Patchwork Scarf Tutorial + Giveaway

Hello, and welcome to visitors of the 12 Gifts of Christmas blog hop! Twelve sewing and quilting bloggers have joined together to share handmade holiday gift tutorials to get you ready for the season of giving. I’m very honored to be one of them! And in case you’ve been following along, you probably know that there’s a fabric giveaway at the end of this post. It’s sponsored by Mountain of the Dragon, one of my favorite online shops to browse for Echino and other designer fabrics.

Today, I’m going to be sharing how to make a reversible patchwork scarf in a zig-zag or chevron design. You’ll need a charm pack (I used Hometown by Sweetwater) and 5/8 yard of Kona white fabric.  You’ll have leftovers of both. Also, you’ll want a rotary cutter and cutting mat, your sewing machine and matching thread.

To start, open your charm pack and sort by color family. For this scarf, my strongest color groups were the reds and blues, so these are the 18 charms I used for my scarf. You could easily make two of these scarves from one charm pack, in which case you’ll want to use 1 and 1/4 yard of Kona white.

DSC_0001

Next, you’ll want to chain piece your charm squares by sewing them directly onto the white fabric, right sides together. (Use a 1/4-inch seam allowance for all stitching.) The wrong side of the charm squares will face up as you stitch, and you’ll arrange them on the white one right after the other. You’ll cut these units apart later, but chain piecing these blocks is quick and uses minimal thread.

Chain Piecing the Charm Squares
Once you have stitched along one long side of all the charm squares, flip the long white piece of fabric around and stitch the other side down to the white, so that two opposite sides of each charm are sewn down to the white, and the other sides are free. (This is where you will later cut between each charm.) After this step is completed, you’ll have a long strip of charm squares facing the white fabric, right sides together.

Note: If you’d rather not chain piece, you can still complete this step by cutting out 18 five-inch white charms squares, and sewing the left and right edges of one white square to each of your colored charm squares, with the right sides touching.

Next, you’ll cut around the perimeter of each charm square backed in white, to set it free. Measure and cut each quilt-block sandwich into two 2.5-inch halves, making sure the stitched sides are to the left and right of your cut line (not top and bottom).

Cut Apart the Blocks

Open up the new charms, which are half-and-half. Bring them to your ironing board and press the seams open.

Trim and Arrange Blocks

Trim up the blocks to 4.5-inch squares with your rotary cutter. Arrange blocks in a zig zag (keeping the color groups of blue and reds together) like the photo. Pair darker with lighter values until you get an effect you like.

Next, you’ll want to cut twelve 4.5-inch squares from white fabric. Slice these blocks diagonally, from corner to corner as shown, to make triangular inserts. These will fill in the holes around your zig zags. For two of the scarf corners (top left and bottom right), you will cut one triangle in half again (from the top point to the center of the straight edge) to create even smaller triangles.

Cut triangles, piece rows

Piece the tiny corner triangle to the corner block, and then piece the side triangles to create your first row. You will join each diagonal row in the same way (see below). Take the pieces for the next row and line them up to sew. I used my cutting mat to accurately transport the blocks from the floor to my sewing machine, making sure to keep each block facing the right way.

Piece rows together
Once all of your diagonal rows are pieced together, join the rows, making sure to iron your seams open. Iron the scarf and trim off the fabric peaks along each edge.

Next, fold the scarf in half width-wise, so that the red and blue layers are touching. Stitch around the three loose sides, leaving a 2-inch gap in both the top and bottom. Use these gaps to help you turn the long scarf right-side out.

Finish Scarf

Press scarf flat and stitch 1/8-inch from the edge of the entire perimeter to close up the gaps from earlier. This will give a nice, finished edge to your scarf.

Patchwork Scarf

Voila! Flip it to either side to coordinate with your outfit. I think this lightweight scarf would make a great gift for a parent or grandparent. As a variation, you could use yardage of any fabric, instead of using a charm pack! How fun would this design be in solids, for a Charlie Brown effect?

Fabric lovers: How about a 15% off discount at Fabricworm? Use the coupon code fw12days through the end of the blog hop!

Here’s the rest of the blog hop schedule, and each stop contains a giveaway! Winners will be announced starting Wednesday, October 26. Also, if you make any of these handmade gifts, be sure to add your photos to the 12 Gifts of Christmas Flickr Group. There’s also a $250 Fabricworm grand prize giveaway over at Ellison Lane Quilts!

Friday, October 14- Jennifer/Ellison Lane Quilts
 Saturday, October 15- Ayumi/Pink Penguin
 Sunday, October 16- Amy/ Lots of Pink Here
 Monday, October 17- Faith/Fresh Lemons Quilts
 Tuesday, October 18- Penny/Sew Take a Hike
 Wednesday, October 19- Kati/From the Blue Chair
 Thursday, October 20- Lee/Freshly Pieced
 Friday, October 21- Elizabeth/Don’t Call Me Betsy
Saturday, October 22- Melanie/Texas Freckles
 Sunday, October 23- Lindsay/Craft Buds
Monday, October 24- Amanda/A Crafty Fox
Tuesday, October 25-Vanessa/Little Big Girl Studio

Giveaway!

Giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Cori!

Ready to win some fabric? Enter to win a $50 gift certificate to Mountain of the Dragon fabric shop by leaving one comment on this post! You can get one extra entry if you “Like” this post on Facebook and leave a second comment.

mountain of the dragon

They have some great Japanese prints and a great Echino selection! We will choose one winner via Random.org on Wednesday, October 26. Good luck!

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Hi, I’m Lindsay Conner, an author, modern quilter, editor, and founder of the Lindsay Sews blog. I’m a Baby Lock ambassador and Stash Books author who loves writing modern sewing and quilt patterns for beginners and weekend sewists! I live in Indianapolis, Indiana with my husband, son, and two loveable cats, Murph and Chloe. I’ve been crafting for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I saved my dollar bills for trips with my mom to Jo-Ann Fabrics, where I’d find new floss for friendship bracelets or mini cross-stitch kits. Because my mom has always shared my love for crafting, she bought me my first sewing machine, a Hello Kitty Janome.

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408 comments

  6. Fabulous!! I actually just ordered a Hometown charm pack and now I know what to do with it! Thanks!

  8. I love the idea of a patchwork scarf, especially because it comes together so much faster than knitting!

  9. Very cool! I can think of a thousand possibilities for a project like this. And using charm packs is genius!

  15. Thanks for the share! I’m sure this would be a great gift for a niece or even a nephew given you use the right colors.

    Thanks for the share!

  16. One more snazzy thing I can make and give to my daughters for Christmas, thank you for the tutorial!

  26. thanks so much – gorgeous scarf – I’ll be making one of these for my sister 🙂

  29. What a clever scarf…and the photos do a great job of explaining it 🙂 Thanks for your hard work!

  35. Now that is a good idea, especially with Christmas just around the corner! Thanks for the giveaway. Linda

  37. That’s a lovely scarf! It’s great for this time of year when a knitted scarf is still to warm. Thanks for the tutorial! Marieke

  38. What an adorable scarf! Thanks for the great tutorial and the chance to win such an awesome prize!

  41. This is a wonderful idea to create a scarf with different colors. So you only have to change the side to make it fit to your clothes! Thanks for that.
    Greetings from Silke

  43. Thanks for a great tutorial 🙂

    I would love to win this giveaway 🙂

    Unfortunaly I´m not at Facebook, so just one fore me…

    Cheers Chili

  44. That’s gorgeous! I love Hometown and this is such a great gift to give!

  62. Wow, cute scarf! Love the cheating zigzag. Off to check out the etsy shop 🙂

  66. I really love the scarf, Hometown is a gorgeous fabric line & I’d love to make this. Thanks for a great tutorial.

  83. Love the scarf. I think I would use flannel and put some batting in for a warm one. Thanks for the giveaway

  92. I am so impressed and grateful for all these giveaways and the time you take to do these tutorials! I haven’t been involved in fabric for about 9 years, and things sure have changed!!
    Thank you, nice work

  94. Really cute scarf and great tutorial Lindsay. Thanks so much for being a part of our blog hop!

  96. Thanks for the tutorial and I am going to try this with wool and flannel. Great creative thinking and what a efficient way to use up our charm packs.

  100. This is a beaut idea and I’m keen to try it, after watching your pics and reading your description I feel I could do it. Thanks so much for putting such a neat scarf gift idea together for us, always a good accessory anytime (wearing one today!) I’m really interested in Echino prints too so thanks to Monica of Mountain of the Dragon for such a gererous opportunity.

  108. Thanks for the tutorial on making zigzags without triangles. Seeing your scarf laid out on your table makes me think of making a table runner, too. I’m not familiar with your online shop…going there now.

  109. What a wonderful scarf! thanks for the tutorial – this is going to be more than a few gifts for me to give this holiday! thanks for the giveaway too.

  116. Wow! I love these scarves! They would make great gifts! Thanks for sharing and a chance to win!

  122. Thanks so much for this tutorial, I love working with charm packs and know several people who would love to have a scarf like this, me included.

  123. Thanks for the tut, gonna be needing some extra protection from the weather, why not make it cute 🙂

  129. Thank you for the great tutorial and giveaway. I am really enjoying this blog hop – lots of fresh gift ideas.

  130. Great tutorial. I love seeing projects that use charm packs. Thanks for sharing and for a chance at your giveaway.

  133. Love the tutorial though I’ll use a darker colour instead of white as I’m a bit of a messy person!

  134. I’ve likes this post on FB – thanks for the button – makes life easy as I don’t “do” FB but it is slowley creeping into my life.

  141. Great tutorial – thanks for sharing. Lots of great stuff over at Mountain of the Dragon too!

  149. love the idea…thinking of making a halloween table runner using that pattern?!?!? thanks for chance to win

  152. That’s a great scarf! Some of my co-workers with definitely be seeing some scarf action this holiday. Thank you.

  154. Okay.

    Wow.

    I actually finally understood making a chevron design.

    You made a light bulb go off in my head…not a small feat, my dear!

    I have a bunch of fabric I’m going to try this with.

    Thank you!

    And thanks for the fun giveaway, too.

  157. Thanks for the instructions – I’m new to patch working so everything helps. I may have to buy a cutting tool soon too.

  160. Thanks for the tutorial and the giveaway. I will now have to resist temptation while I so want to buy all those gorgeous fabric, and ribbons. Definitely a shop to visit often, help…..

  162. I bet that would make a lovely table runner as well. Ooh, or… wow, head explode with ideas. THank you for the tutorial.

  164. I really like that chevron/zigzag pattern. Thanks for the tutorial and a chance to win the gift certificate.

  170. Thanks for the tutorial on the scarf. I know I have some scraps I could put to use. Kathie L in Allentown

  176. I really like this tutorial… I guess my mom will get such a scarf (well, with another fabric selection of course) for Christmas. Thanks you for sharing.

  187. Thank you for the cute scarf tutorial. I’m going to use a Victoria charm pack to make it! I chose to like you on my facebook account.

  188. I love that the scarf hangs on the bias of the fabrics to make it nice and soft. Thanks for a chance to win some great fabric!

  190. Cute scarf!

    I’m a little confused by the instructions, though. You say to lay the charms on the white wrong sides together. It looks in the picture though as if it’s right sides together. Also if you stitched wrong sides together, then wouldn’t the seam allowance show on the right sides? Am I just nit getting it?

    Thanks!
    Chelsea

    1. Thanks Chelsea–that’s what happens when you stay up late writing a tutorial! I’ve fixed it to say right sides together. So the wrong sides would face out. 🙂

  192. What a cute scarf! I love Hometown. In fact I have 3 charm packs. Two of the charm packs are going to be a quilt. Now I know what I’m going to do with the third. Thanks for the great tutorial. I have always wanted to do a zig zag pattern. This will be perfect.

  194. I love these scarfs! I want to make one in Red and Gold for Gryffindor! Thanks for sharing this tutorial and giveaway with us.

  195. I want to make one in Red and Gold for Gryffindor! Thanks for sharing this tutorial and giveaway with us.

  204. Great strip piecing. Lightweight scarf will be just the thing for a climate without snow !!

  212. What a nice scarf! I’m sad that it’s never cool enough here to wear them. But thanks for the chance to win! 🙂

  215. Thank you for the scarf pattern. I also love the candy corn candy holders. Thanks for a chance to win

  216. Such a fun tutorial and Mountain of the Dragon is one of my favorite fabric shops – thanks for all the fun!

  219. This is a very pretty scarf, and it looks like it is fun to sew. Thanks for the tutorial and giveaway.

  220. this is so cute, and i love the directions on how to chain stitch it – it never would have occurred to me to do it that way!

  223. Oh, I love the reversible scarf. Great idea and well done.
    thanks for sharing the tutorial.

  224. Great tutorial! I like that you used a zigzag print. I have been meaning to try that out and this small project would be an excellent tester!

  232. Thanks for the tutorial. The Hometown fabric is such fine, soft cotton that it’s a good choice for a scarf.

  239. Zigzags are great… maybe I will make one of these to go along with my bf’s quilt I am making her. 🙂 Thanks for the inspiration!

  242. great tut! I am now a follower on my email. lots of fun things to explore here.

    Lorene

  243. What a pretty scarf! I love it. I have been wanting to make a zigzag quilt so I will try your method. Sounds very time saving!

  250. What a fun tutorial! I love the Hometown collection! Thanks for the chance to enter!

    homespunhandmaiden(at)yahoo(dot)com

  252. What a great tutorial! I like the pattern and it’s versatile! Thanks for sharing with us and thanks for the chance to win a lovely giveaway!

  257. Thank you so much for hosting a gorgeous tut and a fabulous giveaway! Please enter me, I’d be so appreciative!

    Xoxo
    Crystal
    Domestic, But Not Martha
    crystal at domesticbutnotmartha dot com

  259. What a great tutorial! You were very clear in the steps and pics! Will have to make some of these scarves for Christmas!! Thank you for participating in the hop!

  261. cute little scarf, and a great tutorial!! I like how you made the half and half charm square blocks: a great time saver!!

  263. Your scarf is very sweet! I am in the mood for doing some scarf making too. I have been looking at a bunch of different ideas online and then I will probably end up doing my own thing while using bits and pieces of different ideas.

  264. What an awesome tutorial! Thanks for another gift idea! And thanks for a chance to win! 🙂

  266. Great tutorial! Thanks for sharing it and for the giveaway. I’m getting right into the Christmas spirit. 🙂

  267. This is really pretty:0) I love the zig-zag pattern! Thanks for the tutorial and giveaway. Have a Blessed week!

  274. Very cute idea! And I love that it’s reversible. Too fun! Thanks for sharing.

    Merry (early) Christmas!

  277. What a great way to make a personalized scarf and use some scraps. It would be extra nice backed with some flannel or velveteen!

  291. Thanks for the wonderful tutorial and for the opportunity to enter your great giveaway!

  302. I got a bit lost in the middle while reading through the tutorial but figured it out in the end. Thanks for all the photos and words. It did make sense, I was thinking too hard. Wonderful scarf.

  304. So cute! I always love zig zags, and that scarf is a fun way to do it! I’d never heard of Mountain Dragon before, but in hopping over, I am super impressed with their selection. Thanks for the tutorial and the giveaway!

  307. I love the idea of doing zig-zag with squares. I have seen it once before but haven’t tired it. I need to add it to my list of things to do 🙂

  313. oh i love this! thanks for the great tutorial-i will be making this for sure.
    and thanks for the giveaway!

  314. very clever scarf; lots of good photos, will give any outfir new zip!! thanks for the giveaway!

  322. Saw this on sew happy geek and I love it! Thanks for such a great tutorial and just in time for the chilly fall weather 🙂

  324. I love scarves, and this one looks very cute and simple to make! Thanks for the tutorial 🙂

  325. cute..cute..cute! Scarves are all the rage in our schools right now…I’ll be making one for my teen!
    Thank you!

  327. Thank you for the great tutorial! I am making two super cute jackets from the same line so I think I’m going to have to make a scarf to finish it off now. 🙂

    Have a wonderful fall week! 🙂

  336. I appreciate seeing again how to make chevrons. I like your scarfs, they look crisp and sharp. Thanks.

  338. I love the scarf idea, and imagine what a gorgeous one you could make with light weight Japanese fabric from Mountain of the Dragon. 🙂

  340. LOVE the scarf! Thanks for sharing such a clear tutorial! And thanks too for the awesome giveaway! Would love to win this!

  355. thanks for the tutorial and the chance to win the giveaway.
    i love zig zag, but it’s so daunting in a big quilt. and i really love the charlie brown possibility. we’re big fans. 🙂

  360. Thanks for the great tutorial & giveaway. The scarf will also make a beautiful table runner.

  363. I love the “shortcut” method of chain stitching both sides of the charms and then cutting them down the middle. That is much faster than cutting first and stitching later.

  365. Great tutorial! Looks a little out of my skill range (I have yet to master successful triangles..lol) but cute cute cute!!

  368. Love the scarf! I Love scarfs! I might just have to sneak one of these in for myself. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

  384. What a pretty scarf and thanks for a very clear tutorial. I love all the short cuts one learns from you sewing bloggers. Thanks for sharing!

  387. What a gorgeous scarf!! I have not made a chevron but your tutorial shows each step and I really want to give it a try. Isn’t Hometown beautiful?

    Thanks for the generous giveaway and a chance to win.

    usairdoll(at)gmail(dot)com

  388. I liked you on FB as well as this post.

    Thanks again for a chance to win.

    usairdoll(at)gmail(dot)com

  389. Great looking scarf. Thanks for the tutorial. I’m new to quilting and I really appreciate such clear and easy to understand tutorials. Thanks for the giveaway also.

  392. I love this! And I like it on Facebook too for a chance to win some fabric!
    Thanks so much for sharing with the Pink hippo party.. hope my followers enter too!

  397. I love the Hometown fabric line you chose. Zig zags are working their way into my heart! Thanks for the tutorial.

  402. I’m trying to make the scarf for my daughter but I don’t understand how I can get 2 1/2 in. halves from this block. With a five inch color piece and 1/4 in seams on each side there’s no way to cut 2 1/2 in. and make two blocks. Thanks for any help.

    1. Hi Pat! When you cut the 5″ charms in half (you are cutting before you do any sewing, correct?), they are each 2.5″ x 5″. Join two halves along the 2.5″ edge, and you lose 1/4″ from each, making each 2.25″ wide. Then, 2.25″ + 2.25″ should equal 4.5″ wide (still 5″ long). Trim to 4.5″ square. I also use a scant 1/4″ seam. Please let me know if you have more questions!

  403. I thought you sewed the charms to the white strip on each side and then cut. I finally cut 2 1/4 in of the charm and the white. Thank you for answering my question.

  404. I am having a hard time with this scarf. I used green and pink squares. I have everything sewn together and have 36 green and 36 pink squares. How long is your scarf? This makes a really, really long scarf. I couldn’t find any measurements in the directions. Thanks for any help.
    Pat

  405. I think it is very nice for you and others to share your patterns, and I do read the comments of other receiptants, however I did not find a PDF icon to print the patchwork scarf pattern. I did not print it in its entirety as there were 51 pages of comments.
    Thanks for your consideration of placing a PDF icon so just the pattern can be downloaded
    Joyce

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