Hankies

A hankie is just a square of soft fabric, preferably cotton, with the edges finished off nicely. So when a family member asked for hankies for Christmas I thought ‘I can do this one!’. (I’m 99% sure they don’t read this blog, in case you’re worried).

The fabric:

I had recently bought some beige/golden cotton fabric with the intention of making a shirt for my boyfriend (a long-term goal). As I had lots of excess I thought it would make a good handkerchief fabric.

The pattern:

I followed the excellent instructions for making hankies on the By Hand London blog which includes mitred corners which is what I wanted to do.

The challenges:

The main challenge I found was getting everything cut out and measured perfectly. As they were just squares, I wanted them to be the same size and as uniform as I could get them. Despite spending ages, they all ended up being quite different sizes. I would estimate they are 12 inch square +/- 0.5 inch! Hankies are harder than I realised.

The final result:

I have made 4 hankies and you can tell they’re handmade. However, I don’t think that is a bad thing, and I’m planning to do a bit of embroidery to make them a bit more special. One Christmas present I can tick off the list!