When Fall and Winter weather starts cranking into high gear, it seems like the perfect time for a totally toasty project that’s also a great gift idea. This unique fleece scarf is super fast and easy thanks to edge-binding with fold-over elastic. We also added a lightweight zippered pocket on one end. Use it to hold essentials so you can keep those jacket or pants pockets free to stuff your hands. Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

The sleek and simple design of this scarf helps make it a good choice for the guys on your list. We also selected a cool color palette with just a bit of colorful zing in the zipper for the pocket. However, we were all trying on the scarf and lovin’ it, and designing other options in our heads.

There are so many wonderful fleece choices out there in bright colors, bold prints, even official sports team mascots.

You may have seen the multi-pocketed “cargo scarves” that have been popular in recent years. Our cozy wrap would certainly fall into that category, although it’s much simpler, and we think – probably more comfortable to wear.

The scarf has a slight curve to it, smaller in the middle and wider at the ends. It finishes at approximately 59″ long x 9″ at its widest point and 7″ at its narrowest. There are free patterns offered below for both the curved ends as well as the pocket.

Sewing Tools You Need

• Sewing Machine and standard presser foot
• Zipper foot
• Quarter Inch Seam foot; optional but helpful for attaching the binding

Fabric and Other Supplies

• ½ yard of 60″+ wide fleece or similar for the main body of the scarf; we originally used a 60″ wide anti-pill fleece in charcoal
• ⅜ yard of 45″+ wide medium-weight nylon for the pocket in a color to coordinate but slightly contrast with the fleece; we originally used a 58″ wide sport nylon in black
• ¼ yard or scrap of lightweight fusible interfacing; we used Pellon Shir-Tailor
• 4 yards of ⅝” fold-over elastic to match the pocket nylon fabric; we used Dritz fold-over elastic in black
  NOTE: You could certainly use another type of binding; we chose the Dritz FOE because it is lightweight and super stretchy to easily go around the curved corners of the scarf. Traditional double fold bias binding would be a good alternative.
• ONE 7″ all-purpose zipper in a color that will add a zing of brightness to your fabric combo; we used a 7″ Coats zipper in Kiwi
• 2-3″ of waxed cord or thin ribbon in a coordinating color for the zipper pull; we used waxed cotton cord in a matching Kiwi
• All purpose thread to match fabric and binding
• See-through ruler
• Fabric pen or pencil
• Seam gauge
• Seam ripper
• Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
• Iron and ironing board
• Straight pins

Getting Started and Pattern Download

1. Download and print the Fleece Scarf Patterns which contains both pattern pieces (Scarf Pocket and Scarf End Template), which have been bundled into ONE PDF to make the download easier.
   IMPORTANT: Each page in the PDF is ONE 8½” x 11″ sheet. You must print the PDF file at 100%. DO NOT SCALE to fit the page. There is a guide rule on each page so you can confirm your final printout is to scale.
2. Cut out each pattern along the solid line.
3. As mentioned above, the scarf has a slight curve to it, smaller in the middle and wider at the ends.
   
4. Fold the fleece fabric in half, aligning all the raw edges.
5. At the fold, measure to find the center point. Mark the center point with a pin. Measure 3½” to the right of the center point and 3½” to the left of the center point. Place pins at each left and right point. This creates the 7″ narrow mid-point of the scarf.
   
6. From the center point at the fold, measure 29½” and place a pin.
7. Find the Scarf End Template. Place the bottom edge of the template at the 29½” point. Lightly pin the template in place.
   
8. Make sure the template is centered along the same mid-line as the upper 7″ marking. Once all is centered, finish pinning the template in place.
   
9. Back at the folded end, from each outer point (to the left and right of center), measure 3½”down from the fold and place a pin. Cut from the fold to the pin on each side. The diagram above will help you visualize the cut.
   
10. Reposition your ruler to connect the end of your 3½” cut to the top corner of the template. This line will be a slight diagonal as shown in the drawing above. Cut along this line at each side.
    
11. Finish the cut by carefully going around the curved template.
    
12. Using the Scarf Pocket Pattern, cut TWO pieces from the nylon and ONE piece from the lightweight interfacing.

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

Pocket

1. Find the two pocket pieces and the one interfacing piece.
2. Following manufacturer’s instructions, fuse the interfacing the wrong side of one pocket piece. Remember, the nylon is synthetic; set your iron accordingly. You could also use a pressing cloth.
   
3. Flip the interfaced pocket piece to the right side. Find the pocket pattern and place it over the top of the interfaced pocket piece, aligning all the edges just as when you cut out the pocket.
4. Pin the pattern in place and align your ruler along the zipper cut line.
   
5. Slice along the line with a rotary cutter.
   NOTE: You can use regular scissors for this step; a rotary cutter and ruler is simply faster and creates a cleaner edge.
   
6. Fold back each cut edge ¼”. Finger press in place. You want to avoid applying heat to directly on the nylon. If finger pressing does not work for you, set your iron on a low temp and use a pressing cloth to press the ¼” folds in place.
   
7. Find the 7″ zipper. Place the narrow and wide pocket pieces on either side of the zipper and pin in place. The top of the zipper tape should be flush with the top of the pocket pieces; the bottom of the zipper will extend approximately 1″ beyond the bottom of the pocket pieces. The folded edge of each piece should be approximately ⅛” from the zipper teeth. As mentioned above, the zipper acts as a zing of color for the scarf, so you want to reveal a generous amount of the zipper tape.
   
8. Attach a Zipper foot. Thread the machine with thread to match the pocket fabric in the top and bobbin.
9. Edgestitch each piece in place along each side of the zipper, staying as close as possible to the folded edge of the fabric. As with most zipper installation, depending on the width of your zipper foot, you may need to stop, with your needle in the down position, lift up the presser foot and unzip the zipper to move the zipper pull out of the way of the foot. When the pull is clear, drop the foot and continue stitching to the end.
   
10. When done, unzip the zipper about half way.
    
11. Find the remaining pocket piece. Place it right sides together with the zippered pocket piece. Pin around all sides.
    
12. Switch back to a standard presser foot. Using a ½” seam allowance, stitch around all sides. Go slowly around the corners to maintain a even curve.
    
13. Trim the corners back to ¼” and clip the curves. Trim away the excess zipper.
    NOTE: For more on smooth cornering techniques, take a look at cutting curves tutorial.
    
14. Turn the pocket right side out through the zipper opening. Gently round out all the corners with a long blunt tool, such as a chopstick, knitting needle or point turner. Using a pressing cloth and low heat, lightly press flat.
15. Find the cut fleece.
16. Place the Scarf End Template back into position and use it to find and mark the position for the pocket at one end.
17. Pin the pocket in place.
    
18. Re-thread the machine with thread to match the fleece in the top and bobbin. This allows the stitching on the back to be virtually invisible and adds a slight accent to the pocket front. Lengthen the stitch slightly. Open the pocket about half way so you can easily stitch by the zipper pull along the side.
19. Edgestitch around the entire pocket.
    

Binding

1. Find the fold-over elastic (FOE). If you are combining shorter lengths, stitch them together end to end to create one long length.
2. Starting in the middle of one side, and with approximately 1½” free at the head, wrap the elastic around the raw edge of the fleece. With the stretch of the FOE and the slight stretch to the fleece, we found it was easier to NOT pin the elastic in place. The FOE has a bit of grip to its texture, so it actually stays in place quite nicely and you don’t have to fight the bunching you can get with pins.
3. Gently pull on the FOE as you wrap and stitch in one step.
   
4. We found a Quarter Inch Seam foot to be very helpful for this application. The foot has a flange that you can run along the outer fold of the FOE to keep your seam straight.
   
5. Stitch all the way around the scarf in this manner. When you return to your starting point, stop approximately 1½” from the end of the FOE. Remove the scarf from under the needle.
6. Bring the two loose ends of FOE right sides together and pin. Lay the FOE back down to make sure the binding will lay flat against the fleece when this tiny seam is stitched. Adjust the pinned ends as needed and trim away the excess elastic. Stitch the ends together. Trim back the seam allowance if need be – again to insure the the binding lays flat.
7. Place the binding back down, wrapping it around the edge. Finish the seam, being very careful to line up this new short seam with the existing seam.
   
   NOTE: We are summarizing the joining steps above because everyone has their favorite way to complete their binding. If you are brand new to the technique, take a look at our tutorial: A Complete Step-by-Step For Binding Quilts & Throws. We show detailed instructions for this seaming method of joining as well as the standard overlap method.
8. Thread the waxed cord or thin ribbon though the end of the zipper pull and secure in place. We simply looped it through and secured it like a gift tag.
   

Project Design: Alicia Thommas
Sample Creation and Instructional Outline: Debbie Guild