My mother was a very snappy dresser in her prime, and the number one piece of advice she passed along to me was that you could never go wrong accessorizing your outfit with a beautiful scarf. One of the most popular looks out there right now is the infinity scarf, an endless circle of loveliness you can twist into a number of interesting shapes. It's a great look to dress up or down to suit any occasion. Best of all... an infinity scarf is very easy to make. And I do mean veeerrryyy easy! I made our sample scarf in under an hour... and I stopped to take photos! This project just might become your favorite fast and easy (yet unique and elegant) holiday gift – especially because of all the beautiful voiles to choose from. Our thanks to FreeSpirit for providing one of the nine available voiles from Tina Givens' Pagoda Lullaby collection. 

If you purchase a full two yards of 54" voile, you can actually make TWO infinity scarves, one for you and one for a friend... or two for you, depending on your mood! Our thanks again to FreeSpirit for providing the beautiful Pagoda Lullaby voile for this project. FreeSpirit is an industry leader when comes to variety in substrates. From voile to velveteen, corduroy to cotton laminates... you'll love it all. Take a look at the projects in our recent Romantic Bedroom Retreat series we did with FreeSpirit and Rowan for some additional inspiration on working with several of these substates. 

Sewing Tools You Need

• Any Sewing Machine (we recommend the Janome 4120QDC) 
• Quarter Inch Seam foot (optional)

Fabric and Other Supplies

• 2 yards of 54" wide voile or similar lightweight fabric; we used Pagoda Lullaby Scale Voile in Grenadine by Tina Givens for FreeSpirit Fabrics
  View the entire Tina Givens voile collection at Free Spirit Fabrics
  Click to purchase the Scale Voile in Grenadine from Fabric.com 
• All purpose thread to match fabric
• See-through ruler
• Fabric pen or pencil
• Iron and ironing board
• Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
• Tape measure
• Seam gauge
• Seam ripper
• Straight pins
• Hand sewing needle

Getting Started

NOTE: If you are new to working with sheer fabric, like voile, check out our tutorial for some tips and tricks. For example, when cutting sheers, it's best cut as a single layer; once you get the fabric straight on your mat, tape it in place so it doesn't shift. You could also use push pins or fabric weights, depending on your cutting surface.

1. From the voile, cut TWO 13" wide x 64" long rectangles.

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

1. Measure and mark 3" from each end of each piece. These marks will be your starting and stopping points for each side seam.
   
2. Place the two rectangles right sides together and pin in place. 
3. Using a ½" seam allowance, stitch the two pieces right sides together along both long sides, remembering to start and stop 3" from each end.
   
4. Press the seams open.
5. Turn the scarf right side out. Press flat.
6. Topstitch ¼" from the edge along both sides. Sheer fabrics, like voile tend to want to roll, so the topstitching will keep the edge of the scarf looking nice. I switched to my Janome Quarter Inch Seam foot to keep my topstitching exact. 
   
7. Turn the scarf wrong side out and trim the seam allowance close to the topstitching seam.
   
8. You can also run a line of Fray Checkor a similar seam sealant along all the cut edges. Because voile is sheer, trimming back the seam allowance like this gives you a nice clean look from the front.
   
   NOTE: These topstitching and trimming steps are an optional finishing technique. If you are happy with the look of your side seams without these extra steps, then your work is done with the original two ½" seams.
9. With the scarf right side out, fold it in half and match up the raw ends.
10. Fold the outer ends out of the way and place the innermost ends right sides together. Pin in place.
    
11. Using a ½" seam allowance, stitch the layers together. 
    
12. Twist the scarf around and a pull it inside out a bit so you can match up the remaining two outermost ends. 
13. Place these ends right sides together and pin in place.
    
14. Using a ½" seam allowance, stitch these layers together. 
15. Pull the scarf right side out through one of the little gaps in the side seams.
    
16. Fold in the raw edges of the two gaps in the sides seams so they are flush with the sewn seam. Pin in place.
    
17. Slip stitch each opening closed.
18. If you opted to do the topstitched side seam finish as we did, you'll need to topstitch across the gap on both sides so your topstitching is continuous around the scarf.
    
19. Press well. 

Contributors

Project Design: Alicia Thommas
Sample Creation and Instructional Outline: Liz Johnson