Assembly line sewing!

When you have a lot of girls/women on your Christmas list (yes, I'm still getting those posts up), especially when some of them you don't know really well anymore, it can become difficult to find nice but not horribly expensive/time-consuming/specific gifts to give.  Last year was supposed to be the year of infinity scarves, but it didn't work out.  (That purple linen/cream lace scarf was the only one that was actually made for Christmas 2013 - but then I hung onto it until Christmas 2014).  I posted about two months ago about the plaid ones that I made, but now I'm showing the linen/lace ones.  There are even a few duplicates!

Back row, L to R: "deep lake" linen blend with black lace (stash), "potting soil" linen blend with hunter green lace (Grandma), black linen blend with red lace (coworker, friend's daughter)

Middle row, L to R: purple linen blend with cream lace (This was the one I made a year ago, from the leftovers of my sister-in-law's baby sling.  This is for a friend's daughter.), "ocean" linen blend with turquoise lace (from leftovers of another baby sling; also for a friend's daughter), "deep lake" linen blend with deep purple lace (2 of this - one for my aunt, one for a friend's daughter), navy linen blend with cream lace (this is from the leftovers of the original sling for my sister-in-law; for a friend), black linen blend with turquoise lace (stash).

Front row, L to R: "potting soil" linen blend with yellow lace (for my mom), "potting soil" linen blend with turquoise lace (stash)

So I made 12 of these linen/lace infinity scarves this year!  That made me pretty happy to get that yardage out of the stash.  The brown and teal linen blends were purchased specifically for this project, but the black linen blend was originally intended for dress pants for the Things - obviously that didn't happen so far, and I decided this was a more pressing need.  I have to say that the turqhoise  and black scarves are more drapey - I think that those fabrics had a lighter hand than the brown, teal, navy, and purple.  I can't remember if they were a different percentage blend now.  But I think they all turned out very nicely.

With the purple, turquoise, and navy scarves, I made them a little wider just because that was the width left over from the baby slings.  With the others, I was able to get 3 out of each length by making them a bit more narrow.  Still should look good, but allowed me to get more out of the same fabrics.

I like the way these turned out, and I hope that the recipients enjoy wearing them!

Upcoming gifts

I had the brilliant idea a year or two ago to make infinity scarves as Christmas gifts.  And I tried it out on one scarf, and that's where I left the idea.  (Too many ideas, not enough time.)  So this year, I decided to revisit it.  And I actually made a few already!

This is a woven cotton shirting - I think - that I found at HF.  For something that's not flannel or fleece, it's still fairly soft.  I chose it mainly for the color/print, which is perfect for one of the recipients.  This made 3 scarves, so a total win.  

This fabric is one of the Plaiditude collection at JAF.  It's a brushed cotton, and it's soooo soft!  I wish they had enough left of the other colorways that I liked, because I would buy it all!  This one made 2 scarves.

With each of these, I used scissors instead of my rotary cutter, and I carefully followed the lines of the plaid to cut them.  Normally I'd be all about the rotary cutter and ruler, but my obsession over matching the stripes took over.

I really think the recipients will like these.