Patchwork Scarf with Amy Butler Fabric

About a month or so ago, one of my good friends and I visited this awesome fabric shop called Sew to Speak, and I got some really cute things! I have been totally wanting to get out my sewing machine and make something, and I finally got that chance on Sunday. I didn't have a ton of time to dedicate to making the yoga bag that I have been planning on making for about 6 months or so, but I did want to make something so I quickly put together this patchwork scarf using a fabric bundle of Amy Butler's fabrics (which I totally love by the way!). I have seen some of these scarfs on Esty, and have been wanting to make one for some time. It was pretty easy, and didn't take too much time, and I got a ton of compliments when I wore it to work on Monday.

So to start you need to figure out how long and wide you want your scarf to be. I used another scarf as an example, and I believe I made this about 36 inches long and about 8" wide (give or take a little for seams). I then decided since I had 4 different kinds of fabric, that I wanted about 3 blocks per fabric, so I needed to cut out a total of 12 blocks per side (a total of 24 blocks since I then sewed 2 sides together to finish it off). I used different measurements of 3", 5" and 7" and alternated them. As I mentioned before, the width of my blocks was 8". I think this might have been a little wider than I wanted, so next time I might change my width to be about 6", but it is best to take a scarf that you really like, that fits you well, and use those measurements for width and length as a guide.

Once you have all of your blocks cut out, you will need to sew 12 of them together into one long strip. Alternate your fabrics and your sizes. I really planned out what fabrics would go nicely together and what sizes I wanted before I even started cutting. I just used a piece of paper to draw out my design and I think that is probably the best way to ensure you get the best fabrics next to each other, and that you don't have a lot of the same sizes next to each other. It looks best when it is random. Also, make sure to iron your fabric before you cut to get out any wrinkles, and then I ironed again before sewing the strips, and then once again before sewing the two strips together. It just helps to keep your fabric and your seams straight.

Once you have sewed one strip of 12 blocks together, sew the second strip of 12 blocks. I actually made my two strips identical to each other in sizes and fabrics. You then put the 2 sides together, pretty sides facing each other, and sew around (with about 1/4" seams) 3 of the sides. I actually rotated the second strip so that those blocks were going in a different direction to make it interesting.

Once you have sewed around the 3 sides, turn your scarf inside out (and push out your corners), and then pin the 4th side to close it up. I then did a stitch around the perimeter of the scarf (about 1/4" in from the edge, which finished it off, and also closed up the 4th end.

This scarf was really easy to put together and took me all of maybe 1 - 1.5 hours to cut out and sew together. If you have any questions, or want more detailed instructions feel free to leave me a comment.