Friday, January 21, 2011

Snowscapes, scarves and cups of tea

Sometimes, you get special requests from people who know you not only own a sewing machine, but also know how to use one.
Such was the case when my daughter sent me a photo and asked if I thought I could sew an infinity scarf. This is a scarf that can also be a cowl and a hood. It's a pretty useful thing to have in our current snow scape.
The scarf in the photo didn't look too difficult, but I had no measurements. I hunted around until I found dimensions that seemed close. I also didn't have the right fabrics -- recommendations ranged from lightweight suiting to soft rayon/spandex blends. Since I decided to do a prototype first, I figured that didn't really matter. Wrong. Fabric always matters.
It took the better part of the day to wrestle the prototype into workable submission. Really.
For all the years I have been sewing, the whole concept of this scarf seemed to be sort of unattainable. I kept making mistake after mistake, slicing away seam after seem. Eventually, I even installed my walking foot incorrectly. If you do that, no walking will take place. There's just a whole lot of bunching up under the needle. Sigh. Clearly, it was time for a cup of tea.
After the cup of tea, it all seemed so clear. Mind you, the scarf was now nearly 1/3 of its original cut width -- thanks to all the slicing -- but the prototype works as a cowl, a scarf and a hood. When I get the first "good one" done, I will post a photo of it. I might even post the prototype -- just to keep me humble. I guess it just goes to show that no matter how long one has been creating, a cup of tea is sometimes the only thing to lift the fog that sometimes gets in the way of the creative process.

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