A matrix is really just a vector with a dim attribute (for the dimensions). So you can add dimensions to vec using the dim() function and vec will then be a matrix:
vec <- 1:49
dim(vec) <- c(7, 7) ## (rows, cols)
vec
> vec <- 1:49
> dim(vec) <- c(7, 7) ## (rows, cols)
> vec
[,1] [,2] [,3] [,4] [,5] [,6] [,7]
[1,] 1 8 15 22 29 36 43
[2,] 2 9 16 23 30 37 44
[3,] 3 10 17 24 31 38 45
[4,] 4 11 18 25 32 39 46
[5,] 5 12 19 26 33 40 47
[6,] 6 13 20 27 34 41 48
[7,] 7 14 21 28 35 42 49