Friday, February 20, 2015

how I made graduation stoles

I make these stoles once a year for a group at the University of Michigan. Thought I would jot down my notes to refresh my memory for the next time.


If you need a pattern for your stole, there is one here.

There's another one here - little different design.

I can get 2.5 stoles out of 1 yard of material. I start out cutting strips of material that are 7 inches wide. You need 2 sections for each stole.


Embroider one side keeping closer to the edge, it will cut nicely this way.



This is why because the curve of the neck, you'll want to keep the embroidery closer to one side. You want a wider cut so that you have room for the hoop and to keep the material nice and tight.


Make sure you cut it out so the curve goes towards the right for the logo side. The opposite is true for the name side of the stole.


With right sides together sew the ends together. Then sew 2 sides together (right sides together). I start in the back where the start and end threads will be less noticeable. Set the stitch length down to 2 or 2 1/2 to keep the pulling of the material to a minimal.


Sew down on side. Then stop and go back to the middle and sew down the other side. Stop before getting to the angled cuts. Press open. It's much easier to press the stole open like this - than to work the satin for both sides flat to iron.


Once you press the seam open on the one side, finish sewing - starting at the angle and continuing around. Make sure you make nice sharp turns. This one pulled because my stitch length was too long.


Leave 3 inch gaps on the each end of the stole for turning. I do both end so I can get into the angled end real good to push out a nice sharp point.


Trim close to stitching before turning inside out.


Carefully iron the seams out. Use no steam and a silk setting on your iron.


Then go back over the stole do a trim stitch on the outside. And that's it!

10 comments:

  1. Hi, I'm making a stole for a winter graduation in a few weeks. I have the neck pattern and was wondering how much length you added to the printable neck pattern to get the full length pattern for the stole.

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  2. Sounds like a nice challenge! The satin I bought was 60" wide so the stoles was that long once sewn together (30 inches for each side). Hope that helps and good luck!

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  3. This seems like a great way to make a graduation stole. It's pretty nice of you to make these stoles for the University of Michigan. My daughter is graduating from college soon, so these instructions would be great to use as a guide for making one. Thanks for sharing this!
    http://www.createastole.com/sample-graduation-stoles.htm

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  5. Hi I downloaded your pattern to use, but it is missing the end part of the pattern. Is it supposed to be that way or??

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  6. I remember that now. Just measure down 3 or 4 inches, find your center and make your diagonal cuts. No sweat!

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  7. Wow beautiful graduation stoles. I loved it. I want it to be custom because I am planning on buying it.

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  8. Is it possible to get a copy of your pattern?

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  9. Thank you so much for sharing this. My cousin is graduating from nursing school and wants a stole from a Mexican blanket.

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  10. Thank you for this. It will save me a lot of money.

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