Gauze Wrap with Reverse Applique

This project was conceived from two recent creative sparks. The first is our trip to Japan, during which I saw some great multi-ply quilted cotton gauze spa towels that were glorious to touch. The second inspiration was checking out a few books from the library about the Alabama Chanin design aesthetic. I decided a multi-ply gauze scarf with some stenciling and reverse applique would be a great project to try both. It occurred to me that reverse applique in a woven rather than a knit was a questionable choice with potential fraying, but I also thought the fabric paint might help to limit fraying.

I bought 2 yards of cotton bubble gauze (58" wide, $10) and decided the final scarf would be 3 ply, and about 12" wide by 72" long. I bought two bottles of RIT dye ($6) at the craft store and proceeded to dye the inner panel lighter gray and the outer two panels darker gray. I heated the water to a simmer and let them soak in the dye for a full 30 min, but the dark gray fabric has some mild mottling. It's not significantly noticeable, but I would use a higher-quality dye next time. After dying, I washed, air-dried and pressed the fabric.

One of the Alabama Chanin books had a "bloomer" stencil sample in it, and I traced the sample onto a sheet of 6 mil mylar (pack of 10 sheets, 12" X 24" on Amazon for $14) and cut it out with a craft knife. I applied acrylic paint through the stencil by pouncing with a stencil brush. 

I used a large embroidery hoop and medium-weight sashiko thread that I bought in Japan. I stitched a running stitch around all of the stenciled edges, then carefully cut away the top layer of fabric. 

One side done

On the first side, I accidentally cut through both layers a couple of times, so on the second side I pre-cut slits into the top layer before any stitching (this would be even easier to do next time before basting the two layers together). I did my best to repair these areas with fusible interfacing and small stitches. Once I'd stitched around, and while it was still in the hoop, I used a long serger tweezers to lift up and tug the top layer so it could be more safely cut away, but this is still a bit of an arduous process. The second side went faster, and it was helpful to have the pre-cut slits to start with.