Sewing Group Night---Shirred Scarves

On Tuesday night this week we had our second sewing night with about 10 ladies in attendance with about half the group that was different from our first night. (and Amber let me know her quilt block is finished so we can add it to the quilt top and then finish it off.)

We followed this great tutorial from Make It and Love It and made shirred scarves using elastic thread.

One of the things I really like about these kind of things is to see what fabric everyone chooses for their project.   It kind of gives you a glimpse into personalities.  Almost everyone got finished. And those who didn't were in a good enough spot that they assured me they could get it done once they got home.  Once again we had some "newbies" as well as those who have sewn for awhile.

I had made a few, yes few, scarves (I do have 3 daughters) before we put this night together.   And even though the "plan" is to share, not everyone likes the same colors, etc.  And it was nice to get rid of some of my scrap stash rather quickly. 

Click HERE for some other elastic thread tips.  Our biggest issue that night was with the tension and getting it adjusted properly for everyone's individual machine.

I highly recommend you practice a bit on some scrap--preferably from your actual fabric for the scarf, but if not, then something similar in weight and stretch. This will give you a feel for how you need to move your fabric as well as to check the tension and make sure it will shirr up like you want. I found that for my machine I didn't like as big of a stitch as was recommended in the tutorial.

For example: The largest stitch length on my machine is 4 and I made my scarves at about a 3. Most of the ladies tonight were using a stitch length of about 3. Only one was a bit longer, at a 5 for her machine. Just check it before diving into your actual scarf project.
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Materials needed:

• 2/3 yd. knit fabric 60" wide (which is usually how wide knit fabric comes--then cut 2 - 11" wide strips the full 60")
• 1 spool of elastic thread  for the bobbin (one spool will make about 3 scarves & you can find this is in the notions section of your fabric store near the packaged elastic.)
• Thread to match your fabric

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We might have to do a round 2 of this project as there were a number of ladies who wanted to come and then couldn't because of other commitments.  I'm happy that we're getting a good response and everyone is willing to come try.  Thanks again ladies for a fun evening.