Spring infinity scarf

Now that we're on the subject of clothes, let's talk big-girl (i.e., for me) clothing for a few minutes.

Lately I have been pondering a bit the idea of a "spring wardrobe." This is a new one for me, in the past I've basically thought of my closet as 10 months of cold-weather clothing and 2 months of warm-weather clothing. It will probably be somewhat chilly and wet here in Seattle until late June and I run cold, so I will continue to need two layers of long sleeves and wool sweaters on most days until true summer weather arrives. I've thought in the past that it is difficult in this climate to dress appropriately for the weather and for the season at the same time. But this year I'd like to do something about it.

Looking at my closet, I see a LOT of black and gray, stuff that feels cozy and subtle in January but looks dreary to me now. I don't see a lot of items that look "springy." One thought I had was that a little more pink might be in order. (Now there is a sentence that has never before been typed by the mother of a six-year-old girl.)

So, last weekend, I made myself a scarf.

The outer print fabric is from Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks voile collection, and the inner fabric is a crinkled cotton gauze that I've had in my stash for a while. (I'm a little embarrassed to say that making this scarf did not actually require a trip to the fabric store.)

The pattern is this free tutorial from Pink Chalk Fabrics (PDF link). Most other tutorials for infinity scarves simply have you make a continuous loop of fabric, but this method introduces a twist in the loop so that the scarf actually resembles an infinity symbol -- my not-so-inner nerd was instantly sold.

The tutorial has you cut two pieces of 54"-wide fabric from selvage to selvage. That was the width of my voile but the crinkle cotton was only 42-44" wide, so I cut two strips along my yardage and pieced them together to match the length of the voile. (I cut along the length of the yardage so that the crinkles in the cotton would run the long way along the scarf.)

I found the instructions very clear and reliable, and I got a good result on the first try without any missteps. The whole thing took about an hour and a half total, from pressing the fabric all the way through the little bit of hand sewing required to stitch the opening closed. I'm a slow sewist (say that three times fast), so I consider that a pretty quick project.

Here are a few ways I'm looking forward to wearing my new scarf:

With coral cords, an ivory long-sleeve tee, tweedy olive-green cardi, and tan/black ballet flats.

With gray jeans, a Breton-stripe tee, ivory Aran cardi, and Navy blue clogs.

With mustard cords, a gray tunic sweater, and Wellies.

Happy Spring!