Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Fun With Fleece




Since there are only twelve days till Christmas I thought I would title this post "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and do a post every day until Christmas, but then I realized that was too much pressure . . .




I've had a booklet from Hancock Fabrics that I picked up at a yard sale years ago caled "Fun With Fleece". It has all kinds of projects made out of fleece, with all the instructions, patterns, and tips needed.

I decided to make a hat and scarf for my granddaughter Rylan who lives in a colder climate for Christmas. She plays in the snow and needs to stay warm. She won't wear clothes that Grandma makes, but I figured I might be safe with a hat and scarf.

I first used a pattern for a hat which turned out terrible! It wasn't lined so it wouldn't be very warm, and the brim/band was floppy. It called for lapped seams, which made it look way too home made. I then tried serging, which worked better. But the band was just too limp, even thought I tried doubling the band by using a lining. Trash that one.





That's when I remembered the Fun With Fleece booklet in which I found instructions for making a hat without a pattern. You basically make a tube (aprx. 11" by 17"), sew the short sides and gather the top. I made two tubes - one for the lining and one for the outer fabric. I made the lining a few inches longer (aprx. 14" by 17") than the outside so that it could become the "brim" or hatband or whatever you call it. I decided I wanted about 4 inches of fringe on the top, so I used a rotary cutter and cut the fringe. I then used a piece of the selvedge to tie the top instead of sewing gathers. It turned cute and it was super fast and easy.

The booklet said to cut a scarf 9" wide. Again I used two fabrics, white for the outer fabric and pink with dots for the lining. I cut the scarf the width of the fabric. First I embroidered a winter owl motif on one end and two snowflakes on the other of the white fabric. I then cut off some of the excess fabric on the selvedge ends and made that into fringe, then top stitched the whole thing.

Both projects were fun and easy!

1 comment:

  1. That is so cute! I am amazed at what your Sewing/Embroidery machine will do.

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