A Monet Scarf Update

I've spoken about this scarf before in A Beautiful, Frustrating Scarf and guess what?... I still love the look of this scarf and I still can't find the right wrap for it.  But at least once a week I pull it out and wrap it in various ways in the hopes that this week I will happen upon the magic combination perfect for this wrap.  I really want the hints of pink to show since they help tie this scarf to the Monet paintings of Water Lilies that I associate the scarf with so I have to tie it just right to get them to show and that doesn't always work.  It's also a pretty darn huge scarf, 3X as wide as most of my Tichel scarves and if I just wrap it around my head once and tie it at the base of my neck, both tails still reach past my knees.  I'm considering cutting and hemming it into two smaller scarves but I haven't quite reached the point of no return yet.  So with all that in mind here are this weeks two best contenders for my Monet scarf wrap.

I'm using a royal blue scarf to try and make the monet scarf pop.  It's not terrible but the tails you see resting on my chest are also trailing almost to my knees and every attempt to put them up somehow makes the wrap too large and bulky.  Although I guess I could pretend I wanted it to look like I had a waterfall running off my shoulder.

I decided that this scarf might want to be a hijab since it was so huge and tried wrapping a couple of the "hijab" styles.  I tried the traditional up and over the head to full and tightly frame the face but you will not find that picture here because I looked like a drowning victim trying to get one last gasp of breath before sinking under the water of the pond.  Monet's Water Lilies and that particular style of hijab wrap are not compatable.  The wrap above, however, is probably the best one I've found with this scarf so far.  It's not in my normal style range but it's fun and does actually show the scarf off like I want.

Worst Scarf Tutorial Ever...Not Bad

So what do you do when you're cuddled at home with a cold?  Play around on the internet looking at covering blogs and tutorials...duh.  And what do you do when you find a tutorial titled "Worst Scarf Tutorial Ever"?  Try tying it of course!!!  And in the end the result wasn't bad at all.  It's kinda a cross between my ever favorite lazy turban and something a little more involved and tichel-y.  This is definitely getting added to my "lazy day wraps" repertoire.  With no further ado I present the results of the "Worst Scarf Tutorial Ever"....

I could have added a pin and made it look pretty fancy but turning around and selecting an appropriate pin seemed like too much work in my stuffy nose induced haze.  But if anyone else wants to watch the "Worst Scarf Tutorial Ever," here is it...

Tuesday Tutorial - Tichel Pin Display Frame

 Someday I hope to have an elaborate scarf storage area that meets all my needs in one handy place but until that magic day comes, I'm going to keep addressing my scarf and accessory storage needs one at a time as they become an issue.  For this tutorial, I've made a nice little cork backed tichel pin storage board.

You will need
 - an old picture frame (preferably a pretty one but if it's ugly you can always paint it)
 - some biggish pieces of scrap cardboard
 - a sheet of cork (I picked mine up as 12"X12" tiles in a 4 pack in the office supply section at Walmart)
 - Fabric (I used velvet because I had some left from the last project and it wont show the pin holes like some fabrics would)
 - Aleene's Original Tacky Glue (don't use Elmer's because it drys too hard for our purposes)

1 - Gather any old picture frames you have laying about.  (bonus points if you have picture frames with broken glass since we will be discarding the glass anyway)

 2 - Choose a picture frame that has tab closures holding the back in place like the picture frame on the right. (I preferred the picture frame on the left but since the picture slides into place rather than being held in by tabs it was not suitable for our purposes.  Learn from my mistake so you don't have to make a second trip to the Thrift Store)

3 - Disassemble your picture frame.  Discard the front glass or save it for use in another project.  There is usually something inside the picture frame that fits into the picture frame perfectly (sometimes it's a piece of cardboard, the back of the frame or the matting) that you will want to save.  Once you have determined which piece fits into the frame the best, that will become the template for your future cuts.

4 - Using your template (in my case the white mat seen above), cut a piece of the cork to the size of the frame and at least one sheet of cardboard.  Once these are cut, place them in the frame and make sure they fit snugly.  If they are loose, add an additional layer of cardboard.

5 - Because cork can be fragile and flimsy, you'll want to attach it to the sheet of cardboard with a thin layer of Aleene's Glue.  Use a sponge or your finger to "paint" the glue into a thin sheet rather than the thick cords laid down by the glue bottle.  Once you've glued the cork and cardboard together, weight them down with several heavy books and let them dry for 40 min to an hour.

6 - While you are waiting for the glue to dry on the cork, you can cut out your fabric.  Using your template from earlier, cut the fabric about 1 inch larger on all sides than the template.  Then trim the corners off like shown above.

7 - When the glue between the cork and cardboard is sufficiently dry, add another even thinner layer of Aleene's to the front of the cork paying special attention to the edges.  With your fabric "nice" side down on the table, carefully place your cork sheet glue side down onto the fabric.

8 - Use heavy books to weight and flatten your fabric/cord/cardboard sandwich while it is drying (30 min -1 hr)

9 - glue the edges of the cardboard backing and fold the edges of the fabric onto the glue 

10 - Carefully fit your fabric/cork/cardboard sandwich into the picture frame (be gentle because it should be a tight fit) and use the tabs to secure the frame closed.

11 - TADA!!!! Your Tichel Pin Display is done!!  Now all you have to do is hang it on your wall and start poking it with pins.

A Historically Passable Headcovering

Simple yet surprisingly pretty muslin sinar tichel to go with my costume

My family has matching Scottish (for fun, not historically accurate) costumes.  They are fun to wear and we make quite an impression when we all match.  One problem...I made these costumes before I decided to cover full time.  One solution...Since I did the tutorial on Sinar Tichels earlier this week, I decided to make a quick one in plain muslin.  It allowed me to see what a sinar tichel would look like made out of the simplest fabric available and it got me a quick head covering for my costume.  I'm actually pretty pleased with the results and it is so comfortable I haven't taken it off since trying it one a couple hours ago.

I think it looks a little like the 14th Century headdress in this picture without the detail work.  I purposefully avoided adding adornment to the covering for two reasons. One (and the most important) - It would be stupid to add too much detail to muslin when the fabric is so cheap and thin.  Two - I have garb for several different eras (Ren Faire style Scottish, accurate 14th Century, Norse, ect) so the fewer time and culture bound details I put in the more chances I will have to use this covering.

Tomorrow I might try to twist the bands to make a crown like this.

A Beautiful, Frustrating Scarf

I have this beautiful scarf.  I think it looks like Monet's Water Lilies and I can't wait to wear it.  If only I could figure out how to wrap it.  I've tried wrapping it in so very many different combinations and none of them show off the scarf to it's best.  I know I will find the perfect combinations of wrap and supporting scarves one day to let the beauty of this scarf shine.  I want a wrap that says "ode to famous artist on my head" not "oh look I found a pretty floral accent scarf."  Oh well...I'll keep trying.

Tutorial Tuesday - Sinar Tichel

This weeks Tutorial is a very basic Sinar Tichel.  A Sinar Tichel is also called an Apron Tichel because of it's apron like shape.  It is basically a center square with two bands on either side that wrap around the head.  Depending on how you put together your Sinar Tichel you can create a beautiful layered but still relatively thin and cool head wrap.

                   

1 - This first step to making a Sinar Tichel that truly fits you is taking some measurements (I'm going to give my measurements as examples but be aware I have a big head so you might not want to use my measurements for your Sinar).  Measure around your hair line to the back of your head - basically where the edge of your tichel usually rests.   Subtract at least two inches to allow room for tying the side bands. (24 inches - 2 = 22 inches for me)  This will be measurement A.  Now measure from your hairline or wherever the front of your tichel usually sits over the top of your head and back to the base of your skull or wherever the bottom of your tichel usually rests.  You should be wearing the largest base material (bun, volumizer, shaper, ect) you plan on using under your Sinar Tichel when you take this measurement to avoid making it too short.  Then add 2 or 3 inches.  You can always take some off later but if you make it too short you're in trouble. (17 inches + 3 = 20 inches for me) This is measurement B.  For the band length, use your initial hairline measurement and add a few inches to allow for ties and tucking. (I added 6 inches to my initial 24 inch around the head measurement to get 30 inch bands).  This is measurement C.  The band width will vary from project to project and often fabric to fabric if you are using two different fabrics for your bands so use your judgement on appropriate band width.

2 - Now that you know your measurements you can start looking through your fabric stash to find something you like.  I usually make a big pile of all the fabrics and trims I feel might work and then layer them until I find a set that works well together.  If you're going to the fabric store you can do the same thing you'll just have infinitely more possibilities. Once you know which fabrics you want to use, determine which fabric will be the main body of the tichel and which ones will be the side bands.  Decide how wide you want your side bands to be.  I usually make bands out of thick material narrower and thin material wider because they don't add much volume to the overall tichel. 

 For my tichel I decided on a mottled crushed velvet for the body, a solid velvet for one side band and a mottled sheer fabric with gold dots for the other side band.  I made my velvet side band 5 inches and my sheer side band twice that.  I really wanted some trim on this Sinar but I didn't have any in a color that would work so I scavenged an old gold tone cloth belt that I used to add another element to the tichel. 

3 - Once you've decided on the various elements, cut out the pieces of your tichel.  If you have a quilter's ruler, it comes in very handy at this point.  In the photo you can see I laid out the tichel fabrics once they were cut out to get an idea of my finished product.

4 - Roll, pin and sew all your edges that need to look nice and finished.  Sheer fabric is difficult to sew on a household sewing machine.  If you don't like the stitch you end up with on your sewing machine, you can look up some of the hand stitching techniques for making wedding veils and the like.  If you have trim to add to some of the pieces this would be time to do it.

5 - Finish all the edges that wont be seen with an overlock stitch (I call it the poor man's serger).  The overlock stitch is fairly common on all newer sewing machines but if you have an older machine, you can achieve similar results by running a very compact zigzag stitch close to the edge of your fabric.

6 - If your bands are different widths, use a basting stitch to gather your wider side down to the width of your smaller side.  Gathering fabric like this would be a tutorial all by itself so if you are not familiar with the technique I recommend the directions here.

7 - Pin your bands to the body of your tichel.  Make sure the pretty sides of the fabric are facing each other so when you fold it out the side of the fabric you want to show is facing out.  I decided not to sew my old belt/trim down to one of the fabrics since it is already finished on both sides and having it loose gives me even more options.  It is being attached to the body at the same point at the solid velvet band but otherwise allowed to float free.  So it's almost like I have 3 bands instead of the normal two.

8 - Once you have laid out the tichel and determined everything is in place and facing the correct direction, sew the bands onto the body of the tichel.

9 - Get wrapping!!  Your Sinar Tichel is done!

The color looks drastically different in the pictures where I am wearing it because I had to use a different camera to take them.



Just in case this is not the style of Sinar Tichel you were looking to make, here are all the other Sinar Tichel Tutorials I've found so far -

The Daily Tichel
Be Happy for this Moment. This Moment is Your Life.
Proud Mommy of 4
Calico Sisters

Comfortable In My Own Skin

    

The longer I stay on my headcovering journey the more comfortable I find myself with my own appearance and decisions regarding that appearance.  I wear something that covers most or all of my hair almost all the time (even at home and while I am alone).  It helps me to feel calm and collected and in control.  However, sometimes I feel like wearing a wrap as a bandanna or wide headband that only covers the top of my head. That's OK too.  It still helps me feel covered and in control but adds a little playful element with the back of my hair showing.  Tonight, however, was different.  A friend was watching our Small Monster and allowing Honey and I one of our rare and coveted date nights.  I was actually pretty excited to have an excuse to wear something a little more formal in my headcovering.  I tried several different combinations of styles and coverings and while they all looked wonderful, none of them felt right.  My head wanted to be uncovered.  My hair wanted to be free.  I felt silly contemplating a headcovering free night on the town when I had just started a blog dedicated to the empowering and freeing feeling of covering simply because I felt like covering.  But....isn't that the point?  I am free to headcover if I want.  I am free to wear my hair loose if I want.  I am free to decide what is right for me.  So I will cover when I want and uncover when I want and it's all going to be OK.

I cover my hair. Deal with it.

Where to start....I cover my hair.  It's one of my quirks and surprisingly has nothing to do with my religion.  Plenty of women cover their hair for religious reasons and that's great.  When you choose to cover your hair because of deeply held religious convictions, you are making a bold and powerful statement regarding something that you strongly believe in.  Whether you are Sikh, Muslim, Amish, Mennonite, Pagan, Jewish, or anything else and feel called to cover as part of your religious practice you are awesome and if you want to cover your hair, I applaud you and will support you 100%.   I, however, have no religious conviction to cover my head.  My decision to cover my hair came about through trial and error experience.  I have a lot of trouble with anxiety. Sometimes I become so overwhelmed doing simple things like dealing with unfamiliar people that I sit in limbo for days because I can't make that one phone call to a stranger. A few months ago, my family was dealing with several stressful situations and my anxiety issues were hitting harder than ever. And yet some days it wasn't such a big deal.  Some days I rocked those phone calls.  I kicked butt and took names.  I was the powerful woman asserting my authority I'd always been in my head and yet had been slowing losing in my day to day life.  Eventually I noticed that on my 'good' days at some point I had tied a bandanna over my hair or put on a wide headband that covered most of the top of my head.  I still don't know why covering my hair makes such a big difference in my ability to function and assert myself.  I have some theories that I'll probably share in future blog posts but in the end I don't care why it works.  I just care that it does work.  So I will continue to cover my hair in some fashion or another and anyone who has a problem with it can deal with my proud, assertive, head-wrapped self as I tell them exactly where they can shove their options on my clothing choices.

See my awesome wrap. Appreciate my awesome wrap. Or else...