Learn how to make gifts for family, friends and pets with Annabel Wrigley’s easy-to-follow instructions in We Love to Sew Gifts (Fun Stitch Studio, 2015). From sewing machine basics to embellishments, buttons, and pom-poms, you can learn to make charming gifts to wear, use, and display. The following fleece scarf pattern is from “Gifts to Wear.”
What Do I Need?
• 1/2 yard of lovely fleece or wool fabric (at least 50 inches wide)
• 3 balls of yarn in fun colors
• Coordinating sewing thread
• Basic sewing supplies
Prepare the Pieces
Cut 2 pieces of scarf fabric to measure 8 x 50 inches.
The Fleece Scarf
1. Place the 2 scarf pieces right sides together and pin all the way around.
2. Mark a 5-inch-long no-sew zone near the center of a long edge of the scarf. This is the area that we do not want to sew.
3. Sew all the way around the edge of the presser foot on the edge of the fabric. Be sure to leave the no-sew zone open.
4. Trim the corners just outside the seamline. Don’t snip the stitching!
5. Turn the scarf right side out and iron it nice and flat.
6. Pin the hole closed, making sure that you have folded the raw edges in, so everything stays nice and neat.
7. Use a whipstitch to sew the hole closed.
The Multicolored Pom-Poms
1. Cut anchor slits in the middle of opposite edges of each piece of cardboard. Cut toward the center, but be sure not to cut all the way through. You want an inch or so in between the slits.
2. Place the end of the yarn in an anchor slit and wrap the first yarn color around the cardboard (50 times for thinner yarn or 30 times for fatter yarn).
3. Wrap the second color (75 times for thinners or 50 times for fatter).
Note: Every time you wrap a new color, make sure that it completely covers the last area of wrapping and each layer can spread out about 1 inch past the previous layer.
4. Wrap the third color (50 times for thinner or 30 times for fatter).
5. Cut a 10-inch piece of yarn and wrap it through the slits and around the yarn bundle and tie a double knot.
6. Tear away the cardboard carefully.
7. Tie another yarn knot on top of the previous knot, except this time try to tie it even tighter. It may help to have a friend’s finger hold down the knot!
8. Use small sharp scissors to cut through the pom-pom loops.
9. Give the pom-pom a haircut by evenly trimming the pom-pom down.
10. Use the other cardboard pieces and repeat Steps 2-9 to make a total of 4 pom-poms.
11. Sew a pom-pom to each corner of the scarf with thread. Make sure to pass the needle through the center of the pom-pom a few times and then finish off with a knot.
More Projects from We Love to Sew Gifts:
• Make a Fabric Basket
• Handmade Fabric Gift Bags
Reprinted with permission from We Love to Sew Gifts: Fun Stuff for Kids to Stitch and Share by Annabel Wrigley and published by C & T Publishing, 2015.