How to Make a House Scarf

Scarves are an excellent beginner's sewing project for kids. Little Tomato wanted to learn how to sew last year, so we had worked on a few exercises (which I will link at the bottom) and this was her first real project.

Gryffindor & Ravenclaw Scarves

Supplies Needed:

Scissors or Rotary Blade

Cutting Mat (if using rotary Blade)

Ruler or Measuring Tape

Pins

Fleece:

1 yd each color, two colors per scarf. This yields (5) scarves.

* Most fleece I have found is 58" wide. This yielded 5 scarves of each house (Gryffindor & Ravenclaw). Little Tomato and her friends are 9-10 years old, so this scarf length was perfect on the girls, at around 5'-6" in length. If you are making scarves for younger kids, you can get away with less yardage to yield shorter scarves.

Instructions:

Fleece is a great fabric for this quick scarf, as you don't have to worry about finishing ends. However, due to the stretchy nature of the fabric, it isn't the easiest to get perfectly straight cuts. You may find that you have extra (or not enough) fabric when you are cutting the fleece into stripes. Please note, the dimensions are forgiving. If you have any stripes that are noticeably wider, you can make these the end pieces that are cut into fringe or trim them down to match.

Step 1:

Cut the fleece lengthwise into 7" strips.  This will give you a total of (5) strips of each color.

You will have (4) strips that are 7" x 58", and one strip that is about 8" x 58". You can either cut this strip down to match the 7" size, or plan for this to be the end stripe that becomes your fringe.

Step 1: Cut Along Dotted Lines

Step 2:

* Fleece can have one side with a slightly different nap or texture than the other. If your selected colors have a front & back that don't match, you will want to make sure that you are pinning your fleece together 'right sides facing' on this next step.

Pin two colors together (ex. red & gold) lengthwise.

You can choose your seam allowances for your comfort level, but I would recommend at least a 1/4" seam allowance. Sew together.

Repeat this step, adding all of the strips in a color alternating pattern until all are sewn together. 

** If you chose to keep one strip wider (the 8" length), make sure that these are the first and last strips, as these will be the ends that you cut into fringe. See diagram below in Step 3 for illustration.

Once completed, this will give you a single piece of striped fleece, at 58"W x 2 yards (minus seam allowances) with a total of (10) stripes, (5) of each color.

*** MAKE SURE WHEN YOU ARE PINNING TOGETHER THAT YOU PAY ATTENTION AND HAVE ALL OF THE SEAMS ON THE BACKSIDE. I made this mistake and had to seam-rip out a full strip that had the seam on the front side. Not fun.

Step 2: Sewing Strips of Red & Gold together 

Step 3:

At the beginning of this step, you have a single piece of fleece that is striped.

Now you are going to cut the fabric widthwise, to yield (5) long striped pieces of fleece. See diagram below.

Step 3: Cut Along Dotted Lines.

On this step, you will have a little excess fabric, as shown above. You will find that, with the fleece salvage ends and the stretchiness of the fabric when you sewed the stripes together, this excess is much less than the illustration shows in reality. 😋

Step 4:

Now you should have (5) pieces of striped fleece that are 11" wide. 

Take one of these pieces and set the other (4) aside.

Fold the fleece lengthwise so that the finished (right) side is on the inside, together. 

Step 4: Fold Along Middle & Pin Long Side Together with Right Sides Facing.

Pin the long side together, making sure to line up the stripe colors as closely as possible. 

* All of your seams should be visible - the right side of the fleece should be folded together.

Sew along this pinned side. 

* Once again, seam allowances are to your preference, but I recommend at least 1/4". 

You are essentially making a tube, so that when you finish sewing the long side together and turn it right-side-out, all of the messy seams are inside the tube.

Repeat with the other (4) pieces of fleece until you have (5) completed 'tubes.'

Step 5:

Once you have completed all (5) tubes, turn them all inside out, so the finished side is exposed. 

If you want fringe, cut about halfway into the end stripes. I did not measure these, but just 'eyeballed' a general 1/4"-1/2" width for the cuts.

Voila, House Scarves!

Gryffindor Scarves

Ravenclaw Scarves

And for some fun sewing practice sheets for kids, check out the sewing machine practice sheets HERE from the blog "So Sew Easy!"  

The Many Lives of a Drop Cloth : Floor Cushion Tutorial

A couple of weeks ago I bought a 9'-0" x 12'-0" drop cloth. I had the idea of using the fabric as a canvas for several projects. (Get it, canvas fabric as a canvas? I love puns.)

The first project that came to mind was a floor cushion for a reading area in the learning room.

I love THIS RH floor cushion, but not the price tag...

My final floor cushion made from drop cloth fabric:

Drop cloth floor cushion.

Process:

Materials:
Drop cloth
Thread
Fabric Marker (or if you are like me, grab the nearest Sharpie marker)
Contrast fabric, if desired, for the straps
Stuffing

* I used 1/2" seam allowances.

Fabric Cuts:
Qty. (2) - 25" x 25" squares for the top and bottom.
Qty. (4) - 7" x 26" strips for the edges.
Qty. (8)- 2" x 8" strips for the corner straps, (4) strips for color "A" and (4) strips of color "B."

* If you did not want the front and back of the corner straps to contrast, instead of Qty. (8)- 2" x 8" strips,  use Qty. (4)- 4" x 8" strips for the corner straps.

On the (4) edge pieces, I drew a solid line 2" from the top and 2" from the bottom. These were the top and bottom lines for the alphabet. I then drew a dotted line in the center. I used a ruler to make the lines straight, and to make the dotted line 1/2" long with 1/2" spacing.

I then drew the alphabet on each edge:
Side 1: "a" through "g"
Side 2: "h" through "m"
Side 3: "n" through "t"
Side 4: "u" through "z"

Four edge pieces with letters drawn onto them.

I eyeballed the spacing between the letters and then slowly drew each freehand, adding directional arrows to each letter. I'm sure if you have a Silhouette or a CriCut machine, or used iron-on paper, it would also be effective.

To make the straps, I sewed together two contrasting fabrics, right sides facing, and turned inside out.

If you are not using contrasting fabric, use this method to make the 1" wide straps.

Four edges sewn together, with straps sewn onto the edges.

I then sewed the four edges together (right sides facing), and basted the straps on the right side of the corner seams.

Finally, with right sides facing, I sewed on the top and bottom pieces, leaving a small opening to turn the cushion right side out, stuffed the cushion with stuffing, and hand-sewed the opening closed.

Voila!

This project used about 1/6 of the $22 drop cloth. The rest will be used for upcoming projects.

Unfortunately, I did not take step-by-step photos, but if you have any questions, feel free to post in the comments!

I have also included several great tutorials for varying floor cushion patterns below:

Fiskars Tutorial: This is a more structured cushion (foam insert vs. stuffing).

"Fold, Stitch & Stuff Floor Cushions" via Apartment Therapy

This "Tried and True"cushion from Gerbera Design is round, but oh-so-cute and must be included.