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How to Make a Cowl Scarf out of Material

Cowl scarves go by many names, including infinity scarves, tube scarves or circle scarves. They are so-called because of their circular shape -- they are constructed, usually from a tube of fabric, in a single loop, instead of from a rectangle-shaped piece of fabric. They are often long and droopy, sometimes long enough to wrap around the neck several times. Like knit cowl scarves, cowl scarves made from material can be easily upcycled, particularly from T-shirts. They are also easy to create from new material, and can be customized by creating different lengths, like a single cowl or a multi-looping infinity scarf.

Things You'll Need

Length of fabric
Thread
Sewing machine

Instructions

- 1
  Choose your fabric. Cowl scarves are extremely easy to make from old T-shirts, and soft jersey makes a great all-season scarf. Other great choices for cowl scarves include lightweight fleece and wool -- heavier materials are bulkier and do not lie as smoothly -- velvet, jersey and flannel.
- 2
  Prep fabric by pre-washing and drying. Your cowl scarf may become unpleasantly shrunken if you skip this step.
- 3
  Cut the bottom half off the T-shirt, just below the armpits, for a cowl scarf made from an old T-shirt. If you are creating your cowl scarf from a T-shirt, much of the work is already done for you, as the T-shirt is already circular.
- 4
  Cut a length of fabric, for a newly made circle scarf. Cut it as long as and twice as wide as your desired dimensions, plus an inch added to the length and width for the seam allowance.
- 5
  Fold the length of material in half vertically, right sides facing. Stitch the short ends together. You now have a "circle" of fabric.
- 6
  Fold your fabric circle in half, horizontally this time, with the right sides facing. You now have a long tube of fabric. Turn it right side out.
- 7
  Fold the ends of the tube together and match up, with the right sides facing, placing your first pin at the seam (unless you are going for a twisted look in your scarf). Work your way around, pinning as much of the tube ends together as possible.
- 8
  Machine-stitch the tube ends together as much as you can. You will not be able to sew all the way around. Work slowly to avoid stitching the body of the scarf to itself.
- 9
  Hand stitch the remaining gap in your scarf, making the seam as minimal as you can. If this is difficult for you, you can also stitch around the entire scarf with a large hand stitch in a contrasting color, and use the stitching as a decorative accent.

Sewing