Did you all fall in love with Katniss’s cowl in the Hunger Games 2 like I did? (And Peeta? And every single thing Effie ever wore? Yes? Me too. I have a solid girlcrush on Effie’s wardrobe.) Of course this is really a thing you’d knit or crochet. I used to crochet a TON, like every day in high school, in class even, which I think made some of my teachers mad. But I can’t seem to make time for all the sewing AND crocheting these days, so I wanted to make this type of winter accessory available to us seamsters, too. Behold: the katniss cowl SEWING pattern! And it’s free! Hoorah!
Here is the inspiration photo below, via. Pretty close, eh??
So let’s make one! There is a free pattern available for the pieces. It is a one size fits most type of pattern, about a women’s Medium.
I used a thrifted sweater to make this cowl. You have to get a really big sweater, the biggest you can find! And grey if you want to be true to the movie, but I think it would look awesome in other colors, too. Maybe mustard yellow?
Materials:
-huge thrifted sweater, or 1.5 yards sweater knit fabric
Instructions:
Print (free) pattern and cut out 2 body pieces and 1 collar piece. Collar measurement: 28″ wide by 14″ tall.
Start with the body pieces. Turn under 3/4″ on the long curved edge and armscye. Pin in place.
Sew fabric under to finish the edges. 
Repeat for both sides. Make sure these pieces are mirror images of each other. 
Pin body pieces together with right sides together and sew at the shoulders and side seam. Backstitch at each end. Trim seam allowance.
Fold top corners of collar piece down to meet bottom edges.
Sew long seam.
Fold short edge down to match other short edge. Collar is done! 
Turn body piece inside out and keep collar right side out. Pin together around neckline, stretching to fit. Sew.
Turn inside out and fold collar over one more time. You’re done!
May the odds be ever in your favor!
Whaaat! This is unbelieveably cool! The moment i saw it in the film made me think, how am i gonna do this?? Thanks for sharing the pattern with us!
greetz from germany :-)
johanna
Enjoy! Glad you like it!
what does the back look like? Wondering if I could wear it over the whole chest? But I do like thanks!
Shut up! You are officially the coolest ever.
Hah! :)
I love this and you look so great in these pictures.
You’re so nice! Thank you!
I think this is really cool.
Thanks Kelli!
I haven’t seen the movie, but this is really cool!
Thanks Elizabeth!
LOVE this!!! Awesome freebie, thanks for sharing your talents with us! I’m headed to my closet right now to cut up a sweater! lol ;)
Excited to see it!
*claps* This might just make this never ending winter a bit more cheery! You found a great sweater for this, I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for giant sweaters.
Thanks Rachel! I had to look hard for a really big sweater, but they are out there!
Yesssss – the first moment I saw her sweater I fell in love with it! And the second moment came with this thought “I bet someone will make a tutorial/pattern for it. And when that happens, I need to make one for myself.”
So I waited… and waited… and finally!!! Thank you for putting this pattern together! I can’t wait to make one for myself :))
Haha! Can’t wait to see it!
wooowww!! this is great! I was just thinking about doing this!! and now with your pattern+DIY it’ll be easier. I buy your peplum pattern some weeks ago and I love it! Only… I need more own time to make more diferent peplums styles ;)
Thanks a lot!
ENjoy!
First things first, you look just beautiful in these pictures! And I love the cowl . . . SO cute, and so much faster than crocheting it from scratch (although I wouldn’t be opposed to that, either, I suppose). Love it!
Thanks Rachel!! I’m sure you could crochet an awesome one! I gave up on crocheting because my kids drag the yarn all through the house! I need a yarn safe
Hi Kate,
Awesome pattern! Trying to download, but it takes me to digioh.com, and says I need to register an account to download the pattern. There is no option to create an account there. Any ideas? Thanks so much! You have the coolest ideas.
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! Kate you never cease to amaze me! Im doing it, googling goodwill now…
Hhaha, Thanks Ashley :)
This is awesome and you look adorable.
Thanks Natalie!
I’ve never seen the movies or read the books, but oh my goodness, I love this! I’ve linked to your pattern on Craft Gossip:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/free-pattern-katniss-cowl-sweater-refashion/2014/02/13/
–Anne
As my sister and I are walking out of the theater after seeing the movie she goes “how long untile something like that pops up on etsy?”. A DIY is even better!
As soon as I saw Katniss come on screen with that I thought “How long until this is all over the internet” ;) I love it
beyond awesome!
This is so nice and really simple to follow! Happy I discovered this post on craftgawker
xx
Ok, this is possibly the coolest pattern ever!! May have to make one for my daughters, because I’m sure they would consider me too old for such a cool frock. Well done, sweet Kate, well done!
xox
Wow wow wow – So, so good!
Thank you so much! I’ve been wanting that cowl since I saw it in the movie preview. I am definitely going to make this.
The first time I saw Katniss wearing the cowl in the preview I wanted it! I searched high and low for a DIY that not only looked similar to the one from the movie but also just looked nice so I’d want to wear it. I found a few DIY projects and even brought some amazing yarn but at the end of the day I just was not in love with any of those projects. I even went to Etsy thinking I could buy one from someone with superior knitting skills. But $80 – $200 for a scarf was way to rich for my blood, especially when they looked nothing like Katniss’s cowl. And if people were charging that type of money on Etsy I don’t want to think about what the original designer might charge.
I saw your cowl on pinterest today and had two thought. First I loved that it was a sewing project (that will save so much time), and second I could not believe what you were able to do with an oversized thrift store sweater. Hats off to you! I’m going to tear up closet this weekend looking for an old sweater.
Thank you for sharing you talent with us. It might snow in Missouri this weekend and I’ll take a few more days of cold weather if it means I can wear this cowl.
I love the cowl sweater, but I must be pretty dumb!! I can’t figure out how to cut it out. Could you give a diagram of hoe to put the pattern pieces together and cut it from the sweater. Thanks for the pattern and please help me.
Very cool. I have not one but two sweaters to experiment with. Can you tell me the dimensions of the piece you used for the cowl? I think I can fudge the rest and avoid printing the pattern. The tutorial is great! Thanks!
This is great I went straight off in search of a sweater to use. Mine didn’t have quite enough fabric so I used the sleeves as my neck and left the cardigans button on for a bit of interest. I love it, thanks so much.
So very cool! I have an old linen yarn shawl I’m hoping has enough surface to make this : It will be lighter, black… I can add accents. Oooh! So exciting. I’ll post something if I’m able to get it done!
could you please give me the measurements for the cowl part the patteren seems to small for the rest of it I love the look of it and I really would like to make THANKS Loretta