In decorating for the holidays it is always important to pay special attention to the details. The mantel scarf is a small detail that adds a lot of charm.
Materials Needed:
- 1/2 yard of muslin fabric
- pencil
- 1 skein of embroidery floss
- Embroidery needle
- Embroidery hoop
- Sewing machine
- Thread
- Scissors
- Muslin toned trim 1/2 yard (one inch to one and a half inch)
- Trim the shade of the embroidery floss 1/2 yard (one quarter inch)
- Instant tea or coffee
- Needle
- Iron
- Cinnamon (optional)
Preparation
- Cut the muslin in half. If you started with 36" fabric it will be 18" in length and width. If you started with 45" fabric it will be 22 1/2" in length by 18" width. Either is fine.
- You will be working along the 18" width. Lightly draw the holiday saying you want your scarf to express. Make sure to space the letters so they are centered. To do this count all of the letters in your saying and find the center letter. Draw that letter first in the center of the width.
- Work your way out on both sides by drawing the remaining letters, making sure they spread out across the distance and are not bunched up in the middle.
Construction
- Using the embroidery floss, embroider the letters in one color.
- Fold the fabric in half with the embroidery on the inside. Stitch the fabric all the way around leaving an opening for turning. Clip the corners off of the fabric beyond the stitching. Turn fabric right side out. Press with the iron. Do not use starch.
- On the edge of the fabric under the embroidery sew the muslin colored trim from end to end. Once done repeat with the colored trim over the top of the muslin trim. (figure 1)
Antiquing
- To give it that appearance of being aged, the scarf is then tea dyed. This does not mean you need to go out and purchase tea. If you have coffee, it will work just fine. Fill your sink with a couple inches of very hot water. Sprinkle the tea or coffee into the water liberally. Place the scarf into the water and make sure all of the fabric gets submerged. Now sprinkle more coffee or tea over top of the fabric. If you have cinnamon, sprinkle cinnamon into the dyed water onto the fabric. Mix it around a bit so the tea or coffee dissolves and doesn't leave a pitted look on the fabric. (figure 2)
- Lay the scarf onto a baking sheet and bake it in the oven at 275 for 30 minutes.
- If the scarf is too dark for your taste, rinse it thoroughly and dry it in the oven once more. (figure 3)
- If you like the look of the scarf prior to dying simply stop there. You can always spray the scarf with a cinnamon scent to get the aroma through your home.
The copyright of the article Christmas Decor for the Home in Crafts is owned by Mary Welling-Bonney. Permission to republish Christmas Decor for the Home in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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