Fantastic Mr. Fox Scarf

I found this awesome fox scarf online when I was browsing around for quick and easy projects.  I've been enjoying simple sewing projects and I immediately fell in love with this fox scarf!  And the blogger who made it offered up a free pattern too. Awesome!  I found it at Prudent Baby.

I especially love the orange plaid flannel or wool or whatever she made her scarf with. It looks adorably foxy and warm. I looked and looked for some orange plaid warm fabric that wasn't fleece.  Fleece is super popular, and yet, I just don't like it.  Finally found some fall clearance broadcloth at Joann Fabrics and decided that even though it isn't cuddly, it would do just fine.  I picked up some white shaggy minky at Hobby Lobby.  I think that's really all I need, aside from some black trim and embroidery thread for the snout.  I'm sure I'll find something in my stash to accommodate the facial features.

When I think of this fox scarf, I hear George Clooney's voice. Thusly, I have named this scarf  "Fantastic Mr. Fox Scarf".  There ya go, George.

Cutting minky is best done outdoors!  In mid-January we have sunshine and temps in the 70s and 80s. Perfect weather for cutting fabric out on the back deck.  When I cut the minky, the edges of the fuzz fall off and float around. If you dare to cut this stuff, do not touch your nose or breath in too deeply!

I cut enough pieces to make four fox scarves. I think it will be so darn cute that I'll wish I had made more, so I'm just going to make more right off the bat.  One yard of each the orange and the white minky will yield four 36" fox scarves. A little extra will help with getting all of the legs and ears cut out though. Squeezing those pieces into the layout was tricky.

After I cut each piece, I shake it to shake off the loose fuzzies before bringing it in and running it through my sewing machine. I made it snow!

Putting together the legs and ears was fun. The small pieces are adorable. . Once I had them sewn together, I flipped them around and stuffed them with polyfill.  I didn't stuff the ears much, just enough to give them a bit of poof.  The legs are stuffed nice and plump. I then folded the edges in just a tad and topstitched the openings before I zig-zagged it to the scarf. I enjoyed having a bin full of legs and ears. Fox parts!

Sewing the legs onto the minky fox tummy was a challenge. My presser foot was continuously becoming tangled. I used a pair of tweezers to pull the loops off of the presser foot when they looped on, and I learned this by using my fingers and stabbing myself with the needle that is right there. Whoops. Jab yourself and you learn pretty fast the value of a nice pair of tweezers! The minky is fabulously soft and fuzzy! Cannot wait to wrap a fantastic fox hide around my neck!  Won't leave it on long in this summer weather though.

I didn't have much in the way of buttons, but I found a matching set of brown buttons. I also had a brown piece of fleece that I used for the nose. Very cute. Black is a better contrast, but the brown looks great too. I prefer the soft fuzzy nose to the embroidered nose anyway. The whiskers are just a couple of strands of embroidery floss.

Once I had all of the noses, eyes, whiskers, ears and legs attached, I sewed the fox tops to the fox tummies. Putting the right sides together, I sewed around the edges making sure not to sew the legs and whiskers into the seams. I left a hole in the side of the "hide" to flip it around. Then topstitched the opening closed.

I believe that if I had used a heavier fabric for the fox top, the scarf would lay better. It doesn't have that thick and wooly feeling that really keeps a neck warm in the winter. The minky is very soft and fuzzy, it feels wonderful. It is more of a whimsical feeling scarf, which is also great!

I tried the scarf on and immediately wished it was longer. Finished length is 35". My 5 year old thought it was great, and I like the length on her as well. Next set of fox hide scarves will be longer.  We both enjoyed wearing a Fantastic Mr. Fox Scarf!

And I just have to laugh at my "selfie" picture in the bathroom mirror! Notice the bandaid on my finger? That was my sewing lesson of the day: Tweezers are a great tool!