How To Infinity Scarf for Octavia With Cheater Flat-Felled Seam

Gosh…I’ve known Octavia Hunter now for…well, 4 years? 5 years? It’s a long story, but in a nutshell, I got to do some work for her and I’ve been spoiled with A LOT of really great portraits and an amazing friend.

Alex
Alex

More than that, though, Octavia is naturally talented. I’ve watched her shoot many times, and she makes it seem so effortless…there’s no fussing with lighting or her cameras, at least that the subject is aware of, and she comes up with amazing shots. Octavia can pull so much emotion out of a person in a portrait. She’s truly gifted.

Hazel
Hazel

She’s sooo talented, she ALSO works for Bent Image Labs. Yeah. She’s kind of a big deal.

Octavia is a beautiful red-head and an avid bicyclist…so, when I saw the bicycle fabric in peach and pink, I decided she had to have it.

It was kismet that the fabric was out on that shelf waiting for me.

The infinity scarf was the perfect answer. The quilting cottons are a bit stiffer than woven fabrics intended for apparel and certainly more than a knit, plus with the infinity design…it can’t come off as she’s flying down Portland streets on her bike! The stiffer fabric will hold it’s shape up against her face if she needs or down against her chest in layers.

I cut the bicycle fabric and the pink solid Kona 14″ wide and fabric width long (44″) then trimmed the selvedges.

14x42
14×42

That’s a good approximation. My first was a bit wider and a smidge longer…I think this is a better length for bike riding.

Sew the lengths, right sides together to make a hollow-ended tube. Press down and top-stitch to keep it from puffing open after washing/drying.

sew and press tube
sew and press tube
top stitch
top stitch

When that is done, you’re ready to put in a cheater’s flat-felled seam. A cheater’s flat-felled seam is a French seam pressed and sewn down, aka top-stitched. It’s easy, convenient, and there’s less fuss than an actual flat-felled seam.

Lay the scarf down and fold it in half but with a twist so that the facing fabrics do not match.

twist and sew
twist and sew

Sew them together. I used a 1/4″ seam, but it doesn’t really matter. We’re not engineering bridges here. Just sew it and trim it down to 1/8″ if you can. Again, more important to keep it straight than be exact. If you’re more comfortable with larger allowances, it’s all good.

trim seam
trim seam

Then fold and press it back over itself – making a seam sandwich.

fold over seam
fold over seam

Stitch over that to keep it closed in there. I just butt my presser foot against it and move my needle over, but some people like to pin a guide or draw a line. Whatever works so that it looks like this on the top side:

french seam top side
french seam top side

and like this on the bottom side:

French seam inside
French seam inside

Press that top-side down flat and stitch it down.

flat felled top
flat felled top

When it’s done, it’s a self-contained fabric burrito-wrap-bento-whatever. It’s all rolled in there and pressed down. It makes for a bit of a stiff seam, but it’s the seam I use for baby-slings – it’s sturdy and will last.

Flat Felled Burrito
Flat Felled Seam

Here’s the scarf, casually draped over the back of a chair….before the baby tore it down….

casual
casual

AND that’s part 1…of…well, there’s more.

And here’s another great photo.

bha
bha