Fun with voiles

Hi everyone!  Well, the heat has finally broken, at least where we are, and it's much more comfortable now, though those were some powerful storms that ended it.  Good thing it's done for now, because the anxiety is definitely on the rise as we get closer and closer to moving.  There are too many details, and I'm getting pretty tense.  It all goes okay in the end,  I know, but getting there can be no fun at all.

From time to time I make things that are not quilts, and this is one of those times.  I'm starting a new teaching position in a couple of weeks, and that calls for something new and festive for those first few days. And face it, it's just fun to have new things sometimes too.  Here's what I made:

Yep, a couple of pretty scarves! I made these from two pieces of the cotton voiles that are everywhere now.  The fabrics are really pretty, but they're definitely too thin to use in a quilt. They make really nice, soft scarves, though!

I made the blue infinity scarf from a very pretty piece of voile from Bari J called Birds and Branches that I got from my friend Bernie's shop. This scarf was super easy, using THIS tutorial from Melly Sews.  The length and the width turned out to be very big, at least to me, so I ended up cutting about 10 inches off the length and about five inches from the width to make it fit me a lot better.  Even with the adjustments, this literally took me about an hour to stitch, plus maybe 10 minutes of hand sewing to close up the final seam.

You would think that the infinity scarf would be more complicated and take longer than a simple straight scarf, but no, the orange one took longer, mainly because I hemmed the sides.  This voile is called Firefly Tang by Jeni Baker and the photos don't do it justice.  It's a lovely orange that's not really bright or flashy and the fabric itself is very soft.  I had thought about making a tank top from it because it's so pretty, but it's just too sheer for me to be comfortable wearing it.  Perfect for scarves, though!

I cut the orange scarf 12 inches wide and made it about 72 inches long.  I hemmed the sides with a very narrow hem and then did a small zigzag about an inch from the ends and pulled threads to fray the ends just a bit.  This was actually the hardest part because it just didn't want to fray, which is a good thing in fabric but not great when you actually want it to come apart. 

The dresses are identical styles from Lands End. I have this dress in five colors and wear it all the time. Super comfortable!

And just like that, I now have two new festive accessories to wear this fall! They were easy to make and will dress up my plain solid boring clothes.  I love the fabrics, too, and I'm glad I got to use those thin fabrics for something useful.  So a very successful small project, I'd say!

Hope everyone has a good weekend, and that it's not too terribly hot where you are.  Ice cream always cools me off-- just sayin'!

Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or Not Friday, and TGIFF.