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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Then fold and press it back over itself – making a seam sandwich.
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:
and like this on the bottom side:
Press that top-side down flat and stitch it down.
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.
Here’s the scarf, casually draped over the back of a chair….before the baby tore it down….
AND that’s part 1…of…well, there’s more.
And here’s another great photo.