NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2009
Christmas Mantle Scarf Pattern

Another hectic month:  I was lucky enough to hold a workshop for 2 delightful young ladies who wanted to learn to sew from scratch.  Thanks Becky and Lauren - you were great students.  We made a cushion cover each and I realised that there are no cushion covers on the site so I will remedy that in a future newsletter.

A few weeks ago we celebrated my father's 87th birthday by taking him to the West Midlands Safari Park at Bewdley - always interesting because they are constantly bringing in new animals.  This time they had some antelope which I'm convinced are Roan Antelope (native to Zambia so very special to us) but we hadn't bought a guide so I couldn't be sure.  Obviously another trip there is needed!

We also went to the Stroud Rag Market last weekend.  It's an annual event held in the Bisley Village Hall and was totally crammed with vintage fabrics and vintage everything else imaginable.  I was able to indulge my passion for fabric and came away with bags full - I've come up with ideas for using two of the fabrics, so you'll be seeing them in later newsletters.

I've had a request for instructions for a Christmas Mantle Scarf.  Thanks for the suggestion, Nancy - great idea.

Bearing in mind how much we all need to do before Christmas I have tried to make it as simple and easy as possible.

You will need 1/4 metre of each of three fabrics (although you should have some left over of two of the fabrics) and about 1/4 metre of calico or sheeting for the backing.  I have based these requirements on my mantle size which is 44" wide and 5.1/2" deep.  You will have to amend the measurements if your mantle is significantly different from that.



Cutting requirements: 
Green:  1 strip 6" wide across the width and 1 strip 2.1/2" across the width.
Red:     1 strip 4.1/2" wide across the width
White:  1 strip 4.1/2" wide across the width

Cut across the strips of red and white at 4.1/2" intervals to make 4.1/2" squares.  I managed 10 squares of each colour - it can vary depending on the width of your fabric.
Take two of the white squares and trim them to make 3.1/4" squares.  Cut each one of these in half along the diagonal to make 4 triangles.  Take one of the red squares and place with the white triangles along each edge as shown.  With right sides together, sew in place using 1/4" seams.  When you begin sewing the second one in place, take care to finger press the end of the previous seam up away from where you are beginning the next seam. 


Take the 6" strip of green fabric and cut in half across the width, making 2 strips 6" wide by about 22" long.  Attach one strip to each side of the square you have just made, to make one long strip.  The overall length needs to be the width of your mantlepiece plus 5" (2.1/2" overhang at each end).  For my mantle, that meant an overall length of 49".  The central square is 6" across, so each length of green had to be 21.1/2"  (49 minus 6 for the square equals 43 divided by 2 equals 21.1/2").  If your mantle is longer than the length of your strip, add a small panel at each end.  Put to one side for the moment.



Take the remaining squares of white and put into pairs with right sides together.  Sew all round the edge of each square - I used chain sewing which is why they all appear to be joined together (see Sewing Tips if you haven't come across chain sewing before).  Snip the pairs of squares apart and mark a line along the diagonal of each pair.



Do the same with the remaining red squares (you will have one left over).  Cut along the diagonals you have marked to make two triangle pouches from each square.  Trim the seam across the top angle of the triangle, taking care not to snip the stitching, and turn inside out.  Press all these triangles.



Snip the ends of the seams sticking out at the base of the triangles and pin the triangles to the right side of the 2.1/2" green strip.  Just start at one end of the green strip and add triangles all the way across.  This is more than you need, but will give you some flexibility when attaching this strip to the main strip of the scarf.  Sew in place.


Now lay out the 6" strip that you made at the beginning.  Find the midpoint of the strip with triangles and pin it (right sides together) beneath the midpoint of the square in the 6" strip.  Continue pinning along the length of the strips until nearly at the end.  Trim the 2.1/2" strip with triangles to 2.1/2"" less than the length of the 6" strip at each end.  You may end up with half a triangle as I did, depending on your mantle width.  Stitch the 2 strips together.

That's the top of the mantle scarf finished, so now there just remains the backing to tidy it up.  Cut a piece of calico or sheeting or something to the size of the top:  lay the scarf top on the calico to use as a pattern.  It will be about 49" long and 8.1/2" wide, with the corner cut out at the 6" mark as shown.  Pin the backing to the right side of the scarf top and sew round 3 sides:  the 2 sides and the back, leaving the front edge with the triangles open.

Trim the corners, snipping across the diagonal of the corners that stick out and snipping towards the stitching on the corners that stick in.  This makes the corners less bulky.

Turn inside out and press.  The only raw seam is along the tops of the triangles.  Turn under a small seam and stitch in place.  At the same time turn under the edges of the part triangles at each end (if you have any) and stitch them as well to avoid fraying.
At each end of the scarf there is a cut out square where the 6" strip is longer than the triangle strip.  Pin the two edges of this cutout together and slipstitch in place by hand.  These will fit on the corner of your mantlepiece.

That's the mantlepiece scarf finished.  You could use the leftover triangles and bits of fabric to make Christmas cards.


Here I have taken 2 of the triangles and sewn them either side of a strip of green fabric.  This can now be sewn on to card or backed with fast2fuse and calico.  Or you could cut Christmas shapes from the leftover fabric, back them with fast2fuse and hang them as tree decorations.  Both ideas are shown in more detail in the Free Pattern section.

I hope you enjoy making these items.

Best Wishes

Rose