Creative articles about sewing

How to sew tube scarfs – part I

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Hi there! Today I want to show you how to sew two simple tube scarfs using your Bernina Overlock. These scarfs are incredibly practical: They keep your neck warm, you can’t loose them while wearing them, they’re not in your way when you bend down or move around, and best of all: You can use your scraps and they’re super quick to sew! Which is why I often make these as last minute presents. You’re basically only need one or two pieces of rectangular fabric and sew two or three seams – and stitch the opening left for turning the scarf right sides out closed.

Today I’ll show you how to make these two versions: One very simple version consisting of just one piece of fabric and another version consisting of two pieces of fabric. You can use whatever fabric you like, as long as it has enough stretch to fit over your head. But even fabrics with less stretch work well, as long as you make the scarf a little bigger. Very stretchy fabrics can be used for slimmer scarfs that sit tighter around the neck. I chose a loopback sweatshirting fabric from NOSH Organics for the gray scarf – I used it inside out, since I love the structure of the back. The blue scarf is made from merino wool jersey on the inside and blue cotton jersey by NOSH Organics on the outside. That way you can use a warmer fabric for the inside and, for the outside, one of those fun cotton jersey prints we all have lying around.

Let’s start with how to make the gray scarf. Cut a rectangular piece of fabric in the desired size. I made these scarfs for myself and chose a width of 54 cm and a height of 60 cm. You can adjust these measurements when sewing one of these for a child or a person who’s built a little bigger. You could also adjust the height of the scarf depending on your personal preference or the thickness of the fabric: You might want a higher scarf when using a thin fabric that’s easily folding down on itself or a scarf with less height when using a sturdy fabric that’s standing up on it’s own.

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Fold your piece of fabric horizontally in the middle, right sides together and serge along the edge. You now have a fabric tube with two open ends.

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Now the fun part that is always a little unexplainable: Turn the fabric tube over itself to match the two open side seams, still right sides together. You’re not folding the fabric, but turning the whole tube until the raw edges meet. You can see the partily and fully turned scarf below:

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube ScarfSew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Now you serge these raw edges together, making sure to leave an opening for turning the tube scarf afterwards. No your scarf should look like this:

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Turn the whole scarf around and you’re nearly done! All that’s left is sewing the opening close. I chose to handstitch the opening closed with a simple ladder stitch. You could also sew the opening closed with a regular sewing machine, like I chose to do with my next tube scarf.

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube ScarfSew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Now on to the next scarf, made of two different fabrics. There isn’t much of a difference between these two scarfs, other than using two different fabrics. Cut a rectangular piece of your outer fabric – I chose to cut it 54 cm wide and about 32 cm tall. You can either cut your lining using the same size or cut it slightly less tall if you want to make sure that the lining can’t be seen on the outside.

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Put your two pieces of fabric on top of each other, right sides together, and serge both the long top and bottom seam together. Especially when using merino wool jersey, the fabric can be prone to stretching and the seams can look wavy. Just steam the seams heavily and press and you should be fine. You now have a long tube of fabric.

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Turn this tube over itself, right sides together, until the raw edges of the sides meet. Make sure the lining is matched with the lining and the outer fabric is matched with the outer fabric.

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Serge along the raw edge, making sure to leave an opening for turning the scarf right sides out. I prefer leaving this opening in the lining of the scarf, making the closing seam invisible while I wear the scarf.

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Turn your scarf through the opening:

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Now all you have to do is to close the opening. You could handstitch it closed with a ladder stitch, like I did for my first scarf, or you could simply fold the raw edges to the inside and sew the opening closed with your regular sewing machine, staying as close as possible to the edge. It’s a little more visible, but it’s going to be on the inside of the scarf and it’s much faster than sewing the opening closed by hand.

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

So that’s how you sew two simple and quick tube scarfs using your overlocker! I’ll be back in a little while showing you two other variations of tube scarfs that are a little more complex.

Sew Mariefleur Bernina Tube Scarf

Free sewing instructions: How to sew tube scarfs

Difficulty level: Beginner
Time to Complete: Evening
Used Products:
BERNINA L 460
BERNINA L 460

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  • Isolde Cumberbeach EditEditing comments on the BERNINA blog is only possible after logging in with a blog user account. Sign up now or create a user account if you do not have one yet.

    You saved my LIFE! Thank you!!!I was trying to fix one of these for a friend and it was doing my head in. One crucial step I was missing. Thank you so much I appreciate the information.

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