I’ve admired Skye Wraps for a while, they’re a pattern from Cool Crafting, (the home of Luna Lapin!!) and they keep appearing on my facebook feed. I finally bought the pattern at the Harrogate Show in November. Whilst sorting out my sewing room I found a length of light-weight blue and purple wool which I felt would be pretty good as a wrap, it had plenty of drape and it was the sort of weight which would work as an extra layer indoors. Even better I found a leftover length of Liberty lawn which matches pretty well.

It was also a nice simple sewing project to sew on my new sewing machine!! My 20 odd year old Janome was starting to make funny noises and I wanted to get one whilst it still worked, rather than waiting til it goes bang with a puff of smoke (like the last one did!!) So I spent the last few months looking at different models, deciding what features I wanted. I went to the Harrogate show with an open mind but pretty much set on a Janome…and came home with a Brother Innovis 1800, it was a good deal anyway and then I got an extra £100 off as I bought the show demo! It’s a bit scary though!!

I’m having to learn from scratch – it threads up different to my old one, everything is different, so the instruction manual has been out quite a few times – I have now managed to get it to thread the needle after three failed attempts!

So, back to the wrap! It’s basically just a lined rectangle with buttons down the side. One useful feature is that the lining is cut slightly shorter so it makes like a one inch facing strip. What this means is that when turning the wrap the right way round it’s much easier to get the corners neat as there’s not so much bulk.

The pattern calls for three large feature button, and by large it means about 1.5″. I had a rummage in my button box, there were some smaller blue buttons, but nothing so big. Then I noticed a pack of three large wooden buttons, I’ve no idea where they came from – I’m pretty sure I didn’t buy them! I decided colourwise they looked OK, I would have preferred blue or purple, but actually the brown wood worked. I also noticed they were very light, buttons of this size can be pretty heavy and that could change the drape of the wrap.

Buttons chosen, I just had to make the buttonholes. I found the buttonhole attachment, found the right page in the instruction manual. The first thing I read was maximum size 1.1″!!!

I pulled out my old Readers Digest Complete Sewing Guide – it’s a gem is this book, worth getting if you spot one in a charity shop as it goes through all the different techniques you need when sewing – different seams, collar styles, zip insertion…and buttonholes! This was written before machines had automatic buttonhole feet. I was thinking of just refreshing my memory on how to do a machine buttonhole, but the first type described was a bound buttonhole (three different methods were given – I chose the easiest!!). I decided that would be rather nice in the Liberty lawn. I had a practice first with a scrap and it looked OK.

I made three bound button holes on the wrap – one useful tip in the book was to do all the buttonholes at the same time – each stage stitch all three, it makes it easier to get an even finish, rather than completing one buttonhole and then moving on to the next one.

The only bit I changed on the buttonholes was the finish on the back, the book just suggested trimming the edges neatly. I wasn’t keen on the raw edge and as Liberty lawn is so fine I decided to slip-stitch it under.

I can see me making a few of these, they’re an ideal make from short lengths left over from skirt or dress making.

This is definitely the final finish for 2019, so I wish you all a very happy 2020!