Liberty Scarf

You are going to LOVE what our lovely friend Lauren (of My Aunt June fame) made for us. You are the very best Lauren!!

As soon as I saw the new Liberty that Bon Bon had gotten in, I new I had to have some. I've been collecting bits of Liberty fabric for a few years, mostly just to look at and pet, because I am usually a bit intimidated by the thought of cutting into it. I remember when I first became obsessed with the cult of Liberty of London, just LONGING for a place where I could find it without going to New York or London (or paying for shipping from those places!), and how my MIND WAS BLOWN when I finally discovered that Bon Bon carried it. Anyway, my adoration of the fabric has, ironically, always kept me from using it, until last week.

Going in to pick some up, I couldn't help but notice how well this piece (Douglas Stripe) coordinated with several of the shot cottons. I had seen some lovely figure 8 scarves on both Anna Maria Horner's blog, and also Alex at Teaginny Designs had made an absolutely stunning version, so I was dying to make my own. I strayed a bit from Anna Maria's tutorial, but here is how I did it.

You'll need:

1/2 yard Liberty cotton lawn or similar lightweight silky fabric, such as Anna Maria Horner's voiles

1/2 yard shot cotton

sewing machine, thread, & hand sewing needle

1. Cut both of your fabrics into (2) 9" strips from selvedge to selvedge. Take the Liberty and pin the two pieces together at one of the short ends, right sides together. Stitch together, 1/4 from the edge. Press open. Repeat with the shot cotton.

2. Pin your two long strips, right sides together, along both of the long sides. The Liberty strip will be approximately 18" longer than the shot cotton strip, trim that off and save for small projects. Stitch along the long sides, 1/4 inch from the end, creating a giant tube. Turn inside out and press flat.

3. Take one end of the tube, and fold it to the outside, as if you were cuffing a shirt. Pull that opening all the way to the other opening. Note that outer half of the tube, that you have just pulled up, will be inside out. For lack of a better illustration, imagine it as taking a rubber glove halfway off, and meeting the opening of the glove to the fingertips. Make sure that the scarf isn't twisted at any point on the inside our the outside of your tube.

4. Pin the two openings together, matching the seams, and sew all the way around, leaving a 4" opening in the middle of the shot cotton side. Pull the scarf right side out through that opening and press flat. Press the seam allowances under at the opening and then hand sew shut, being sure to not sew through the Liberty layer. I used a Ladder Stitch, but you can also use a running stitch.

5. Put it on and enjoy!