you don't succeed; try, try again' as I gave these
tricksy corners a final go. I measured and trimmed the fabric. I ironed about a
third of an inch all the way round and tried out these corners again - and
bingo - I was impressed. Third time lucky! Tip:
although bigger is normally easier to practice on, I didn't find this. With this third attempt being a triumph I
thought I would give my headscarf a whirl.
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| Measuring up |
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| Cutting up |
This time I made sure all the measurements were completely
accurate. I cut an 82cmx82cm piece of fabric using my Fissler scissors, Pyrm
rotary cutter, metal ruler, tape measure and craft mat. This was the first time I had cut fabric to
size before and my tip on this is to buy a quilting ruler. I have not bought
one yet but I think this help to achieve straight lines and be able to put
enough pressure on the fabric to stop it from moving. Anyway, after much measuring,
cutting and slicing I was ready to prepare my scarf for stitching. I ironed a
hem a third of inch wide and constantly measure as I ironed to ensure that the
hem was consistent all the way around. This may sound anal but by doing this
you are more likely to get a straight hem and great mitered corners. After
pressing I went and did my corners. I followed the tutorial to guarantee I did
not make any slip ups. Tip: Do try to
make sure the corners are the same length as this is crucial for final
hemming. I pinned the hem as there was
almost a metre of material and would aid the sewing of the hem. I took the
fabric back the machine and sewed my hem and ta-dah- one completed headscarf! This made me very happy and
although it took about 3 hours to get the technique of the mitered corners
right (plus bobbin winding, re-threading of the machine and other little
dilemmas) I now have a headscarf that I made and will wear with pride!
Hint and tips
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| Pinned headscarf ready to stitch |
- Equipment: Iron, craft mat, metal ruler, rotary cutter or
fabric scissors, tape measure, fabric, pins, thread and a sewing machine
- Patience - oh my, I mention this every time but as I'm setting
out on this adventure I can't stress it enough!
- Check the bobbin for thread - luckily mine ran out on
attempt three so was not a major disaster, but I had forgotten so please
check - especially when stitching large
amounts of fabric
- Make sure you measure the hem - this is will help when
making the mitered corners
- Measure the fabric correctly - I thought I had and instead
of being an 80cmx80cm, it is actually 78cmx78cm so not quite perfect! I think I
should have cut the fabric at 83cm or 84cm but I will know for next time
Enjoy and take your time!
Happy Stitching x
