Creative articles about sewing

Sewing a neck warmer for scarf-muffle

Our author Schneiderherz from the German blog is providing you with sewing instructions for a cozy neck warmer. All you need for this simple sewing project is a piece of fleece and two snaps to sew on. ?


At our latitudes, winter does not end when we take down the Christmas tree; the cold season can last until the end of March. And even after that it is often quite chilly, so it is common to wear something warm around the neck. I have a whole drawer full of all sorts of neck warmers and my husband has several traditional scarves in his closet.

Scarf-muffle

However, experience shows that he is reluctant to wear regular scarves. The longer the scarf, the bigger the drama in front of the mirror. The scarf is wrapped around and draped, but when the hood of his jacket forms a huge bulge on his neck with the scarf, my husband gets unhappy with the accessory. He is a scarf-hater, preferring to wear sporty snoods, those narrow loop scarves made of jersey. But he needed something cozier and practical to keep his neck warm when it’s cold. What could be more obvious than sewing a warm alternative to a scarf or a snood?

Finished home-sewn neck warmer

How to make a home-sewn neck warmer

As this neck warmer is a great, quick home sewing project, I want to show you how I sewed it so you can make one easily yourself. Another plus with this cozy collar is its subtle fastening method, because not everyone likes eye-catching buttons and buttonholes. For the neck warmer, I used fluffy organic cotton fleece and a piece of soft virgin wool flannel. I simply cut a strip of each fabric measuring about 0.85 m x 0.25 m, put them right sides together and sewed around the edge with a 1 cm seam allowance. You have to leave a small opening for turning.

Using the right presser foot

For this first step, I used the Zigzag presser foot with sliding sole #52 because the bulky fleece material had some slight resistance and it was just nicer to sew with the smooth foot.

slight resistance with the sliding sole

After trimming the corners and turning the neck warmer, I went to the ironing board. I ironed the edges very carefully using a lot of steam and then closed the opening with a few hand stitches. Then I topstitched all around the edge. Here too, it turned out that a nice selection of presser feet can be very helpful, because by using the wide Open embroidery foot #20 and adjusting the needle position, I was able to topstitch the rather bulky edge of the fabric layers on my BERNINA 570 QE comfortably and evenly.

topstitch the rather bulky edge of the fabric layers

A little tip: When you are topstitching edges and the top and bottom are different colors, simply use matching colors for the upper and lower threads. This way the stitches look perfect on both sides.

Topstitching with matching threads        

Sewing on the snaps

Now the cozy collar is almost finished, and all that remains is to sew on the two press studs in the right place. To find the right position, I laid out the neck warmer into its later shape.

Neck warmer: sew on the two press studs in the right place

I always sew on the male snap fastener part first, in this case it goes on the inside of the corner that goes on top. To prevent the snap from slipping, you can simply put a pin through the central hole and fix it in place. I sewed on the top part of the snap, making sure that my hand stitches weren’t visible on the other side.

Sewing on the snaps with a pin

A little trick with tailor’s chalk

Now it’s time to sew on the bottom part of the snap. It is a good idea to rub the knob with tailor’s chalk so that when you close it, it leaves a small chalk dot in the correct position. This is where the second part of the snap is sewn on.

rub the knob with tailor's chalk

When I sew on the second part, I make sure not to pierce through both layers of fabric and I always try to position the four sewing points offset to the top part, because that way the snap fastener closes better later on.

Mark the position of the snaps with tailor's chalk

I sew the second snap on to the other corner of the cozy scarf to line up with the first one.
Here are some more pictures for you showing how to close the collar. First, snap 1:

close the collar. First, snap 1:

And then the second snap.

Neck warmer with sewn-on snaps

So sieht der selbstgenähte Halswärmer dann geschlossen aus. Wer mag, kann natürlich die Überlappung genau anders herum machen- dies hier wäre die klassische Herrenvariante links über rechts.

How the home-sewn neck warmer looks like closed

By the way, the first few times it is worn, there may be some slight confusion of what to fasten where. But once you get the hang of it, you have a really practical, nice warm alternative to the traditional wrap scarf. And here you can see the cozy collar in action.

Home-sewn neck warmer

Maybe you feel like giving yourself or your loved ones a special gift with this simple sewing project. All you need is a piece of cozy fleece for the inside and a shell fabric of your choice. There are also two large press studs to sew on. The measurements 0.85 m x 0.25 m have worked well for me for a range of sizes, but of course you can adjust them according to your personal preferences.

I hope you have a lot of fun sewing and that your neck stays cozy and warm during the cold season.

Schneiderherz

 

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  • Charlote Sturgill EditEditing comments on the BERNINA blog is only possible after logging in with a blog user account. Sign up now or create a user account if you do not have one yet.

    I really liked this scarf  idea for a man!  It would also be great for a woman with some hand or machine embroidery on it by our lovely Bernina machines! 

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