Making A Vintage Hankie Scarf

Hankies in the washing machine

I only found the small box of hankies in the guestroom/office when I was doing my shipping this morning.  I don’t’ know how I forgot it was there, Cathy sent it months ago.

But finding it now made my work much easier.  Because, in some ways,  making Vintage Hankie Scarves is like building a stone wall.  It’s always better to have more, rather than less,  rocks or hankies to choose from.

So I threw the hankies on gentle cycle into the washing machine…

Then took them out damp and ironed them.

I used to wash the hankies by hand and dry them on the line, but it’s so much easier to get all the wrinkles out when they’re still damp. And if they can’t make it thought a gentle wash in the machine I don’t want to use them to make a scarf.

(Not that I recommend machine washing your Vintage Hankie Scarf.  They are somewhat delicate.  They’re easy to wash in the sink and they dry almost anywhere pretty quickly).

This combination of hankies didn’t end up being a scarf.

 

After they’re all ironed I start “matching” them up (like rocks in a stone wall only lighter) on my studio floor.  I arrange them and rearrange them till I get it right.

Then I sew them together…

 

…and all those hankies that have been sitting in boxes buried in someone’s closet or draw for years become a scarf.

2 thoughts on “Making A Vintage Hankie Scarf

    1. It depends on the size of the hankies Barbara, they’re all different. But Usually about 7 or 8 for each side so 14 or so. I make the scarves about 70″ long.

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