One of my sewing pals, Lynn CC, was taken with the Koos scarf article in the January 2012 issue of Threads magazine. The article, by Linda Teufel, shows how designer Koos van den Akker creates his version of the infinity scarf.
Using different fabrics, sewn in a spiral, and twisted so that it lays nicely, the scarf construction is much more complex than it appears. Lynn CC liked the scarf, but wondered how it would work in a smaller format, such as a half yard of fabric. She made several and liked the result.
When I saw Lynn's scarves, I loved them. She used the full width of the fabric, and when you use, say, a half a yard of a 45" wide fabric and twist it once, it produces a scarf that lays nicely and close to your neck. It's a great way to showcase a special fabric - be it knit, woven, or lace. Lynn has found that these make great gifts.
I had to make the black and white ikat scarf twice. The first time, I added a single twist, but somehow lost it when sewing the selvedges together, because the resulting scarf was a cylinder, with no twist. Luckily, I had another half yard (because I was too lazy to unstitch the first scarf) and made it a second time, this time asking Lynn to assist with the twisting. This one was perfect.
On my way home last weekend, Sue and I stopped by Hart's fabric store in Santa Cruz. I had never been there before, and it's a great store. (They also have a nice online store.)
Hart's carries a lot of knits, including quite a few of the Missoni knits. I am not really a Missoni girl, but I decided to buy a half yard to make a Koos scarf.
Because the Koos fabric is much wider than the ikat fabric, I decided to use the full width, but add more twists. In the end, I added four full twists, which was maybe one twist too much. Twisting the scarf helps to shorten it, but I think I would have been happier if I had cut the rectangle to be shorter than the full selvedge-to-selvedge width (closer to 45") and twisted it only once.
Oh well, it was an experiment and I'm sure I'll get some wear out of it.
