How To Make A Neck Cooler....

When I was in town the other day I noticed that every man and his dog was either wearing or buying a neck cooler, my husband has been using one at work that he was given at one of the many expo's he has to go to and said that it is great. So, I had a look in Loft and Tokyu hands and decided that I could make one for a fifth of the price. I went to the bento section and found the gel packs, I got a pocket sized one and the long one shown, they were both around the ¥200 mark.

At home I made the first neck cooler using a double gauze scarf I had picked up in the ¥100 shop, for the second one I made I just used some double gauze out of my stash. Double gauze is great in the hot weather but you could use cotton instead.

First lay your fabric/scarf right side down and place your gel pack in the centre at the bottom of the scarf.

Pull the fabric up so it covers the gel pack.

Then roll the whole thing over one time. 

Cut along the top edge, you will need to hem it so cut it with a cm or two to spare. If you are using fabric then hem the bottom edge before cutting the top edge.

Fold over and hem the raw edge, if you are using fabric not a scarf you will need to hem the other edges too. Put the gel pack back into the centre of the fabric and pull the fabric from the bottom, over the gel pack to cover it, this will become the pocket.

Place a pin each side if the gel pack, remove the gel pack and sew straight lines where the pins are placed. Now you have a pocket, chill your gel pack then pop it in the pocket, pull the flap over, you could add a button or velcro if you like but when I tried it out it didn't really need it (maybe useful on a kids version) and tie it round your neck.

Now you can go out looking and feeling cool!