Twelve Days of Handmade Christmas - Day 5: Merino knit wrap with Liberty edging

The fifth  in our series of Twelve (non-consecutive) Days of Handmade Christmas from The Drapery. Handmade Christmas gifts are thoughtful, cost-effective and kind to the earth. And they're just as rewarding to give as they are to receive.

Merino wool jersey wrap with Liberty Tana Lawn edges


Two beautifully soft and luxurious fabrics join forces to make this easy-to-construct wrap. We think it's a perfect gift for a special woman in your life - great to warm your shoulders on a summer evening, or used as an extra layer of warmth in the cooler months . 

Our wrap measures 60cm x 130cm.

You will need:
30cm Liberty Tana Lawn
60cm Merino Wool Jersey (currently on sale online and instore!) 
General sewing supplies: matching thread, sewing machine, a nice sharp needle for handwork, a bias binding tool (optional but very useful), iron, pins or clips.

Method:
1. Cut the Liberty into four, 1.5 inch wide strips from selvedge to selvedge. If you have extra fabric, by all means cut your strips on the bias - it would give your wrap a nice fluidity to the edge, but it is not necessary.

2. Measure up your piece of merino jersey to make sure it isn't lop-sided and that the corners are square.


3. Using a bias tape maker, feed your strips through to make double-folded tape. Press in half once more down the centre of the strip. If you don't have a bias tape maker here is a great little tutorial to help make that tape.


4. Now open up your Liberty tape and begin to pin it to the edge of your rectangle of merino. Pin with right sides together and both edges aligned. It doesn't matter which side of the merino you start on or where you start, but do fold the corner of your tape back in so that unfinished edges of the tape will all be hidden once you're finished.  



5. Pin the tape around the entire perimeter of the merino. To mitre the corners, pin along to the seam allowance right near the opposite edge then fold back the tape as you turn it around the corner. This tutorial has a clear and excellent description of how to mitre corners.


6. Now, to the sewing machine. You might want to do a test run on your machine settings before you start with the merino, but on our machine, a slightly longer than usual stitch length did the trick. Backstitch to begin, then stitch along the first fold around the entire perimeter of the wrap. Remember to stop and backstitch just before the seam allowance at either side of each corner, and backstitch at the very end as well.

7. Almost done. Now fold your Liberty tape back over the opposite side of the wrap and pin or clip it down. We used a few Clover Wonder Clips to keep the tape in place as we stitched (they were particularly handy on the corners), but pins will work just as well.

8. Machine or hand sew the tape into place. We used a ladder (invisible) stitch and hand sewed. It took a good few hours, but we think the finish is rather nice. Machine sewing would provide a neat finish (and take a whole lot less time!)


All finished! The mixture of soft merino teamed with Liberty Tana Lawn makes for some great drape and a lovely, soft feel. One for each woman in the family, maybe?

Previous Twelve Days of Handmade Christmas posts:
Half Metre Tote Bag
Linen Scarf
Felt iPad Cover
Simple Envelope-Back Cushion

- Fiona & Jane xx

Comments

  1. Absolutely lovely, and so simple. These are gorgeous ideas for Christmas. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oooh love this idea, maybe for me though!

    ReplyDelete

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