Fleece Neck Warmers (2 ways) with Guest - Anna from Noodlehead

throughout the rest of the month for "comfy sews VS cozy knits" i'll be having lots of talented and wonderful guests posting fun tutorials just to make this competition that much harder and of course, to inspire you.

our first guest tutorial is from the uber talented anna of one of my fave daily reads - noodlehead. i know i don't need to introduce her to you, you prolly already know her, but i'm gonna gush about her anyways. she's sweet, funny, and her blog just makes me run to my sewing machine. she's one of my fave people to email and beg to come hang out with me. i'm also proud to sport one of her gathered clutches shown below. i heart anna and i heart noodlehead. so when i rounded up who would be on the cheering squad for Comfy, i knew anna had to be included. you see her work and you just know she loves to sew. it just shines through.


i gave all the guests posting this month the description of either Comfy or Cozy to go off of for inspiration from this post. anna was given Comfy Sews.

now let's hear from anna.....

Who wouldn't want to make an easy and cuddly neckwarmer or a warm scarf? We all love fleece here in the midwest, it's that super snuggly stuff you just can't stop wearing day after day (possibly too many days in a row, hehe).

So after I saw some simple fleece scarves at target the other day, I knew I'd have to make some warm neck gear. And of course I couldn't make up my mind what way I wanted to make it, so I made two versions: one neckwarmer, one scarf!

Ready? Don't blink because you might miss these if you do.

{Seam allowances 1/2" unless otherwise stated}

For the neck warmer:

Cut two pieces of fleece 21" long by 5" tall (for approx. a 2 year old.), 24" long by 6" tall (for a 4-5 year old) You may need to play around with the length on these depending on what size head you're going to try and fit it over. Fleece does stretch nicely, but just hold it up to that noggin and eyeball it!

Fold in half matching up the short ends RIGHT sides together. Just a little note here that most fleeces don't have a distinct right or wrong side, just make sure the side you want facing out is RIGHT sides together.

Sew together. Be sure to use at least a cotton poly blend thread or all poly thread for fleece. I also lengthened by stitch length to 3 instead of my usual 2.5.

Repeat for other strip of fleece.

Finger press seams open. Place one tube inside the other with WRONG sides facing. Pin in place.

Topstitch around both top and bottom of neck warmer about 3/8" from each edge. You don't have to worry about the raw edges because fleece doesn't fray.

For the reverse applique scarf:

Take two pieces of fleece 5" tall by approx. 45" long. Place WRONG sides together. Pin and sew a rectangle all the way around the scarf leaving the last 3-4" on each end unsewn (this will be for the fringes).

Make a simple drawing with a water soluble pen or just freehand sew it on your machine towards the end of one side of the scarf. Now clip through the top layer of fleece with a sharp scissors (being careful not to cut through the other side) close to the stitching.

Lastly, cut 1/2" slits into each end of the scarf for fringes. That's it! You're set. Try it on a keep warm!

thank you so much anna! you're the best! i'll be right over for you to teach me some of your mad sewing skills and maybe, just maybe i can get you on the knitting needles. luv ya :)

you joining in the match? got ringside tickets? sport our button (you can find it on our sidebar) on your blog! don't forget to get your entries in for our fun magpie patterns book giveaway!


who else is running out to buy some fleece to whip this up? heck, i just might be raiding my closet as we speak!