Nothing can jazz up a simple outfit like the perfect scarf. And now we’re into the chilly season, the creatively flipped or knotted scarf is more than a mere fashion accessory.

Even a filmy little nothing of a 50s-style chiffon scarf can keep those unpleasant drafts off your neck, while it’s pulling your look together.

Ah, but how do you wear a scarf right — so the local fashionistas don’t point and laugh?

Solution: A quick instructional video that shows you how to wear a scarf 25 different ways…

Yes, twenty-five. Granted, an argument could be made that three or four of these “ways” are suspiciously similar, but that’s getting picky. Point is, there’s enough here to take you through a full month of work days, without ever once repeating exactly the same knot /flip /twist /loop / fling of your stylish-but-practical scarf.

See?

There’s no reason to look like a frump while you’re staying cosy; no need to resort to single-knotting your knock-off Hermes like a kindergarten kid’s knitted scarf, for lack of scarf-styling inspiration — not with the unfairly gorgeous Wendy to give expert guidance!

Next item on the agenda,
stock up on fabulous scarves!

Ideally, you will want to lay in a selection of scarves in different weights — Wendy recommends “light chiffon for Spring and Summer, cashmere for Fall, and wool for Winter.”

I’d add silk to that mix: a gossamer wisp of chiffon or light-weight silk satin, in trendy patterns like the leopard print that Wendy shows; and a slightly heavier raw silk scarf, all slubby-textured and rustic, in a solid colour: rich jewel tones seem to flatter most faces and are a real mood-lifter in mid-winter. Silk fabrics drape beautifully and a silk scarf adds warmth to the back of your neck without adding bulk to make you feel bundled up.

Satin charmeuse, in either silk or a synthetic is always a good choice for a dressier lightweight scarf. You’ll find quite reasonable prices on some fabulous prints in a satin charmeuse scarf too, from Old Masters artwork — think Monet, Degas, Van Gogh — to cool retro patterns, delicate Oriental-inspired prints, and tongue-in-cheek take-offs on the British horsey set.

If you want something of the heft of a featherweight wool but find your skin reacts to wool all up close and personal, a soft combed cotton or even a viscose scarf may fit the bill (though I find viscose gets limp after you have cleaned it a few times — your mileage may vary).

That said, one of my go-to favourite scarves is an ultra-fine wool Mexican rebozo in soft natural pastels I’m not normally drawn to, but couldn’t resist when I found it in a street market in Oaxaca.

Another scarf I wear often is a cobalt-blue length of heavy raw silk that I just cut to length and finished off with a hand-rolled hem (<-- instructions right there, if you'd like to try it yourself).

It would have been prohibitively expensive to buy a scarf like that in a boutique, but as a DIY craft job, it took less than 10 bucks and maybe an hour or so.

So here's a frugal little tip for ya — check the remnant bins at your local fabric shop. Especially just after prom and wedding dress season, you’ll often find all kinds of de luxe pieces on for a song, just waiting to be hemmed or fringed and made into a wonderful scarf… and you now know 25 ways to wear that scarf!

Rebozo photo: Textiles by angela7dreams on Flickr

Remember when hankies were made of fabric — for every day use, not just “for show” or for special occasions like weddings? When I discovered the handkerchief craft tutorials at Bumblebee Linens, it was an instant trip down Memory Lane…

As a small child, I learned to iron (a skill I seldom practice these days!) on Dad’s big cotton handkerchiefs. More interesting, however, were the hankie dolls and animals that my mother showed me how to make when I was confined to bed with chicken pox (or possibly mumps, one of those childhood illnesses, anyway) for what seemed like weeks…

The handkerchief-craft tutorials at Bumblebee Linens include a mouse, an angel and the cutest little Easter bunny you could ever imagine making from a rolled-up and folded piece of embroidered linen.

I distinctly remember making a handkerchief mouse from one of my father’s big plaid hankies, and feeling slightly outraged that he didn’t have any that were more appropriately mouse-coloured. There was a doll, too — just big enough to fit in the palm of my young hand — but I’ve long since forgotten how to make it, and haven’t yet found the instructions anywhere…

At the moment, though, hankering for spring, I’m all about this handkerchief bunny –

All you need is a hanky (or a hanky-sized piece of lightweight fabric), a length of ribbon, a handful of cotton balls, and a needle and thread — but don’t worry about the needle and thread, if sewing’s not your thing or you want to create an Easter Bunny as a project with your kids, because that’s just to fasten on the little cotton-ball tail. (The instructions say to pin the tail on the rabbit, actually, but you might as well take a couple of quick in-and-out stitches with thread and not worry about having a stray pin falling out on the carpet — not that this is something that would ever have happened to us!)

Full instructions for making a handkerchief bunny — with step-by-step photographs — are at Bumblebeelinens.com Hankie Bunny tutorial.

Enjoy!

A neutral-colored sofa is the “little black dress,” says Carmen the Decorating Diva, and the decorative pillows are “the jewelry to add the oomph”! … so true!

As we in the northern countries move toward Autumn, Zengirl’s hand-screened copper silk Dandelion pillow fits my definition of “sofa bling” just perfectly.

Just slipping on a new cushion cover is such a quick and pretty way to change up your decor along with the change of the seasons.

For our friends Down Under, who are just welcoming Spring, what could be more refreshing than a pair of bright Summertime Plaid pillows backed with a soft denim shade, handmade of recycled fabric by Darling Company.

I’ve got a piece of deep-rose woven fabric from Guatemala hanging over a chair in front of me right now, in fact. It’s shot through with subtle threads of silver and shadowed with black, really quite unusual. The fabric started out life as a skirt, but I’m thinking that it’s destined to cover a few throw pillows for my own couch…


Technorati Tags: handmade, pillows, decorating, etsy

Rich colours of autumn make an opulent-looking quilt, yet the straight-edge pieces put the “Crossing Paths” pattern well within the reach of a beginning quilter.

Here, “Crossing Paths” is created in Andover Fabric’s gorgeous “Daylily Days” line of quilting fabrics, both designed by Renée Nanneman of Need’l Love.

The pattern uses a total of 25 blocks, each 10½” square, and the finished size of the quilt is approximately 64″ x 72½”.

It would be easy enough simply to increase the number of squares used, if you wanted to make a larger quilt — or sew up just a few squares and add a rod pocket, to make a lovely autumn wall hanging.

Either way, you can download the free quilt pattern (PDF), by courtesy of Andover Fabrics.

Technorati Tags: free, quilts, patterns, sewing

Before the summer is gone, I’ve really got to try some sun printing (a.k.a sun painting or sun dyeing) some fabric.

Mary Emma Allen (Quilting and Patchwork at b5media) put me on to this art / craft — a traditional technique, but new to me — when she mentioned that her daughter (Beth Mastin of Meandering Threads) had had an enjoyable day of painting and sun dyeing fabric for her quilting and fabric art.

Beth started with fabric she’d previously dyed. Today she incorporated items from nature, ferns and leaves, for the designs on the fabrics below as she used sun dyeing and painting techniques. She said she eventually may do some stamping on the fabric. I think they are lovely in the photos as well as “in person.”

I couldn’t track down as many inspiring and instructional websites as I’d expected to find about sun printing (or sun dyeing, or whatever you prefer to call it), but our local library did have Barbara Baker and Jeri Boe’s book, Sun-Kissed Quilts and Crafts.

It has the requisite pretty pictures, it talks about sun-printing projects on paper as well as on fabric, and generally there’s enough “meat” to it that I might pick up a copy of my own (or maybe a good used copy) at Amazon… unless someone has another good book to suggest???

Meanwhile, if you’re new to this but as charmed by Beth’s fern-printed sun dyed fabrics as I am, there’s a clear overview of the basic sun-printing technique — just enough to get an idea if it’s the kind of craft you’d like to experiment with — called Sun Painting Instructions, on Dharma trading Co.’s fibre art supplies website.

When a favourite tea cup gets a crack, it’s hard to throw it out without trying to think of a new way to give it a purpose. It may not hold liquids anymore, but that doesn’t stop it from being just as pretty as ever!

Here’s an idea — with how-to instructions contributed to EverythingSewing.net by Sew-What’s-New — make that old tea cup into a pincushion!

Quick and easy.

Just fill the old teacup with steel wool and fibrefill stuffing, inside a gathered circle of pretty fabric. (In the example given, the matching saucer was glued to the bottom of the cup for added stability.) And then it’s time for the real creative fun, with your choice of trimming and embellishment!

This is not only a great easy recycling craft, but a darned fine gift idea. A teacup pincushion might also be something a little new and different to catch the eye at a charity bazaar or craft sale?

Asian-inspired home decor is very hot right now, and you can’t go wrong starting out with simple lines, natural colors, and maybe a Shoji screen in the corner. But it’s the right artwork or accessory that can really set the mood for an Oriental theme.

Here are five of my favourite recent finds, in no particular order:

1. Kelly Shults kellyshults.etsy.com does the most tiny perfect mixed-media collages on heavy watercolor paper…
2. Also found at Etsy (infromawalk.etsy.com), sage-green and rusty-cream rice bowls, gorgeous simple shape, set of four…



3. Luscious pink brocade with a bamboo theme, imported from China, begs to become a throw pillow! Available at www.distinctivefabric.com/ along with similar fabric with a butterfly or dragon motif…



4. At www.chopa.com, beautiful music… from Zen meditation gongs to Feng Shui wind chimes to tiny Tibetan tingsha…



5. Lacquer ware — an antique japanned tray, a trinket box… I covet the Fret table (red or black) at www.suzanneallen.com/.