mwah

please excuse the laundry in the background.  for ruggy's birthday week, i did his laundry.  he had five loads.

stacie over at the beautiful blog stars for streetlights contacted me a few weeks ago with a little challenge: make something wearable out of a scarf from her shiny new workplace, affordable scarves.  i love scarves, i have a collection of about thirty, so i happily welcomed a new addition.  out of all the silk and cotton offerings to be had, i picked this poly blend.  it could not be helped. it measures 74 x 40.  basically it's yardage with finished seams.  but my brain was locked into the fact that IT'S A SCARF.  refashion blockage ensued.  i stared at it on a hanger for a week before pummeling my brain into submission.  BRAIN, i said.  REMEMBER THIS SHIRT? THIS WOULD BE THE PERFECT TIME TO DO THAT TUTORIAL.

(oona, said brain, i'll get up off my ass for that.  god knows you promise tutorials and never let me seal the deal.  let's not even TALK about pay it forward.  have you instructed hands to pack those boxes up yet?)

whatever, brain.

take your scarf and fold it in half lengthwise, finding the mid point.  slice it right down the middle, finish your new raw edges, and sew it together again about 2/3 of the way up.  this is now your center back seam.  i sewed it up to where the black border hits.  YOU ARE NOW DONE SEWING.

see those flaps hanging down in the second picture?  they basically become your back facing!  flip that jammy to your backside, center seam at center back, the open part of the seam facing up.  grasp the upper ends of your scarf.... 

and pull them towards center front.  wrap the ends around the back of your neck and tie-- i like to use a pretty pin from my vintage collection instead of a knot, but either way works.

then grab the scarf at waist, or just below bust, or wherever floats your boat, cinch it together, and stitch through all layers a couple times.  if you make it loose enough, you can untie the neck and easily slip this over your head, as the back sits low.  

(yeah, i know i said you're done sewing.  i lied a little bit.  you can use another pretty pin here and make me an honest woman.  a button loop closure would also be grand.  doesn't help the lying, but earns you extra fanciness points.)

the amount of back displayed depends on how high (or low) you sew up the center back seam.   

i kind of feel like that chick on project runway that's been sewing for four months and always floats around in gauzy me made things.  it's a great easy cover up for the summer, non?  you can go from picnic at the beach to lobster dinner by the water!  

hmm.  now that i'm writing this up, i'm thinking i may get brain to come up with a nice button loop closure for the front.  but brain is notoriously lazy.  we'll see.