Handmade Gifts for Men: DIY Flannel Scarf Tutorial

Finding handmade gifts for men is not as easy as finding gifts for women. For women, it’s easy! Just make a cute bag, cozy, piece of jewelry, e-reader cover, art, coffee cozy- whatever! For men, it becomes much harder to find a gift they will use. Last year, I found the perfect gift for men- a flannel scarf! Read on to see how I made this easy-peasy gift that my husband and brothers still use one year later.

 DIY Flannel Scarf Tutorial for Men

Supplies

• 1 yard plaid flannel 60 inches wide (use the apparel flannel, not the sort of paper-like flannel you find near all the baby fabrics)
• Coordinating cotton thread
• Sewing machine
• Fabric scissors
• Straight pins

Step 1: Wash the flannel and iron it. It will lay flat better. Full disclosure: I did not do this for every scarf (I made about 10 last year for all the men in my family). Step 2. Fold the flannel in half lengthwise and cut along the folded edge. Lay the two pieces on top of each other with right sides facing. Pin the short edge together. Step 3: Sew the pinned section of the fabric together using a ½ inch seam. Open the fabric. Fold the fabric in half lengthwise with right sides together again. Pin all three open sides. Step 4: Sew the short edges together and the long edge with a ½ inch seam, but leave an opening in the middle about 4 inches wide. Step 5: Pull the scarf right side out through the hole. Fold the raw edges inside the hole and pin. Step 6: Here is where you can get fancy. If your machine has a variety of stitch options, select one of the decorative stitches to use as a top stitch. I used several different top stitch options with my scarves, but my favorite was the blanket edge stitch.

Step 7: Sew the topstitch as close to the edge as you can. At this point, the seam edges do like to roll together, so watch out for that or else your seams will end up in the center of the scarf rather than on the edge where they belong. Topstitch all four sides. When you are finished, you will have a scarf that is just about two yards long, which is perfect for men to wrap once around their neck with the long ends hanging down. If you want them to be able to wrap it additional times, use two yards of fabric.

Ways to jazz it up:

• Add fringe to the ends
• Experiment with topstitching the center of the scarf
• Use more colorful fabric

And there you have it! A super-easy handmade scarf that men will wear. All of the guys in my family loved their scarves and my husband wore his almost daily when it was cold. I call that project a success!