First, measure the circumference of your muff. This will be measurement one for your cover. Mine measured 20 inches.
Next, measure the length of your muff, plus a little extra for overhang. My desired measurement was 15 inches, though next time I'll make it a little shorter.
Cut a piece of fabric that measures measurement one--with no seam allowance--by measurement two--with a one inch seam allowance on each side. My fabric therefore measured 20x17 inches. You don't want a seam allowance on the circumference so it's nice and tight. You want a larger than usual seam allowance on the length so you can make channels for the ribbon.
Iron the length ends under 1/2 inch, then turn and iron them 1/2 inch again. This will make sewing your channels much easier!
Unfold the seam allowances, fold the muff cover in half, and pin the top edge shut. Stop the pins about 1/2 inch from the fold for the channels. These are the vertical pins in the above picture. You're just going to sew between those two pins so the ribbon has room to escape. I used a small backstitch for that seam.
Once you've sewn the seam, refold the channels at the edges into place, and sew. I used a small whipstitch for this, and went over the opening twice.
Thread the ribbon through the channels.
Stuff the muff into the cover, and tie the ribbons. Make sure you can still fit your hands in :)
And decorate! You can decorate before sewing as well, of course, but my trim was so thick I didn't want it in the seam. I also wanted to play with placement.
And now I'm really looking forward to a second cover :)
Thank you so much for these two tutorials! I made a tippet recently and was considering a muff, but you saved me a lot of trial and error and guesswork on it!
ReplyDelete-Anna, who has been worshipping you from afar ever since your white wool Eowyn dress.
Thank you for this wonderfull tutorial! Best regards from Spain :)
ReplyDeleteThis is great! A muff is on my to sew list this year and the covers are genius!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea! Thanks for the tutorial!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for two brilliant tutorials: this and the muff base one. Very easy to follow, and great fun to make.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! This is the coolest thing ever, and so much simpler than the old Butterick pattern I've been using.
ReplyDeleteIs there a way to use faux fur to make a muff cover for this base? I have tons of yardage of fake fur but I feel like the gathering method wouldn't work. Do you have any suggestions please? Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteFake fur works fine!
DeleteI made one and actually have it in a post .
Good luck!
http://koshka-the-cat.blogspot.com/2013/12/an-1880s-bustle-coat.html?m=1