Shabby Chic Scarves

One of my favorite ways to use silky fabric scraps, yarn, dyed cheese cloth and other fun fibers is to make what I call a “Shabby Chic” scarf.  As usual, I found a wonderful tutorial on-line written by Sherrie Spangler, a fiber artist who has become a friend first on-line, then in person over the past 5 years.  Sherrie takes wonderful pictures, and is a talented fiber artist who is very generous about sharing what she makes on her blog sherriequilt.blogspot.com.  If you are not familiar with Sherrie’s blog, be sure to check it out for lots of inspiration and ideas!

So I am going to start this post with a link to Sherrie’s Scarf Tutorial – she has written about her process several times on her blog, but this one was the post that got me started. You will notice that Sherrie’s scarves look different than mine. I tend to load my scarves with a lot of different snippets, but Sherrie prefers to leave hers lighter and airier - two different versions using the same process.  That’s the beauty of leaving the process loose to allow for individual interpretations!

Above is a picture taken while I am stitching the scarf together.  All the fabrics, yarns, ribbons, etc. are sandwiched between 2 layers of Sulky Solvy water soluble stabilizer.  When I have finished grid stitching (rows of stitching across, then down the length of the scarf) I will rinse the scarf to dissolve the stabilizer, leaving a light airy piece of wearable art!

My next 2 posts will show other things you can use this process to create, so stay tuned!

Adding the Fun!

SO MANY choices of texture, color, thread, paper, silk, cotton, linen – the fun part when adding the surface layer on fabric collage is choosing the scraps for a particular piece. I like to dump out my scrap bin on the table and rummage through it to find some initial scraps that seem to relate to one another, either by contrasting or coordinating with one another. Then I start adding to the pile. In general, I don’t limit either thin or heavy weight fabrics – a variety is great in most work of this kind.

This scrap selection includes cotton, rayon, and wool challis. I wanted to emphasize pinks that coordinated with each other.

The two collages above include silk, polyester, commercial cotton, inkjet-printed cotton, and threads from upholstery fabric.

You will want to consider the fiber content. Many synthetic or silk fabrics require a lower iron temperature than some of your other fabrics. You have choices: eliminate those fabrics; add them but remember where they are and be very careful when fusing; or go to town and love the melting and distortions that might occur. You can always cover a blooper with another scrap.

Melted synthetic sheer on crinoline backing.

Above is some sheer polyester fabric included in my collage of an old stone building. I included it because I loved the pattern on that fabric. The iron was bit too hot for it, but it melted beautifully to expose the crinoline backing, enhancing the aged character I was looking for.

In addition to fabric, I sometimes include papers and threads. In the piece below, I used a page from an old book that I had stamped with pink flowers, yellow-green paper with stamped ginkgo leaves, and a piece of scanned hand-written text that was inkjet printed on cotton, along with a variety of cottons with interesting shapes.

The process of constructing fabric collage in this way is a real creative challenge with lots of latitude and a huge learning component.


Next time, I'll share some of the numerous ways I've used these fabric collages.





Posted by Cris Winters.