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Threads - for people who love to sew

Make a Quick Summer Wrap

Photo: Jack Deutsch

by Kenneth D. King
from Threads #137, pp. 38-39

When you need the perfect evening wrap at the last minute, just pull out two yards of 60-inch-wide fabric and two tassels and cook up the solution.

Wrinkles in wraps are good. For the best results, choose stiff fabrics such as satin, taffeta, and organza in synthetic fibers.

1. Fold your two-yard length of fabric

With the right sides together and the selvages aligned, pin the seam, and sew a tube with a 3/4-inch-wide seam allowance. Press the seam allowances open. Turn the tube right-side out, gather up each end separately, and tie them with string or cord.

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1. Fold your two-yard length of fabric

2. Twist the tube ends

Clamp one end of the tube, or have a friend hold it firmly. Twist the other end. Keep twisting until the tube winds into a rope that knots back onto itself. Once it is knotted and twisted as much as possible, tie the ends together with more cord.

3. Start cooking

Put the knotted fabric in a vegetable steamer. Cover and steam it for 20 to 30 minutes.

4. Remove the fabric from the steamer

Set the steamed fabric aside, and allow it to cool and dry. Then remove the cords, and unwind the twisted fabric. If there are wet spots on the fabric, dry them now with a hair dryer, and fluff out the tube.

5. Hand-stitch around the tube ends

With buttonhole or carpet thread and large-eyed needle, make a row of running stitches about 3/4 inch above the tube’s raw edge. Pull the thread end like a drawstring, and tuck the raw edges into the tube as the fabric gathers. Insert the tassel cord into the drawn-up tube, and sew the tassel to the wrap securely. Repeat on the other end to finish the wrap.