Tutorial: Easy Ruffled Scarf/Wrap

Four days until Christmas, can you believe it? Some might say that it's too late to craft any last-minute gifts, but to those people, I say "bah!" This lovely and cozy ruffled scarf/wrap can be made in less than an hour by even a beginning seamstress. I made mine in cashmere for extra luxury, but any soft fiber will do. Keep reading to see how it's done!


What you'll need: two thinly-knit sweaters, the bigger the better (hint: check the men's section of the thrift store for good options); a sewing machine or a needle and thread (if you are sewing by hand, beware that there are some long seams here - put in a good movie before you get started!); an iron to press everything nicely; straight pins and a pair of scissors.


Step 1: Choose the sweater that will be the body fabric of your scarf (the other sweater will be your ruffle). Cut it just inside each seam, and straight across the top below the collar. You will now have two identical rectangular pieces of fabric with two long raw edges, one short raw edge, and one short finished edge.

*A note on unraveling: most finely-knit sweater won't unravel when cut. To test yours, pull on the raw edges. If yours is one of the few that begins to unravel, use your sewing machine to zig-zag over all of your raw edges before you continue to the next step.*


Step 2: Place your rectangles right sides together, with the raw edges and the finished edges aligned. Sew a seam along the short raw edge, leaving a 5/8" seam allowance. Unfold and you will have one long rectangle. Press the seam flat and set it aside.

*A note on sewing sweater material with your sewing machine: if you've never sewn with sweaters before, take a minute to practice on scraps. You might need to adjust your needle-thread tension or your stitch length to get a clean seam. For this project, we are going to use a straight (non-stretch) stitch throughout.*



Step 3: Grab your second sweater and cut it into strips. My strips were four inches wide, but you might need to vary this based on the size of your sweaters. You need enough strips that when placed end-to-end, they wrap around your rectangle one and a half times.


Step 4: Sew your strips together at their short edges to make one loooooong strip. Be sure to keep your right side and wrong side consistent. Press all of the seams flat.


Step 5: Set your machine to its longest stitch length. Sew a line down one edge of your long strip, 1/4" away from the raw edge. Sew a second line 1/4" away the first. Leave your thread ends long on both sides.


Step 6: Working from each side, *gently* pull on your thread ends to gather your strip into a ruffle ("gently" is the key word here - you don't want your thread to break!). Keep gathering until your ruffle is short enough to wrap once around the outside edge of your rectangle.


Step 7: Starting at one corner, pin your ruffle to your rectangle, right sides together. Stitch around all four sides, then sew the last two short edges of the ruffle together at the corner.

That's it! Wrap it up in a pretty box and give it someone you love. It can be dressed up or down, and will keep the recipient warm, even on the coldest days of winter.



PS - thanks to S. for being my lovely model!