Here it is....the BEST introduction to serging EVER! Really, it is soooo simple. With a bit of testing on your fabrics and these easy steps, you will have a beautiful silk infinity scarf with a rolled edge in no time! For you ladies that prefer, I also share the good 'ole machine sewn instructions too... including a shabby chic frayed edge technique! I just love the light weight of this scarf. It is great for summer. The length is great too...it can be wrapped 2-3 times for most ladies. Have you finished that cup of coffee yet? Lets get started!
Materials:
Of course, you will always need your basic supplies,
such as a ruler, needle, scissors, iron, your machine, coffee, etc.
Blue painters tape comes in handy too here...
15" x 75" of Silk/Cotton blend material shown in Slate Blue Toile
(A Linen/Rayon blend is great here too...shown in Plum Stripe)
Coordinating Cotton Thread
( I used a bone colored thread for the Silk Slate Blue Toile print
& black for the Plum Stripe in Linen)
When purchasing my fabrics, the width of the fabric (WOF) on the bolt varied.
The silk was 54" wide and the linen was only 46" wide.
Here is a guide for making one or three scarves form your fabric choice...
For the 54" wide fabrics purchase...
7/8 of a yard for one scarf
2 1/8 yards for three scarves
For the 46" wide fabrics purchase...
7/8 of a yard for one scarf
2 1/8 yards for three scarves
I know, I know...the amount of fabric to purchase is the same for both WOF! You will have more or less scrap material depending on the width you purchase.
Lets get started. First, we need to cut out our fabric. Since these are lightweight and tend to shift, I suggest you weigh down the fabric, or better yet, use blue painters tape to secure those edges. Also, if you cut only one layer at a time, your edges will be much straighter.
Trim off the selvedge edges (dashed red lines on the Fabric Cut Chart below).
Then cut your 15" strips.
If you are cutting three scarves, you are ready to serge!!
If you are making one scarf from the 7/8 yard fabric, you will need to cut ONE of your 15" wide strips. We need the length to be 75" long.
*If your WOF is 54", you need to cut ONE of your 15" wide strips down to 22" wide. You will be serging/sewing together the 15" x WOF to the 22" x WOF...the remaining piece of 32" is scrap.
*If your WOF is 46", you need to cut ONE of your 15" wide strips down to 30" wide. You will be serging/sewing together the 15" x WOF to the 22" x WOF...the remaining piece of 16" is scrap.
Now for serging! (Machine sewing directions follow below...)
Thread your machine with three spools of thread.
You will not need the far left spool/needle. Remove the left needle.
You do not need the stitch finger. Remove the stitch finger.
Once you have threaded your machine in the color you selected, we need to set our serger to the proper settings. These settings are great for both of the fabrics I am using today. I have a Brother 1034D and LOVE it! The best thing to do is to TEST the fabric first. Grab the scraps that you trimmed away....SAVE the scarf for later.
Set your differential feed to a "0.7"
Stitch Length needs to be at "R"
Your knife needs to cut, or "forward"
Stitch Width is set to a " 5"
Your Tension settings are as follows...
Left Needle: N/A ...REMOVED!
Right Needle: 4
Upperlooper Tension: 6
Lowerlooper Tension: 8
Do yourself a favor and keep that fantastic scrap for future reference...
Even better...print out this handy chart and record the settings
you just used above and keep it in your serger manual.
OR be a total neat freak & store in a handy dandy serger binder with your other samples...
Now that you are a highly organized rolled hem pro, lets finish that gorgeous scarf!
We will use the rolled hem to join together the short ends of your scarf & to finish the edges.
FIRST, you need to fold the scarf so the short ends meet. My fold is at the bottom of the picture. If you purchased fabric for just one scarf, you will need to pin together the short ends of your pieces. You need to leave one edge un pinned and follow these directions too.
Next, flip one side of the scarf.
Do this by picking up the top edge of fabric (bottom of picture).
Just flip it one time and lay it back down onto the piece that is still on the table.
You will now have one twist in the scarf like this....
Pin the short edges together and join the two together by serging.
Just cut away a bit of the edges.
Your scarf seams should look like this across the short edges.
If you cut one long piece of 74" fabric, you are done joining your scarf.
If you pinned additional fabric on earlier...you need to repeat this step with the other pinned sections. You will now have one long loop of fabric with raw edges that is approximately 15"x 74".
Now, begin serging the edges. Trim off just a tiny bit of the raw edge.
Since this is one layer of delicate fabric, go S~L~O~W.
Because there is one twist in the fabric loop,
you will serge in 1 continuous line all the way around the edge.
Your edges should all now look like this...
Voilà!
You are done! Throw on your trendy but classic new infinity scarf!
Of course....since they are soooo easy you just may whip up a few more for gifts!
For all you patient sewing machine users ~ continue here...
Now for machine sewing!
Thread your machine with the coordinating thread & a needle appropriate for lightweight woven fabrics (my singer took a red and orange shank needle in an 80/11 size).
Once you have threaded your machine in the color you selected, it is a great idea to TEST the fabric first. Grab the scraps that you trimmed away....SAVE the scarf for later. Run about 3-6" of a sample strip to ensure good tension and even stitching.
Now...we need to join together two of the three 15" wide ends.
Begin by ironing both edges over 1/2"
Pin...
Set your stitch width to 3/8"
Sew.
Trim your seam allowances.
Open the scarf and iron the seam over so that the raw trimmed edges are enclosed in the seam. Pin.
Here is a close up...
Sew using a 3/8" seam allowance.
One side will have 2 parallel lines of stitching...like this
The other side will have a single line of stitching.
The raw edges are now nicely encased.
You may choose to finish your edges in the same way,
or you can fray them as described below.
Finally, before joining our last seam , we need to flip our material over once. The underlined section of the directions for this are listed above with the photos.
When you have finished flipping your scarf ONCE, press the short 15" ends over 1/2" as you did before & finish the seam in the same way, with trimming & encasing the raw edge.
Now you are ready to finish the edge of your infinity scarf!
Let's do a shabby chic frayed edge...
Using a 1/2" seam allowance, sew around the edge of your scarf.
Shift your needle to the right, and sew a second line parallel
to the first, all around the edge of your scarf.
When you are done, it should look like this with the raw edge on the far right...
Now that we have the double row of stitching in place, it is time to hand fray those edges!
Using a pin, gently pull the first 1-2 threads away from the scarf.
The threads you are removing run parallel to the double row of stitching you just finished.
Snip the parallel threads that you pulled away from the fabric.
Now you can easily remove them.
As you remove these threads, trim them occasionally
for easier removal and to avoid puckering the fabric.
Leave the last 2-3 threads in place parallel to the double row of stitching.
As you remove the threads, you will see the fabric begin to fray beautifully.
Voilà!
You are done! Throw on your trendy but classic new infinity scarf!
Of course....since they are soooo easy you just may whip up a few more for gifts!
