Last year I made 20 - 25 scarves to donate to our local Homeless after being inspired by an online post that featured hanging free scarves around the city in Ottawa, Canada. I wanted to repeat the project this year, but I ran into a few obstacles such as back/shoulder problems, THREE wedding gift afghans, and a few baby-shower gift blankets to make.
I made 4, but knew I would never get 25 done before Christmas. So I came up with an idea when I saw these plush throws at the local Wal-mart for just under $6 each.
Everyone loves the feel of a plush whether it's a stuffed animal, a robe or blanket. These blankets measure 60"x50" and by cutting a blanket into 5 strips measuring 60" long - a good length for a scarf - I could get 5 scarves from each blanket. I originally thought I would double them over and then crochet around the edge creating scarves of double thickness measuring 5"x60". Then I had an inspiration, if I didn't fold them over, a person could wrap the scarf around their shoulders as a wrap or tie over their head to make a hat. I'm always in favor of a multi-purpose item.
So here are a few pics to show how I put together 20 scarves for $24. (My friend purchased the same blankets for $2.88 each on sale. Wow!)
 |
| First, pull the binding thread off the edge. Save for some other project or discard. |
 |
| Fold the 60" length of the blanket in quarters and square up on your cutting mat. Measure 10"wide. |
 |
| Using the rotary cutter, cut along ruler. |
  |
| Fold the strip so the 4 corners are together; making sure the sides line up. Then cut the corners so they match. |
 |
| Now throw them in the dryer on the fluff air setting for about 10 - 20 minutes, because by now everything is covered in fuzz. The air is very dry due to the heater running in my house and these blankets love to get full of static so use some aluminum or wool balls in your dryer. | |
|
 |
| Crocheting an edge was going to take too long, so I decided to run a zig-zag stitch around the edge instead. |
 |
| I set my stitch as wide as my machine would go with a fairly long stitch length. |
|
 |
| Optional: You could fold the ends up about 5 or 6 inches (as pictured) and stitch up the side creating pockets. What a great way to keep the hands warm while wearing the scarf. |
|
|
|
|
 |
| Voila! Now I have 24 scarves total to donate. Once I figured out what I was doing, it took about 1 hour to turn a blanket into 5 scarves. |
|
So don't let a lack of time or money keep you from creating some great scarves to give away. You could get even more scarves per blanket if you were making them child-sized.
Merry Christmas!
