DIY: Cowl Neck Vest

Before & After

Hello dear friends, can’t believe its mid-october already and temperature is starting to drop. Well, this DIY is sure to keep you warm in cooler weather. Its super simple and easy way of turning your warm cozy shawl into a cowl neck vest for fall. 

Endless possibilities to style this vest, here are my five favorite ways.

 Here is how the back looks

Psst.. shorter version is created by wearing it upside down ;)

All you need is few measurements and small snips

So lets get started !

You will need :

Fabric - Woolen shawl or medium to heavy weight fabric,  

Measuring tape, pencil, scissors, sewing machine (or needle & thread). 

Measurements: 

1. Shoulder width.  

2. Hip Measurement.
3. Arm hole measurement. 

4. Length you want for the cowl neck (I would suggest between 3 to 9 inches).

Fold your shawl in half and place it on flat surface. From top right corner of the shawl (folded edge), mark the length you want your cowl neck to turn over. I kept mine to 9 inches(vertical length).

 Divide your shoulder measurement in half, mine was 14/2 = 7inches and mark that measurement(horizontal length).

The point where these two measurements meet is where your armhole starts. My armhole measure was 15inches and added 2inches to it for ease. I made an oval shape with my tape measure (17inches, it doesn’t have to be perfect) and placed it at the mark we made above.

You can draw freehand a guide line along the tape, so its easy to cut. Take your scissors and snip away, make sure you cut through both layers, because you want identical armholes right :) 

 I hemmed around both armholes, If your material doesn’t fray you can skip this step.

Now divide your hip measurement/2 and add 2.5 inches to it. This will the width of the vest, cut the excess fabric as seen below.

My shawl has border going on all sides, skip this step if you do not have one, I didn’t want to cut it off, so I pleated the fabric backwards till I reached my measurement, pinned and sewed (along the yellow pins below pic). 

Hem the sides if you need to And you are done. Leave a comment if you have any questions.

Thanks for stopping by :)