How to Make a Reading Shawl

I posted a few gifts I made for Christmas on my other blog SewPassionista by DIANA and was asked for tutorials on the reading shawl, the hair towel and the mug wrap . I'll do each in an individual post so check back a little later for the other two.

Here is the reading shawl.The idea is to keep your shoulders and arms warm while reading in be.

For the reading shawl, you'll need:

About  24"to  30" of 60" wide fleece or sweater knit.( In the one pictured above , I used 30" and was able to fold the upper edge into  a collar ).
1 meter or yard of 1/2" wide elastic (optional )

The pattern I drafted looks like this:

It was hard to photograph and give the right perspective of it so I made a drawing which will give you a better idea with measurements included..

As you can see, one length is placed on the fold  for about 30" and  then tapers out to the sides.
The opposite length is the opening and also tapers out to the sides.These tapered ends form the sleeves.

Sew along the dotted lines to form the sleeves.

There are two ways to form the cuff. In the picture above I took several tucks on the inside of the sleeves to fit around the wrist.I used the selvedge  for the edge of the cuff.

                                          


Finish the edges of the lengthwise openings  with a 5/8" seam. Add elastic to one long edge of the opening, if desired ,so the shawl will snug up against the neck. (I did not use elastic in the first shawl above ) In the above version, the upper edge formed a shawl collar ,which is pretty, I think
In the picture below I used elastic for both the cuffs and the upper edge.

I hope this makes sense and that you'll try one of these. I use mine every night in bed to read  during the cold months and I just couldn't be without it. It is also useful when on the computer or watching TV.

I gave one to my sister-in-law for Christmas , along with a book and a gift certificate to Chapters. She loved it!

Next up I'll show you how to make a mug caddy which will be  especially useful in your sewing rooms for all tose bits and pieces or on your dressers for keeping make-up and brushes organized and  at your fingertips.!

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