Authors: Janet Bolin

Threaded for Trouble (36 page)

BOOK: Threaded for Trouble

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You may have seen scarves like these in upscale gift or dress shops. They look lighter than air and can be very elegant.

1. Lay out the stabilizer in the shape of the scarf you’re going to make. You can use small pieces of stabilizer and overlap them. Spray adhesive on the pretty bits and stick them to the stabilizer in an appealing pattern. Make certain that each piece is touching at least one other one.

2. Pin more stabilizer over the top of the scarf.

3. Carefully stitch up and down the length of the scarf in a fire stitch pattern (curved lines open at the bottom and pointed at the top to resemble fire) several times, then back and forth across the scarf. Do diagonals, too. Change thread and bobbin colors whenever the urge strikes you. Make certain you catch
every
teensy bit of thread, lace, ribbons, yarn, and/or fabric at least twice.

4. Soak the scarf in warm water to dissolve the stabilizer.

5. Lay flat to dry.

There! You have it! A beautiful, one-of-a-kind scarf! Send a photo to
[email protected]
, and I’ll put it on my website:
ThreadvilleMysteries.com
.

Note from Haylee: Do you ever cut off selvedges? If so, you can wind the cut-off selvedges over the stabilizer like ribbon.

Note from Opal: For a heftier, warmer scarf, use yarn instead of thread, lace, ribbons, and/or fabric.

Note from Edna: I like to string little beads or sequins on yarn or cord before I make one of these scarves, but you must be careful not to hit a bead with your needle and (shudder) break the needle. Sequins could damage needles, too, and probably look best without needle punctures.

Note from Naomi: You don’t have to use a fire stitch. You can sew straight, zigzag, or curved stitches. You can incorporate free-hand designs like hearts and stars if you want. It’s like quilting…

Tips

1. I learned to sew from my grandmother. Her sewing machine was fastened to the top of a little desk. The table legs forced me to station myself at the middle of the sewing machine. Haylee, who tailors perfectly, came into In Stitches one day and saw me making a tank top for myself (I’d already embroidered the fabric, of course). When she stopped laughing, she pointed out that if I sat directly in front of the needle, my stitches would be less likely to stray off to one side or the other. I tried it, and she was right!

2. Today’s sewing machines go at incredible speeds, just because they can. Embroidery machines stitch at top speed. Let them. But when you’re sewing or tailoring, take it slowly and stitch it right the first time. If you have a lead foot on your sewing pedal, or are teaching beginners, especially children, to sew, check your sewing machine manual. You may be able to lower the machine’s top speed. You can always reset it later.

3. Take your sewing and embroidery machines to a reliable repair person for checkups annually, or more frequently if you use them a lot, like I do.

WILLOW