How-To: Make a Fringed Scarf

I’ve had this piece of fabric for…  well – let’s just say it’s time to use it!

I bought it as a “mixed fiber” bolt end – it’s only about 14 inches wide and 44 inches long.  It feels like a rayon or acetate blend and I love the flowers and burnout detailing.
It’s one of those little pieces of fabric that tends to accumulate in stashes – I bought it because it was pretty, not because I had a plan for it – oops!   It’s too small for a tank top or camisole and too lightweight for a purse.
I think it would make a pretty scarf – but it’s a just a little short for my taste.  I think a fringe would finish off the ends nicely – but I don’t really want to have to go out and buy a pre-made fringe.

What’s a fiber-aholic to do?

Go diving for yarn of course!

I pulled these out of my stash and quite like the effect. They pull out the accent colors from the fabric, but I don’t think they’ll overwhelm the delicate print and fabric.

Time to start fringing!

I’m showing you the quick ‘n dirty way to create a fringe – I’ll explain a second method at the end of the post.  To begin, you need to figure out how long you want your fringe to be.  I’m going with a big, long one, so I’m wrapping my yarn around the long side of a standard shoe box lid.  You could use a book, a piece of sturdy cardboard… Just combine the yarn you want to use and start wrapping away.

How many times you ask?  Well… the short answer is – it depends!
Each full wrap (all the way around the lid, once) makes one hank of fringe.  You could measure and figure out how many fringes you want per inch or you could do what I’m doing and just wrap until it looks good.

Now you need to cut one end of the yarn wrap – very slowly and carefully, making sure to hold onto the strands.  They’ll spring out and land everywhere otherwise!
I love how the cut yarn looks on the fabric already:

Now we need to get our yarn attached to our scarf (which has been finished off with a simple rolled hem on all four edges).
Using very sharp scissors, poke a small hole in the very edge of the scarf – just big enough to squeeze your crochet hook into:

Now take one hank of yarn (I’m using a blend of five yarns, so one strand of each color equals one hank for me) and fold it in half.  Place the folded end on the crochet hook, like this:

Gently pull it through the fabric and use the crochet hook to grab the loose ends of the yarn:

Now pull the loose ends of the yarn through the loop and pull gently to close the loop.  It should look like this:

Don’t pull it too tightly, or you’ll deform the bottom edge of the shawl.
I’ve decided to add an extra knot for a little extra security.  It’s just a simple knot, but you could add beads or charms to it as well:

Now keep on fringing!  It took me under an hour to tie the fringe on the top and bottom of my 15″ wide scarf.
If you want to be a little more organized and neater when you’re making your fringe, cut a piece of cardboard – as wide as you want your fringe.  Cut little notches into the top and bottom of the cardboard – approximately every 1/4″.  Wrap your yarn onto the cardboard, catching the yarn in the notches.  It will make it easier to keep everything from springing everywhere after you cut the yarn.
Now that the fringe is all tied, we need to trim it so that the ends are nice and even.  I prefer to drape the scarf over a surface like a door and trim the fringe free-hand.  Now if you’d prefer to not do that, you can lay the fringe flat onto a cutting mat and use a rotary cutter & ruler to make sure it’s even.
I have to admit that I don’t get too fussy about the ends being perfectly even – but you can be as accurate as you’d like.
Here’s the finished scarf, with me wearing it – in my somewhat dirty bathroom mirror:

image: © C Findlay-Harder

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