Another pocket scarf. OK, it only has two pockets. A fine accessory to your necomimi arduino cat ears or if you need something a little more dressy than the utilitarian traffic light stoplight scarf.

This scarf does double duty in keeping your neck warm and provides a cozy spot to put your hands in. If you don't want to use the pockets for your hands, use it to keep other items like your mp3 player, cell phone or keys.

Made from the finest synthetic fleece fabric and faux fur, this is the must have fashion item for the cold winter season. It's also good for those late nights when you are up studying and the temperature drops.

Step 1: Get Fleeced...

Making these pocket scarves was an idea I wanted to do around the last big holiday. I gotta make one for Caitlin, her cousins, and probably for her friends. I guess Black Friday sales at the fabric store really prompted me to buy some nice fabric to use. Winter fleece material was on sale but nothing caught my eye. I then found this bolt tucked away on the overhead shelf. I bought 4 yards, wanted to make sure I had enough and spare.

You can make your scarf out of any material that feels nice to the touch. You may only need about a 1/2 yard for each scarf.

The finished scarf is about 6 inches wide by 6 feet long. You can piece together bits that makes up a strip 12 inches wide by 60 inches - width of the bolt. Your scarf can be longer or shorter as you desire. The scarf is essentially a long tube or double layer of fabric.

You will need some faux fur as the pocket lining and pocket trim. I bought a yard which had a little left over from making a total of eight scarves.

I used a serger to sew all of this together. It is great for these types of projects where you want a bound finished edge and have long straight seams.

I also used a sewing maching that has a zig-zag stitch to bar-tack the opening of the pocket to make the scarf more durable.

It helps to have a rotary cutter and cutting mat.

This project is actually good for beginners to get the hang of visualizing things inside out which is a trick of sewing to get a finished look.

CAUTION: Know how to use your sewing equipment safely and with care. Scissors and cutters are sharp.

Step 2: Measure Once, Cut Several Times...

Note that there is also a finished side to the fleece, this fabric was printed on one side which you can tell by the darker color stripes.

There is a grain to the faux fur so try to figure out how to use it so it will lay nicely on the finished product.

Measure and cut out the base scarf piece.
12 inches by about 6 feet long or width of the bolt.

Cut out faux fur trim piece.
6 inches wide by 15 inches long.
Size it so you can line one face of the pocket with a folded over piece of trim which will show on the outside of the pocket. I just placed my hand to see that the pocket would be deep enough to cover my wrist.

Faux fur fabric is best cut with a rotary cutter on the back side of the faux fur. If you need to cut it with scissors, you end up with a mess of the furry fibers that need to be combed out of the cut edge.

Once the faux fur trim is cut, cut an additional fleece piece to make up the rest of the pocket, a 6 inch by 6 inch piece.

Step 3: Deep Pockets...

You can use a sewing machine but I have a serger. A serger cuts the edges as you go along and binds it nicely with an overlocking stitch. I did manage to break a set of needles on this since it is not an industrial heavy duty model. Punching through several layers of doubled over fabric and faux fur put some strain on the serger. I had to rethread the machine a few times as working with fleece and faux fur managed to get tangled with the sewing arms that move in and out to serge the seam. Use of the offset tweezers is a must in rethreading the serger.

Place a piece of the pocket fabric patch good side to good side on the faux fur.

Serge the front pocket fabric patch to the top of the faux fur.

Match up the bottom edges and serge on one side. Note that you are making a set of pockets that are symmetrical so with the other one, serge on the opposite side.

When turned inside out, you will have a faux fur lined face of a pocket and the outside will be fabric with a faux fur trimmed top edge.

Step 4: Empty Pockets...

Take the strip of fabric you will use as the base of the scarf.

Fold over in half lengthwise so the good side is in the inside.

Place one of the pockets inside one end so the open side seam matches up with the edge of the base scarf.

You may need to fold over the pocket a bit and then sandwich in with the other side.

I guess you could pin it but I just held everything in place and then fed it through the serger.

Serge along most of the base scarf.

When you near the other end, position in the pocket in a symmetrical manner to the pocket already sewn in.
Tops of the pockets will be pointed toward the middle of the scarf and both faux fur sides of the pocket will be exposed or not.

Check to see that the pocket flaps are encased in the seam of the base scarf.

Flip the whole thing inside out.

Step 5: Doc, Time to Close It Up...

If you try the scarf on, you should end up with a scarf and pocket flaps that are attached in a symmetrical fashion.

With the faux fur side out on the base scarf, flatten out the free edge and position in place by matching the edge to the base scarf.

Sew the free edge of the pocket flap to the side of base scarf.

I serged just up to the faux fur trim. I wanted the fur trim to flop a bit so they would be reminiscent of animal ears. Cute detail. It also makes it easier find your way into the pockets.

Serge the bottom edge to close off the pocket.

Turn inside out.

Bar tack the stress point of the opening.

Step 6: Stay Cool...

So working with fleece does have some challenges. Press down on it to feed through the serger. Press down on it to get the thickness under the sewing machine foot.

Stretchy fleece and fluffy faux fur makes your sewing line drift so go slower.

Know the limits of your machine, have spare needles and backup spools of thread.

Other than that, go make a few as presents...and look for the union label....