Fleece Projects: Fleece Beanie & Neck Warmer

もう3月だというのに、先週はすごい寒波に襲われて、日中の最高気温が零下な日が続きました。夜の散歩はブリザード状態で、零下7度ぐらい（風のおかげで体感気温はそんなもんじゃなかった）で、おそらく人生で一番寒い日々だったと思う。そんなでもさ、向かいの牧場に放し飼いにされてる馬たちはフツーに雪を鼻でのけながら草食べてたよ（夜でもね）。

ものすごい寒いおかげで毎日降る雪がパウダースノーだったので、これまた人生で初めて、雪を掃いた。シャベルいらず（っていうかシャベルないから）。デッキブラシで掃いた。

週末になってあったかくなったので、もう雪もとけたし、気温も4度ぐらいまであがったんだけど、まだ気分は真冬だったので、フリースのあまり布でネックウォーマーと帽子を作りました。

I had the coldest days in my life when the Beast from the East hit England. Having been grown up in the snow country, snowing doesn't surprise me. (Though, having living in the desert for 10 years, I do get excited when it snows) But being able to "sweep" the snow with a push broom was a totally new experience to me. Yey to the power snow.

The temperature has come up above freezing over the weekend and all the snow has already melted, but since I was still having the blizzard mentality, I made some fleece beanie and neck warmer.

I watched "Sewing with Fleece" class on Craftsy while the Craftsy Unlimited was free over the weekend, and used the beanie pattern from the class. Very simple pattern and it took very little time to finish.

Since I could not use my serger to finish the raw edges, I used a decorative stitch on my sewing machine to top stitch the seam line and to secure the hem. It almost worked like cover stitch and the seams are nicely compressed.

I originally planned to make a fleece scarf next, but my left-over fabric did not have enough width to cut a continuous long scarf, so I made a neck warmer instead.

It's just a rectangle, 26 inches wide by 22 inches tall, with 2 layers sewn together and top-stitched.

One corner attaches to the diagonal corner with 2 snaps. I added fake leather buttons to cover the snaps. The buttons are fake as in it's not leather, and they are also fake as in it's purely decorative and not a functional button. I also have only 2 snaps, but added 3 buttons because 3 buttons looked better than 2.

I wore them to walk the dogs and thanks to the generic, non-technical fleece property, I got very hot at the neck and had to unzip my jacket.

I am still searching a good source to get technical fleece fabric (like Polartec) in England. Well, it's non-existent. Some online shops do sell "some" but I am lucky if I see more than 1 color (usually navy or gray). They don't even describe the thickness (like Polartec 100, or 200, etc). What do British sewers do when they want technical fleece fabric??? Why aren't there any Seattle Fabrics type shops in England???