I am amazed how pioneers and even until the 1940s and ’50s how most sewed their own clothes. I find it fascinating – girls learned from their mothers who learned from their mothers, and was a skill passed on through the years until buying clothes became more popular than sewing them. I would have loved to have learned that skill. I enjoy sewing although I have a lot to still learn about sewing garments.
I was needing to make myself a simple kerchief for my Cinderella Halloween costume since my daughters and I decided to be princesses before they became princesses. I was Cinderella and my daughter ‘L’ was Belle and ‘H’ was Tiana (we also made her skirt with an elastic waistband which was tricky to say the least) and we sewed our aprons as well which was super easy and simple to do!
Here we are Halloween 2021:
The kerchief is super easy to make and only takes a few supplies. You can also use this to as a bandana.
Let’s get started.
First, you will need a piece of fabric 24″ x 24″ in any print. I am using white cotton. You can use different types of material, depending what you are using it for. I wanted a more structured fabric, so I am using cotton.
I folded in my fabric, about 1/4″ and sewed. Be sure to backstitch. You can glue it in place or use pins like I did.
Once you get near the corner, I made sure the side was folded over the bottom and then sewed. When you get to the corner, pick up the pressor foot, pivot 90 degrees, place the foot down again and continue sewing.
Once all edges are sewed, be sure to backstitch to finish, trim threads and any excess fabric. Fold in a triangle to wear, with the flat edge on the top of your head, the triangle tip at the back and tie the corners at the neck (behind the head). If it slips, you can secure the top with bobby pins.
Here I am with my kerchief! I absolutely love it! It it is a great way to keep hair out of the face!
And just like that, my kerchief is done. To tie it under the chin, I would recommend cutting the kerchief at 30″ so you have more fabric to tie. Using a more flowy fabric may be cooler as well in the summer months than a heavier quilting cotton like I used!
enjoy from Our City Homestead to yours