DIY: Cozy Cowl with Night Sky Applique

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This cashmere cowl is the third installment of my re-purposing cashmere sweater project. The first two can be found here and here. When I first saw this sweater on my thrifting trip my first thought was to make a cowl, however it ended up being the hardest project to design. Not because I had no options but the opposite! My Pinterest page is brimming with possibilities but there were just so many options!

I finally decided on using a shimmery leather scrap I found at my favourite craft supplies store (they have a huge leather ends bin at the back of the store).

Depending on the size of the sweater you may need to tighten the cowl to make it sit closer to your neck. My sweater was an extra tiny, so I didn’t need to make any adjustments. However, depending on your preference (or neck size!), feel free to tighten the cowl.

DIY: Cozy Cashmere Cowl with Night Sky Applique

Supplies

Cashmere sweater
Shimmery leather scrap
Grey thread
Paper and pencil

Tools

Leather needle
Sharp scissors

Directions

Lay sweater on large flat surface. Using pinking shears, cut arms off near shoulder. Cut across chest right below armpits. Keep lower belly section and use the other pieces for these projects.
Sew a 1cm zigzag seam on freshly cut sides to secure the raw edge. Try not to stretch fabric while sewing, which will warp the edge.
On the paper, draw one large star (8cm across), one small star (4cm across), and a crescent moon (7cm across). Cut the shapes out and trace on the back of the leather with the pencil. Cut them out.
Thread leather needle. Lay cowl flat on a table and lay shapes down in the arrangement that is aesthetically pleasing. Sew stars and moon to cowl.