I needed to keep heads warm in the recent Alabama deep freeze, most importantly, mine. Whipped up this hood/cowl out of a cheap fleece blanket.

I originally posted a picture to the Facebook group Upcycle Sewing. Some folks wanted to see my pattern, so I decided to document the construction as well.

Step 1: Background and Ways to Wear It

Every so often, we get cold in the Deep South. Last week, I saw single digits on my thermometer. That's cold for us, y'all.

I can think of at least three different ways to wear this hat. One is like a ski mask with only your eyes peeking out as shown in the introduction. Try it like a cowl scarf to keep your neck warm. Or pull it up and wear as a hoodie with your face for all the world to see.

Step 2: What You Will Need

Pattern:
Here are links to the pattern pieces. They are in jpg format. Save them, then print them at 100% (no scaling!)

If you don't have a printer and need to draft them, dimensions are marked on the pattern pieces. See the photo above for what they should look like when you have them ready.

Materials:

Fleece blanket. Make sure it stretches a lot! Seems like the cheaper the blanket, the more it stretches.
Sewing thread

Equipment:

Sewing machine, though you could probably sew this by hand.
Scissors or other cutting tools
Pins

Step 3: Cutting Out the Fleece Hat Pieces

Fleece has the most stretch across the grain. In this photo, the greatest stretch is from left to right. It's important to lay out your pattern pieces this way, or the hoodie won't stretch enough. Look for my scribbling on the pattern pieces for the direction of greatest stretch. Also, note that the back of the hoodie needs to be cut on the fold. The front pieces are cut from a single layer.

Step 4: Begin to Sew With the Front Crown

Using your favorite stretchy stitch, turn up and sew a 1 inch hem along the bottom.

Step 5: Hem the Lower Front

Take the front bottom piece, and turn under a 1" hem on the top. This piece is square, so make sure the stretch goes in the same direction as the hem. The photo shows the two front pieces already hemmed.

Step 6: Get Ready to Sew the Front Together

Lap the top piece over the bottom piece. Looking at it from the right side, it looks like this.

Step 7: Stitch the Front Pieces Together

I stitched them together where they overlap.

Step 8: Sew the Front to the Back

Now, find the back piece. Put right sides together, and match the points on the front to the points on the back. Here's one side pinned together.

It won't lay exactly flat, but that's the way it should be. Don't mess with the V shaped cut yet. Sew the two long sides together. It just keeps getting weirder looking.

Step 9: Sew Up the Top

Now, take the two seams you just sewed and match them at the top. You will have the notches of the V's on the left and right side. In the first photo, the hat is pinned at the ends of the V's and where the seams match. The second photo shows the hole sewn together.