Jersey Beaded Scarf

This was a gift I made for my older sister. It's a cross between a scarf and a necklace (a scarflace?).

It was fairly easy to make: I cut black jersey into long strips, some of which I braided, some of which I added a few coloured wooden beads to. The most difficult part was getting the beads on the jersey. This was done with  straight pin, a needle and needle-nose pliers. It was therefore important that I picked beads with sizeable holes.

I twisted the fabric strips together and put a line of stitching on each end to hold the bundle together.

Dread Knot - Yarn Necklace

Greetings! Here is an in depth look at how I made what I am now referring to as the 'Dread Knot'. Why such an awesome name? Because I decreed it. >:D

This was an experiment that I am rather pleased with. Very classy, but cozy and awesome. I wanted to make a chunky scarf/necklace thing without knitting for weeks on end. This is the result. :D

I chose 3 colours of yarn that I thought had both good contrast and went well together. The yarn I chose was a thick soft yarn that reminded me a bit of dreadlocks.

I looped the yarn around in circles alternating the colours until I found the right combination, length and thickness. I made the main colour purple, with green as secondary and white/cream as the accent.  I made sure there was enough left at the ends to knot it and finish it off, while still hanging where I wanted it to.

I separated the colours and then cut the loops into strands all approximately the same length. 

I divided the yarn into 3 equal groups with varying amounts of each colour. The knots on the end is a bad idea. I tied them too tight and it was a bit of an effort to get them undone, damaging the ends of the yarn more quickly.

I tied an elastic band around the 3 groups and twisted them around until I found the look I was going for. I then tied the other end with an elastic band. 

I flattened it out and used bias tape to sew the ends together so it wouldn't fall apart. The bias tape acted as a barrier to prevent the yarn from getting sucked into the sewing machine.

I then hand stitched the ends into circles, so they were more compact and easier to work with.

I found a large wooden bead and braided it into a sort of rope to wrap around and cover the bias tape. The bead would act as a fastener, as I made a loop for the other end of the scarf.  These 'ropes' hide the bias tape and finish the piece.

And there you have it. I don't think the knots for the fasteners are quite as firm as I would like, but as I said: it's an experiment.

This project used only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the yarn I bought, so with the 3 skeins, you can make more than one scarf. I'm thinking about making one for myself... :D

It can be worn in a few different ways: you can put the knot at the front, or the back, and twisting it to different degrees gives it a different look.

January Update

Hey all! I disappeared off the face of the planet for a long time. O.o  I mean, it's already 2012!

...Well I'm back. I finally finished with the Fanexpo stuff, and I'm ready to move on to some more recent material. Yeah. School's been keeping me very busy.

Woot.

In the next little while we will get to look at some of the stuff I made for school, as well as all the christmas gifts I made this year. 

Elanne's panda bag & Mum's jumper!

Alex's scarf & Mike's sweater!

My shop project, and my sewing project of first term will be posted once I track down all of the progress pictures taken on various people's cameras. XD

As for future projects? The next on the cosplay list is Alex's costume for Katsucon in February! Look forward to it! After that? Focusing on the Katamari entry for Anime North. It will be epic.

Jelly wishes you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! ;D