Sew a fun fleece scarf with a hidden compartment.
I made this scarf to store my gloves because they always fall out of my shallow coat pockets. This fun little monster has a pocket/pouch in its mouth that clasps shut and keeps your small belongings close by.
You can make the pocket from scratch or use an existing coin purse/pouch if you’d like.
Choose some fun fleece colors, gather up some felt for accents, and your tools.
Finding a purse frame: You can find lots of styles on Etsy or at a fabric store. I got mine from a thrift store coin purse — you can use pliers to remove the fabric and leave just the hardware. Next time I make one of these I’ll try a rounded frame, more of a “serpent” shape.
Place your purse frame on the fleece color you chose for the mouth. Draw a pocket shape that flares out from the edge of the frame. Mark where your purse frame hinge meets the pocket shape.
Cut two pieces, pin together, and sew up to your purse frame markings (circled in the picture) to leave the pocket open.
Using a screwdriver (or scissors), push the fleece into the purse frame. Start from the edges and work your way to the center, one side at a time
If you are having trouble getting the fleece in, try prying the frame open a little with your screwdriver. You can then bend it back with pliers to hold the fleece tightly in place.
If you are using a fabric other than fleece or have trouble keeping it in the frame, you can try gluing it.
Place your finished pocket on the fleece you chose for the body (I started with the belly because it was a solid color). Trace the outline of the head of your serpent, making sure to leave enough room for the pocket to fit inside with seam allowances. I made a head with the nose sticking out further than the mouth to help cushion/hide the pocket.
Once you’ve designed the head, continue your line to make the body (I made my scarf about 45″ long). Add a tail design if you’d like and cut out your piece. Use this cutout as a template and pin/cut your 3rd fleece color for the rest of the body (right sides together). Mark where your pocket will go on the head with a straight line; this will be the hinge of the “jaw” and you won’t be sewing past this point.
At this point if you want to add some legs/arms/wings, cut them out of felt and pin them in between your 2 fleece layers, facing inward.
Starting at the line you marked for the “jaw,” sew your seam down the length of the body and back around to the head.
Then sew along the edges of the pieces for the nose lining. These should end up like little pockets.
Trim the extra fabric along the edges if desired, and turn inside out. You should end up with a nice serpent scarf shape.
Place your completed mouth pocket/pouch into the serpent’s head. You can use your hand inside the pouch to push into place and align with the rest of the head.
Once you’ve got it lined up, double check that you can open the pouch easily — if not, adjust the placement.
With a needle and thread, start sewing each side of your serpent’s jaw to the sides of the mouth pouch. Work from the hinge/edges toward the center/clasp, make sure to go through both the pouch and body fleece. Use a coordinating thread so it blends in with your fleece.
As you are sewing, make sure the fleece isn’t too bulky to properly clasp the pouch. I left the center near the clasp un-sewn both to hide the hardware and so it wouldn’t get in the way of closing the pouch. When you are done, test it out and stitch any weak points if needed.
Now that your serpent is all assembled, have fun making some eyes, ears, eyebrows, or other fun features out of felt. I made some wing-like eyebrows, big eyes, and fangs.
Sew them onto your serpent using a coordinating color, or get funky with some embroidery thread and applique techniques.
Once you’re finished with your scarf, try wearing it in different ways. You can store things in the pocket or place the tail in to make a faux-Möbius look.
