no-knit cowl

Happy Monday! I hope you took my advice & made room for some relaxation this past weekend. While there was certainly some laziness to be had, I found a pocket of time in between re-runs of The Office to make this cowl. It's warm, snuggly, & incredibly quick to make. I'm greedily keeping this one for myself, but it would absolutely make a quick & easy gift. Bonus if you're feeling extra lazy like I was this weekend: there's no knitting involved! This cowl was made with sweater fabric. If extreme warmth is what you're after, the cowl could alternatively be made from fleece. Either way, comfy-cozy!

To make this no-knit cowl, you'll need:

• 22" x 60"of warm fabric (fleece, sweater fabric, or even an old sweater will do)
• One large button or decorative pin
• One set of snaps
• Needle & thread
• Sewing machine & notions

Begin by folding your fabric in half widthwise, wrong side out. 

Next you'll be turning your fabric into a long tube, while also leaving a space in the middle. Sew halfway down the long side of the fabric, then stop. Leaving a hand-sized opening, continue the seam down the remainder of the tube. 

Now that you have your tube sewn, move the seam to the middle rather than the bottom. Sew both sides of the tube closed. Turn the tube right side out through the hole you left in the middle during step one. 

Now to sew on your button & snap. The button is just for show - it's the snap that's going to do all the work. Using the hole you left in the initial seam, you can put one hand inside the cowl to sew through one layer of fabric & hide any ugly stitching on the backs of the snaps/button. 

Lay your cowl out on the ground with the long seam in the back. With a pin, mark the positions where your button & snaps will go. The button goes in the top left-hand side. One part of the snap goes behind the button. The other part of the snap goes on the top right-hand side. 

Finally, hand-sew the hole on the back closed.

To wear your new fabulous cowl, wrap it around your neck & snap in place. Or if it's super cold out, you can wear it as a hood!

When the -20º winds start blowing mid-January, I think I'm going to be really grateful for this heavy-duty scarf. Like, really grateful. I've heard horror stories about Minnesota frostbite.

xoxo, 

-m.e.

P.S. Pair your new cowl with a lovely (& more importantly easy to make!) shoulder bag.