SEWING DIY: Cuddle Cakes Patchwork Scarf + a Giveaway

This Cuddle Cakes Patchwork Scarf is for a Master Makers challenge with Fairfield World and Shannon Fabrics. They are both celebrating anniversaries, Fairfield World is 75 years old and Shannon Fabrics is 20 years old. They both challenged the Master Makers team to create projects using products from both companies, aka The Great Cuddle Cake Challenge. You can see all of those projects over on the Fairfield World blog, later this week. They are both hosting giveaways for cuddle cakes and Fiberfill stuffing or Polyfil batting. Details for those giveaways are at the bottom of this post.

Shannon Fabrics makes cuddle fabric, which are incredibly soft minky fabrics...that you want to cuddle with. I got to choose the Cuddle Cake fabrics I wanted to use. I chose Madding Monochromatic and Dark De-Lux Solid, since they fit my dark style well. Check out their Cuddle Cakes for other colors and prints. There are 20 blocks per pack, but I only used 9. You'll have a lot left over blocks for other projects. I plan on making a pillow, which I'll share a tutorial for whenever that happens. I love turning supplies normally reserved for other projects (in this case quilts), and making wearable items. The cuddle cakes are perfect for a patchwork scarf or four.


CRAFT LEVEL: Intermediate - Minky can be a tricky fabric

TIME: 2 - 3 hours

SUPPLIES: 
The cuddle cakes are 10" x 10". I used 3 polka dot, 3 chevron, and 3 solid squares, for a total of 9 squares. You'll have 31 squares left over for other projects...possibly a pillow in a different tutorial...
INSTRUCTIONS:

1) The fabric has a nap, so pay attention to that, making sure all the blocks are laying the same direction. When you rub your hand across the fabric, you will notice that it's smooth in 3 directions, but not in one direction. Stack the 9 blocks so they are smooth in one direction and not in the opposite direction.

2) I divided the blocks horizontally in half. The clear quilting ruler allows me to have gridded measurements and see the fabric. Using the ruler and pencil, I drew a horizontal line at the halfway point, 5" up from the bottom. Repeat for each block, keeping them in order of the nap.

3) Cut the blocks in half along the lines. Stack the new rectangles so the nap is all going the same direction. Sort them by prints/solids.

4) Decide the order you want the rectangles to be. I alternated solid, polka dot, and chevron. The order will repeat once, since by cutting the squares in half, you've doubled the amount of pieces.

5) The trickiest part about sewing these together is making sure the nap is correct. Keep this in mind as you sew each piece together. Pin two pieces together, along one long side, checking the nap, so it's smooth.

6) Set your stitch length to 3.5 or 4, for the best results. Use a walking foot if you have one. Straight stitch about 1/4" from the edge, making sure not to stretch the fabric. Be careful sewing the ends. I found the machine wanted to eat this fabric at the ends. Remove the straight pins as you sew.

REPEAT STEPS 5 & 6, going in the order of your desired pattern, and checking the nap with each piece.

7) Trim up any uneven sides with scissors.

8) Fold the scarf in half long ways, with the right sides touching. Line up the patchwork and ends. Pin securely in place.

9) Stitch 1/4" from the edge from one end, down the long side, stopping about 4" from the middle. Leave an 8" opening. Finish stitching around the long side and other end.


10) Trim the corners at an angle, making sure not to cut through the thread. This will help turn the corners.


11) Turn the scarf right side out, through the opening. Shape the corners by hand or with a chopstick.

12) Cut one or two layers of batting 76" long by 4" wide.

13) While holding one end of the batting, insert your arm into the scarf, scrunching the scarf till your hand reaches an end. Smooth out the batting at that end. Pinch the scarf and batting together with one hand, while unscrunching the scarf with the other. This will adjust the length of batting through the scarf. Repeat for the other batting and scarf end. Adjust the batting with your hand until it's all flat and even.

14) Pin the opening closed, turning in the raw edges 1/4".

15) Line up the top and bottom of the patchwork seams and pin them in place along the seams.

16) You can either do this part by hand or machine. Set your stitching length to 4 or 4.5. Straight stitch in each patchwork seam (stitch in the ditch), making sure the top and bottom of the seam are lined up. I stitched from the long seam edge to the folded edge, so the fabric could evenly adjust if needed.


17) Hand sew the opening closed, making sure the small stitches are neat and can't be seen (a blind stitch). This will make for a more professional finish, as you won't be able to tell where the opening was.

That's it for this tutorial. You'll find that the scarf is very warm and comfortable. I used the cuddle cakes as part of a challenge, but you could do this same scarf with any fabrics. Fleece, cotton, t-shirts, old sweaters (you'll want to zig zag the seams), and even more delicate fabrics. It's a great way to use fabric scraps and old clothing. Whatever fabrics you choose to use, have fun with the project. Happy Makery!

GIVEAWAY
The first giveaway for our anniversary ends on January 31, 2015 and the second giveaway from the Master Makers GREAT CUDDLE CAKE CHALLENGE will start on January 31, 2015 and end February 5, 2015. Two great giveaways from two wonderful companies. There will be monthly giveaways throughout the year. You can enter those here.


a Rafflecopter giveaway






DISCLOSURE: Fairfield World provided the batting and Shannon Fabrics provided fabrics for this project. All of the scarf photos and information is my own.

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