Fleece Hooded Scarf

This is a remix of a project I found a few years ago and kept contemplating doing but for some reason had a lot of trouble understanding the directions. I finally decided to cut the pieces and hope that I could figure it out as I went along. So here's the link to the original: https://beccascrazyprojects.blogspot.com/p/how-to...

I hope I'm staying in the spirit of it since I'm using my words and my photos for anyone else who wants to try this but also had some difficulty.

*CAVEAT-this project as-is with pockets is probably for people under 5'5".

I'm 5'10" and if I were making one for myself I'd skip the pockets. Or add 1/3 yard to the yardage of each color and use full width of fabric strips for each side, measure along my arms and cut them down so I could have pockets low enough to tuck my hands in.

*Another variation, if you either skip the pockets or make ones for the inside too and line them up, this is essentially a reversible project.

-two contrasting colors of fleece, a yard of each to be on the safe side (you can probably get two complete projects from this if you cut the hoods vertically)

-ruler

-scissors

-pins

-sewing machine, coordinating colors of thread

-optional but SUPER helpful: rotary cutter and mat!

Fold the fabric with the selvages together. Trim the raw edge to even it out.

Figure about how wide of a scarf you want and add 1." (I want a 7" wide scarf, so I'm cutting 8" widths.) Cut that a strip of that width from both colors of fleece from selvage to selvage.

If you want to add pockets, cut a second length 1/2" narrower than the previous piece from the color you plan to use for the outside of the hooded scarf and cut two 8” lengths from this strip. (My outside is dark green, so green pockets for me.) Set those aside for now.

Stack your fabrics on top of each other, trim the selvages. Make sure they're the same length.

(My grey lining fabric was shorter than my outside fabric, so I stacked them up with that fabric layered on top. I trimmed the selvage at both of its ends, which cut the outer fabric to length at the same time.)

One they’re the same length, cut them in half across the middle the short way, so you end up with two pieces each of the outer and lining fleece that are about 8”x29” (depending on your chosen scarf width and width of fabric...)

Put the pieces right sides together and pin them.

Sew along both long sides and one short side with a ½” seam allowance. I used a 7 stitches per inch setting to sew two layers of fleece though this project. If you’re using bulky fleece you might want to clip the corners down to ¼” once you're done sewing.

Turn both right side out and set them aside. (I gently poked the corners with a knitting needle to help push out the corners. Chopsticks work too.)

For the hood you’ll need two pieces of each fleece color. If you have a favorite hoodie, turn it inside out and trace the hood. (I borrowed a hoodie from a coworker of similar height to my chosen victim...err, gift recipient...)

I just taped two used pieces of printer paper to trace on. It ended up being 11 ½” wide by about 14” at its tallest.

I ended up curving the back of the hood out a little further when cutting on my outer fleece because the shape looked a little shallow to me, then used that as the pattern to cut out the lining fleece.

Sew the outside hood fabric at the back curved edge. Use a 5/8” seam allowance. Backstitch the beginning and end of the seam.

Flip it right side out and topstitch ¼” from the seam to hold the seam allowance in place and flatten the seam. Do the same with the lining fleece. I used a 6 stitches per inch setting for the top stitching to give a little extra leeway.

Put the right sides of the hoods together, lining up the top seam. Pin them. Sew the two together along the front with a ½” seam allowance.

To put the whole thing together, leave the hood inside out and the scarf pieces right side out. The scarf pieces are going to get put into the 'pouch' the inside out hood forms, with their edges even with its edges.

Line up the scarf pieces with the outer side against the outer side of the hood, and the lining against the lining. Try to get them tucked up against the front seam of the hood. Do this for both outer sides of the hood.

(I rolled my scarf ends tight to take up less room, only leaving the bit I was going to need to pin into the seam as a tail.)

There is a lot of thickness here, so I went back to 6 stitches per inch for sewing the hood to scarf neckline.

Backstitch right away to make sure the hood to scarf connection is secure. Stitch to about 1" past the scarf, then backstitch.

(If you tend to get going and forget to stop like I sometimes do, you can mark the area to stop and then backstitch to with red pins.)

Repeat the process from the other side.

You should have the hood and scarf connected at the 'shoulders' but have an opening a few inches wide at the back center 'nape' of the hood.

Carefully turn the entire thing right side out by pulling one scarf side, then the other, until you can turn the whole thing right side out. (I found rolling up the scarf tails tightly also made it easier to pull them out.)

Try to push out the seams from the inside. I could fit my hand inside, so used my fingers to push at all the seams to make sure everything was as turned as possible.

Once you've checked the seams, it's time to pin and sew the nape of the neck. I used a ladder stitch with doubled thread for invisibility and durability.

If you don't want to add pockets, congrats, you're done!

If you want to add pockets, take the two rectangles cut earlier and fold each side over by a half inch. Straight stitch the hem on each at about 3/8” on all sides.

Try on the hood, figure where you want the pockets to sit and pin them on. (Or find a model the right height!)

Once pinned, sew on about ¼” from the edge along the sides and bottom. Backstitch the beginning and end. I used 6 stitches per inch again here since we're sewing through anywhere between 4 and 6 layers of fleece at this point. Take it slow.

Now you're really done.

Head out to enjoy the cool weather extra cozy, or wrap it up with a bow!

I pinned all the edges overnight to flatten them out a little without trying to iron fleece.

Again, as-is, with pockets, this is probably best for people under 5'5." For taller folks, I'd suggest increasing the yardage of each color and do some measuring to figure what length suits best.

You can do the same if you want to hood and swoopy aspect but want something a little less warm, you could do this in flannel with a cotton lining. Since those often aren't as wide (and shrink in the wash) I'd go with the increased yardage for tweaking the fabrics as well.

When looking at fabrics, remember, if you either skip the pockets or make ones for the inside too and line them up, this is essentially a reversible project. So choose two you really like.