Hot Pocket Snood

Well, this was an experiment…I was looking for a feasible way of keeping the neck and chin areas warm without having to resort to looking like The Winter Soldier. “So,” I thought, “what about a snood filled with heat packs?” And that’s what I did…

What I used:

Scrap overcoat fabric

Medium weight fleece blanket

Sewing machine

Hand sewing needles

Thread

Three buttons

Hand warmers/Heat wraps

The shape of my snood was determined, to an extent, by the size and shape of the scrap of fabric I was using; but the things you need to consider are length and depth. You will need it to be long enough to fit around the neck with room to ‘breathe’, and deep enough to fit the heat packs in comfortably.

I started with a basic rectangle of scrap fabric, then cut one end at an approximated 45 degree angle. I then lay this piece on top of the fleece blanket and cut around it to create the first lining piece. Next, I folded the slanted edge of the lining piece to create the (basic rectangle) pattern for the next two lining pieces. As before, I lay the cut piece on top of the fabric, and cut around it. The reason why the rectangles have to be shorter will become clearer as the project goes along…

So now we have four pieces of fabric. This is where we make our first visit to the sewing machine. Pin the two angled pieces of fabric together, right sides facing ensuring that you leave a turning hole large enough to fit your hand in. Sew the pieces together. Trim any excess seam allowance, and clip the corners to make turning easier. Repeat the process with the two shorter rectangles.

Turn both pieces right side out, and poke out the corners with a point turner, or the blunt end of a pencil. Give them a good press to make the edges crisp. Now, normally in a project like this, the next step would be to top stitch both of the pieces, closing the turning hole in the process. However, I wanted to keep the edges quite soft as the top fabric was quite sturdy anyway. If you are using a lighter top fabric, machine stitching will help the snood to hold it’s shape. If, like me, you’re using a more heavyweight fabric, here is where the hand sewing needles make their first appearance.

Anyone who has seen some of my previous Instructables will know that I am IN LOVE with ladder stitch. It’s really easy to master, and is a great way of joining two pieces of fabric without the stitches being visible. So, we’ll be using this to close the turning hole, and for joining the two halves of the snood together.

With the turning holes (invisibly!) sewn shut, it’s time to head back to the machine and create some button holes. I chose to have three button holes, simply because I had three identical buttons on hand, (but the final choice is yours!) Mark out, on the top fabric, where you would like the buttonholes to sit and out buttonhole foot on your machine and go for it! If you don’t have a buttonhole foot, this excellent tutorial will help: http://www.heytherethreads.com/how-to-sew-a-butto...

Use a seam ripper or tiny scissors to cut the buttonhole open.

Now we’re ready to sew the pieces together - yay!

If you’re hand sewing (like me) say hello, once again, to the fabulous ladder stitch! The general rule I have for hand sewing larger pieces is to do things in chunks, so I sewed the bottom together first, then worked along the sides. You will probably find that you won’t need to use many pins once the bottom edges are secured, as your non dominant hand will be able to keep things in place.

If you’re machine sewing, pin the pieces with the right sides together. Sew along the two long sides and the bottom (all the the straight edges). Turn right side out and press if needed.

You probably now have something that resembles a very long purse…

Almost done!

Back to those buttonholes… Fold the snood over on itself as you would if you were wearing it (it may be helpful to put it around your neck and have a look in the mirror) and mark where you want the buttons to be placed. I chose a small amount of overlap so that the snood would sit loosely and not place too much heat on the neck. Sew the buttons in place, pop a couple of heat packs into the pocket, button it up and head to the ice rink! Or just snuggle up on the sofa…