A Philosophy of Scarves and Memories of Mum

Scarves are more than an article of clothing.

My mother grew up in the Great Depression. She knew how to save a penny and how to make the most of anything she had. She was also rather pretty and a little vain, and put great stock into showing a good appearance to the world. With such a combination of traits, and raising nine children (just to keep the pennies even tighter), Mum had sound advice about how to dress well and feel good about one's appearance.

I recall Mum saying once that as long as you had a nice, serviceable coat and basic outfits, you could change your look each year with a change of shoes, handbag, or other accessories. I suppose hats featured in there for many years, too.

Mum was a careful shopper with clothes all her life. She never had many, but everything was good quality, built to last and stylish without having to be the height of fashion. No fads were ever entertained and she always looked good.

In her later years, she accumulated scarves. As she aged and had to wear more sensible shoes, dresses and skirts gave way to basic pants with simple tops and jumpers, usually in plain colours. This allowed for the embellishment of scarves.

Scarves enabled family members to choose gifts for Mum, who had simple tastes and lived humbly. A scarf could be an expression of mood, a little bit of flair, an eye-catching piece on a simple outfit.

I didn't start making scarves until recently, so I never made one for Mum, but I did inherit her love of beautiful things, especially fabrics, and have put this into my sewing. My beautiful sewing machine was Mum's, bought in 1948 with money she was given as a farewell/wedding present from workmates. It was the machine on which I learnt to sew and now takes pride of place in my house, sitting on a table made from a renovated treadle table from an even earlier era.

As I make the scarves, I think about how a little piece of fabric can offer so much. It can be a gift. It can be a little splashing out of spending on oneself. It can be a bit of self-expression without being too loud or obvious. It can be a bit of brightness and cheer.

Many of us are self-conscious, particularly as we age in a culture that worships youth and an unattainable notion of beauty. I know many women who are unhappy with their appearance and/or unsure of what suits them, or even of what they like. We are fragile creatures.

What I try to do with my scarves is to offer a little escape from self-consciousness, a little spring in your step, a little bit of prettiness to frame your face in the mirror, a little reward for being yourself. (You are also unlikely to meet yourself at the next corner, as my scarves are limited editions, mostly one-offs.)

A scarf can be the difference in our day.

Baby Sleep Mat

Baby Sleep Mat

I was looking for a baby sleep mat pattern and couldn't find what I wanted. There was one that used a pillow and made it as a pillowcase. While that seemed neat and practical, I was concerned as we were always told not to put babies on pillows for fear of suffocation, so I thought I would create my own.

This is not going to be the most comprehensive tutorial, but hopefully it will be helpful for someone.

I chose flannelette for its softness and fleecy for added soft padding.

I bought 3 remnants, two of flannelette and a small one of cotton, plus some wadding, 30mm thick. I was guided by the size of the pieces and my research, which indicated that a pillowcase would be about the right size. I made mine a bit bigger than a pillowcase.

In my overwhelmingly huge stash, I had a piece of red and a big amount of white fleecy.

Cutting the flannelette into the right widths gave 4 similar-sized pieces.

If buying fabrics specifically for this, I would guess that the back would need about 0.8 metre, the underlay (the inside bit where the baby will lie) would need about the same, and the overlay/front would need about 0.6m. The little cotton piece I added to the front was about 15-20cm of fabric. I used a piece of white fleecy 15-20cm in length and half the width of the cotton piece to line it. The underlay was in red fleecy and I had enough of the flannelette to sew that on top of half of the underlay so that the red did not show when the bag is closed.

The cotton piece at the top of the overlay is optional. I used it because I did not have enough flannelette and because it was just so cute. I was thrilled to be able to get two different zoo animal prints to use together.

I used a 40cm (16") zip from my collection.

I lined the cotton piece with white fleecy for softness and warmth. I cut the fleecy to the size of the folded piece of cotton.

I stitched the fleecy to the cotton near the edge.

Folding the cotton piece in half, I cut the flannelette piece to the same width, allowing for seam allowance, and squared up the edge of the remnant.

I sewed the cotton piece, folded as in the picture, to the flannelette piece and pressed the seam down. I overlocked the raw edges.

I overlocked the seam between the cotton and flannelette on the overlay piece.

I sewed two of the flannelette pieces together to make the length of the back piece and pressed the seams open (eventually). If I had a single piece long enough, I would not have needed to sew these two to make the back.

Working with the flannelette pieces for the back, I cut a piece of red fleecy to about the same size for the underlay.

The last piece of flannelette was sewn to the fleecy about halfway down, and turned back and pressed. This step could be skipped if you wanted the fleecy  to show.

This made the underlay: the part where the baby will actually lie.

The zip presented a challenge. It took me a while, but I figured that I had to sew one side of the zip to the back and underlay. I placed the left-hand side of the zip, face down, against the edge of the back (right side), then placed the underlay face down on top of that, with edges meeting, and sewed the zip using a zipper foot.

Sandwiching the back, zip and underlay

When the zip was sewn in, I turned back the underlay to reveal the unsewn side of the zip.

 Lining up the right-hand side of the zip, face up, with the edge of the front, I sewed in the zip.

Overlay at top of picture, zip sewn in, back at bottom of picture.

I sewed up the rest of the seam between the back and the underlay, and top-stitched, but then I remembered I wanted a curved top. Oops. I unpicked some stitching, cut and resewed a curve, breaking a needle in the process. Serves me right for not planning properly.

With the back face up and the underlay and overlay face down, I sewed together all the pieces from the base of the bag, up the side, across the top (with new curves) and down the other side, leaving the base open. Once I was sure I knew what I was doing, I trimmed the seams and turned through the whole bag. I top-stitched all around the outside.

I stay-stitched the red fleecy to the overlay before inserting the wadding, and pressed up both open sides of the base.

Using the nearly made bag as a guide, I cut the wadding to the same shape, taking care to cut the bottom a little shorter in length to be able to sew the base shut.

Once the wadding was inserted, I stitched across a line in the pattern to ensure the insert did not slide around.
I stitched the base of the bag shut, but had to hand-sew near the base of the zip. One broken machine needle was enough for one day.

And here it is!!