Winter Linen Scarf Tutorial

I thought for my blog’s 3rd birthday it might be fun to share a tutorial with all of you! I made a lot of these winter linen scarves last winter & they went over really well. Since there is still a bit of winter left in some parts of the world I thought it would be fun to share how I make these.

This tutorial makes one finished winter linen scarf. The finished size is approximately 4 inches wide by 60 to 75 inches long (the length of the scarf is your preference).

For this project you will need:

- a sewing machine
- a rotary cutter, mat & ruler (preferably one 6 or 6.5 inches wide)
- 1/3 yard of flannel
- 3 to 8 fabrics of your choice for the patchwork totaling about 1/3 of a yard
- 1/3 yard of muslin fabric
- matching thread (I usually match my thread to the flannel)
- iron & ironing board
- tape measure
- pins (if you want)

*Click on any photos below for a larger view*

Step 1: Gather the above supplies and pick out the fabrics for your scarf. For the scarf that I made I used 6 cotton prints and 1 linen solid for the patchwork.

Step 2: Start by cutting one of the fabrics you will be using for the patchwork top into a 5-inch wide strip with your rotary cutter.

Step 3: Continue by cutting that 5 inch wide strip into smaller pieces. If you want all your patchwork to be the same size pieces then cut pieces that size. Otherwise if you want a scarf with different size patchwork pieces, like the one that I made, cut your strip into different sizes ranging anywhere from 2 inches long to 6 inches long. Make sure that you leave all the pieces 5 inches wide though.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 & 3 with all the fabrics you will be using for the patchwork. (Do NOT cut the flannel or muslin yet, you will do that later.)

I usually cut out 20 to 30 pieces for the patchwork depending on the length I want the scarf to be when finished and how long I cut the pieces. I suggest starting with around 25 pieces total. You can add more to lengthen the scarf if you need to later.

Step 5: A large, clear working surface works best for this step. After you have all your patchwork fabrics cut out, layout the fabrics in fairly random order in a line. This way you can see what it will look like pieced together. You may have to rearrange fabrics to get a design that you like and is pleasing to the eye.

Make sure that you line the pieces up width wise so that when the pieces are sewn together the strip of pieced fabric is 5 inches wide the whole way.

Step 6: After you have your fabrics laid out in the order you plan on piecing the scarf together, take your tape measure (this is where it is helpful if your fabrics are laid out in a straight line) and measure how long the pieces are together. At this point you may want to add or subtract fabrics depending on how long you want your scarf to be. Keep in mind that there will be seam allowances when you sew the pieces together. I usually make my finished scarves somewhere between 60 to 75 inches long. The scarf that I made for this tutorial is approximately 71 inches long.

Step 7: Take the pieces you laid out and in the order you decided on – sew them together using a 1/2 inch seam allowance. I don’t usually bother with pinning the pieces together at this point, but you can if you want to.

After sewing all the pieces together, you should have a 5 inch wide strip of fabric that looks something like this…

Step 8: Take this strip and iron it flat ironing the seam allowances to one direction.

Step 9: Cut 2 strips of flannel from selvage to selvage 5 inches wide. Cut off the selvages and piece these 2 strips together, so that you have a 5 inch wide by approximately 80 inch long strip.

Step 10: Trim this flannel strip to the same size as your pieced patchwork strip.

Step 11: Cut a strip of muslin 5 inches wide by the length of your flannel and patchwork strips. I buy muslin by the bolt, and usually sew more than one scarf at a time so I just cut a long enough strip and don’t have to piece together the muslin, but if you only have 1/3 of a yard you can just piece the muslin together following steps 9 & 10.

Step 12: Now make a fabric sandwich, with the right sides of your flannel and patchwork pieces together and the muslin on the outside of these.

Step 13: Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, sew these layers together leaving one end open for turning the scarf. You can pin the layers first if you want to make sure that the fabric doesn’t shift during sewing, although to be honest I usually just wing it.

At this point, you should have a 5 inch wide tube of fabric that looks something like this…

Step 14: Using the end you left open, turn the tube so that the right sides of the patchwork & flannel are facing out.

It should look something like this now…

Step 15: Iron the scarf flat.

Step 16: Tuck in and iron the open edge under 1/2 inch, so no raw edges will be showing.

Step 17: Top stitch around the outside of the scarf about 1/8 inch from the edge. This will help make the scarf lay smooth and it will also close the open end. I recommend using a top stitching needle on your machine for this part.

You should have a finished scarf! :)

Now you can make a bunch of these to give to friends as gifts or just to keep for yourself:)

Hopefully all these instructions make sense… If you have any questions about this tutorial, feel free to email me or leave a comment. I would love to see any scarves made using this tutorial too, just leave me a comment so I can stop over to your blog if you make one :)

As always… This tutorial is intended for personal use only. Feel free to link to this tutorial, but please do not repost it in its entirety without permission from me. All photos & content on this site are copyrighted by me. Thanks!

If you are looking for the giveaway post, it is right here. (Comments left on this post will not be included in the giveaway, but are still very welcome! :)