How to make an easy no sew fleece hat and scarf?

I can't sew!!! and that is why I have always shied away from any crafts that have to do with fabric - until now that is!! I discovered the wonder of fleece and no sew techniques. I was at JoAnn's fabrics after thanksgiving, just perusing, and I saw the nice fleeces. A nice lady at the counter told me I could do great things with them without having to pick up a threat and a needle. She explained to me the basic techniques to do blankets, hats and scarves. She gave me some photocopies with a few designs too! I bought some stuff and went home to experiment. This is the result! I am so pleased and so is my daughter as I am making her so much stuff right now.

How to make a simple scarf in about 5 minutes!!

Materials:

• Fleece (standard length of 60 inches). Width: 10-12 inches for adult scarf, 6-8 inches for kids
• Good pair of scissors (fabric scissors)
• Rotary cutter
• Self healing mat
• Plastic Ruler

You can buy your fleece already cut to your scarf width at your fabric store, but  if not, you can easily cut it with your rotary cutter at the desire width.

Cut away the fabric borders on both ends. Carefully place the fleece on your mat, place the ruler over the edge of the fleece and cut with the rotary cutter. (Be very careful, these things are SHARP!)

To cut the scarf (if not pre cut at the store), place the fleece straight on top of your mat, measure your width with the ruler and place a straight ruler over the material, score with your rotary cutter. Now you have a long rectangle which is pretty much a scarf.

To make the fringe. Place one of the ends of your scarf on the mat and align it to the grid so it is straight. Place your plastic ruler at 3 or 4 inches on top of the edge (depending on how long you want your fringe). With your scissors, cut stripes of approximately 1 inch wide al along the border.

From here on you need to let your creativity fly. You can leave the scarf as is or you can cut thinner fringes, make knots, you name it! For this little one, I cut my fringes half an inch wide and then made a square knot with 2 of them at a time. That is it! really.

How to make the kid's hat! 

This one takes a little longer than 5 minutes, but not that much longer!!! I found this one in the following blog: (Creative Jewish Mom). I modified it a little bit with some advise from the JoAnn's lady (she was awesome!!!)

You are going to need a rectangle for the hat. The dimensions will be according to the size of the head of the child. The vertical measurement of the rectangle is standard at 13 inches (do about 10 for babies). The horizontal measurement will be the length of the head's circumference, plus 2 inches for the bows (fringe). In my case, I started with a 13" by  24" for my 5 year old.

Cut your rectangle carefully with the rotary cutter or with your scissors. Place your rectangle on the mat and on the vertical edges (shorter ones) you will cut a 2" long by 3/4" wide fringe all along. It is important that you cut both edges at the same time so the fringes match perfectly, or you will get holes in between your bows. To do so, fold your fleece in half, perfectly aligning the two vertical edges together. Align the folded  fleecer with the grid on your mat. Place the ruler straight on top of the fleece at a 2" line. With your scissors, cut the fringes at 3/4" intervals.  

Open your fleece now and place it on your work surface horizontally and fold the edges so they touch each other. Take the first set of fringes and make a square knot (making a bow). Then take the second set of fringes and do a knot and so on until you get to the desire height of hat. Make sure you use the same knot technique each time for consistency. (i.e. left side fringe under all the time)

Fold over the bottom of the hat twice for the brim of the hat - Make sure you have the right height of hat by scrunching the top with your hands. If so continue on with the instructions, if not, make more bows!

You will now have  a row of bows and a few fringes left untied. Cut those fringes off so the two sides of the hat touch. You will now make the fringe that will become the pom pom on the top. Align the hat with the grid of your mat. Take you ruler and place straight just after your last bow. Cut your fringe at 1/2 inch intervals.

Now, scrounge your hat with your hands right after the last bow. Take a thin piece of fleece and secure it with a tight double knot. You have your pom pom!! Adjust it by pulling it to the desire shape (or cut it if you think is too long!)

Your hat is almost ready. Now you can cut the bows to your desire size. I like my bows small, so they look like tiny bows, so I cut them. If you like them long you can leave as is! and voila! you have a super cute no sew fleece hat!!!

I have fell in love with these techniques, for their simplicity and beauty. I have now made quite a few scarves (for dad, son, daughter and myself!) and also a few blankets (posts coming soon!). It is amazing what you can learn from a trip to your local fabric store!

If you do not want to do them yourself, you can always get them on my Etsy shop (click here)! I will make them to order - just let me know what do you want!!