Frayed Edge Shawls

Making these Frayed Edge Shawls for Christmas gifts did not turn out to be quite the ‘quick and EZ’ that I had thought they would be!  Like so many project ‘directions’, my feeling is that the directions are too general, and lack the detail that the vast majority of DIYers need to be successful.  Of course, I cannot find the original ‘pin’ on Pinterest from which I got the idea, but after making 3 of these, I have some HOW-To’s to offer.

Fabric Selection

Test, Test, Test!  BEFORE you purchase the fabric.  If the fabric doesn’t ravel out easily at the store, it won’t at home either!  Houndstooth fabrics are especially unlikely to un-ravel, in my experience.  I used coordinating Luxe Flannels  from JoAnn’s Fabric Store for my shawls.  You want to use yarn-dyed fabrics, NOT printed fabrics for this project.  What does ‘yarn-dyed’ mean?  In yarn-dyed fabrics, the yarns are dyed, and THEN the fabric is woven.  Therefore, the color is the same on the front and back of the fabric.  Only with yarn-dyed fabrics, will pulled fringe look good.   I find that the fiber on these fabrics offered at JoAnn’s  is generally either Rayon or Acrylic.

When I was at JoAnn’s on Sunday, I snapped some quick pict