Using a polo neck scarf is an easy way to give warmth to the sensitive areas of the chest and back without the bulk that you normally have around the arm joints or body from a sweater. It gives the impression of a polo neck jumper when worn under a jacket or top and can give a quite stylish look.
We are going to use a polo neck jumper/sweater to make this polo neck scarf as well as some cotton rib knit fabric in a matching colour.
Use an old or buy a second hand polo neck sweater (fig. 1).
Mark the lines where you will cut out the scarf according to your personal preferences. Below you can see an example where the front is going to be cut shorter than the back. However, you can cut these pieces as large or as small as you like (fig. 2 & 3).
Cut out following the lines of your choice (fig. 4).
Edging
You will need some cotton knit rib fabric. This type of fabric is the type used in sleeve cuffs etc. It is ribbed and stretchy and it comes in a tube. You can buy it by the meter but you do not need much. A quarter of a meter should be enough, with some to spare. The reason for using ribbing rather than regular fabric is that ribbing will pass around the curves easier due to the stretch quality of it. Below are some examples of cotton rib knit fabric (fig. 5).
Mark out and cut 4 cm wide strips from your ribbed fabric (fig. 6).
Cut the side of the strips so they can be opened flat. Depending on the length required by the chosen shape of your polo neck scarf and the width of the ribbing you may need 2 (or more) strips. You join these together with a simple line of stitching (fig. 7).
Measure the length around the outer edge of your cut out piece to know the required length of rib knit fabric (fig. 8).
Pin the strip to the RIGHT side of the sweater (right side to right side). Pin it all around the edge with the raw edge of the sweater lined up with the raw edge of the strip. You may need to stretch around the corners (fig. 9).
Sew around the entire edge with a seam allowance of about 0,5 cm on the edge side (fig. 10).
Once the strip is sewn into place fold it out and wrap it around the raw edge of the sweater fabric and over unto the back side (fig. 11).
Pin into place (fig. 12).
Sew along the join line of the rib knit edging on the front side. This should catch the edge of the rib knit on the back side. Once sewn you can remove any excess strip fabric from the back by cutting close to the stitch line (fig. 13).
Example of finished result (fig. 14).
