circle infinity scarf

Who doesn't like a nice warm circle scarf for fall? Here's one I made from colorful knit fabric:

My infinity scarf is considerably less infinite than many others out there, partly because I don't like drowning in a vast sea of fabric but mostly because I ran out of yardage. 

I bought this knit because I liked the colors and it had a more interesting design than any knit I'd ever seen at Joann's. The girl cutting the fabric said, "Yeah it's kinda cool but I wouldn't wanna look at it all the time." Then she proceeded to tell me about the purple tulle she was making a skirt out of. To each her own.

I originally tried to make a simple short-sleeved dress out of it, but accidentally chopped the hem way too short and couldn't bear to wear it as a bulky pocketed short-sleeve shirt. The knit is heavy and sweatshirty -- not good for a dress anyway -- but is too cozy to waste. So I dutifully seam-ripped it apart, and salvaged enough yardage (in increments) to create what would become a circle scarf.

                           

I stitched together each small section to create a long single layer of fabric. It ended up measuring over 9 feet long, yikes:

I've seen some tutorials that just stitched together the two short edges here and called it a day (see Come On, Ilene!), but I didn't want the wrong side to be exposed at all when I wore it. My crappy scissors hack at my fabric, so even on a knit the raw edges look bad. So I folded the scarf in half lengthwise (right sides together) and stitched the long edge, leaving the short ends open so I could turn it right side out. It's essentially a (really) long tube.

I then brought the two ends together to form a large circle. I wanted a clean seam to close the loop, so I stitched the two ends, right sides together, as much as it would allow me (you can't go all the way around as it is). This formed a little gap that I had to hand-stitch closed.

So once I sewed, it looked like this on one side:

And this on the other: 

I whipstitched the opening closed, making sure the raw edges were folded under. There's probably a better hand stitch out there that would be less noticeable, but since this is a scarf that is bundled up anyway, I didn't worry about small imperfections.

The end!

It's skinnier than I'd probably like, but since it's so long I can wrap it around my neck about four times to create enough volume.

Easy and affordable, the best kind of project.

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Project linked to: 

I Heart Nap Time

and

Mine for the Making DIY Diva Thursdays

summer to fall: dress alteration

I bought a linen Mossimo dress from Goodwill for $5 this summer. It is (was) a halter top, which I don't like, but it fits well and is an A-line shape and a lovely shade of green, all of which I do like. Bonus: the skirt is lined so I don't need to wear a slip, AND it has in-seam pockets.




The halter style signifies summer to me, and since this dress is solid color and fairly long, it should be able to be worn in colder months as well. I typically prefer base pieces that can be worn year-round with some smart layering, and halter tops don't really let you do that. Plus they're just kinda juvenile.

To make this dress more friendly for autumn and an office environment, I simply readjusted the straps so they laid over my shoulders and attached to the bodice at the back. I marked the new length they needed to be (with bobby pins--not as secure as pins but easier to use with one hand when you're your own dress form):
I snipped a little below this and folded the raw edges down into the strap...

Pinned them where they needed to go...

Then sewed them on, retracing the existing stitches along the back of the bodice.


I cut the scrap ends of the halter straps to make three belt loops.

Pressed them in so long edges met in the middle.

Placed them around the waist of the dress, folded down the short raw edges and top-stitched. (I act like this step was easy, but I in fact messed up so many times and actually threw my seam ripper in rage after my fourth time of accidentally catching a strap or something on the underside of my stitches).

Simple changes and yet so much better. Throw on a cardi and welcome to fall.