How to Sew a Vintage Hood

Can we take a moment to talk about vintage-style hair?

It’s no surprise that doing wetsets, heated sets, and pincurls are a pain in the neck and take a very long time to learn. Stepping outside can be a nightmare- and I’ve had many a hairstyle get mucked up with humidity and a strong gust of San Francisco wind. There’s insane happiness at a beautiful paige boy hairstyle- and then extreme sadness when you realize your hair is in no state for a selfie.

Enter the vintage headscarf. 

You’ve seen it in the movies: Beautiful, strong, independent woman picking up her luggage, throwing it into her convertible, traveling headscarf tied securely to her head, and a pair of sexy cat-eye sunglasses as she rides into the distance. 

I’ve always wanted one, so I figured I would teach myself how to sew a vintage hood and show you how to sew it!

I was able to source a vintage pattern, but…

–its unfortunately out of print!

I have you guys covered, though. The free download teaching you how to sew a vintage hood has been written up and is ready for printing. I drew out the pattern pieces, including measurements and drafting instructions, so you can make a similar version to the 1940s original pattern! After you get it printed out and drafted, the written instructions are also included- or you can follow along in the tutorial video.

Please feel free to forward me any questions you might have about drafting the paper pattern, and I will be more than happy to answer them! Unfortunately the video only goes into the sewing process, not the drafting process, but I tried to make sure the instructions were as straight forward as possible!

How to Sew a Vintage Hood– its a breeze.

Before you get started, make sure you have a few different things ready to go:

• Your pattern pieces, drafted on a couple large sheets of paper. Please check out my tutorial on How to Trace Vintage Patterns for all my drafting tools (and a photo of the pattern this hood is adapted from!)
• 1 1/8 yards of shell fabric (with or without nap)
• 3/8y lining (optional)

I made my hood from remnant fabrics I had in my stash, so definitely see if you have anything on hand to piece together! I couldn’t resist this leopard print– I just had to make something dramatic for a vintage traveling scarf.

This 3-pattern piece scarf took me about an hour to sew.

Roughly one episode of your favorite Netflix drama and this hood is stitched up and ready to wear on your next vacation! I recommend the following types of fabric for this hood:

• Voiles
• Satins
• Lightweight Linens
• Breatheable/airy fabrics

I do NOT recommend the following types of fabric:

• Stiff fabrics
• Fabrics with no “sexy” drape (i.e. quilting cottons, thick linens, etc.)

Generally, you can probably use most types of garment fabrics, but you want to really think about how its going to feel against your face- not your skin- your FACE. Your skin there is very delicate and you don’t want anything harsh rubbing against it around the band of the facing. Also, avoid fabrics that might cause static electricity with your hair; the point of this hood is to protect your head and hairstyle!

Click the image above to get the PDF instructions!

The instructions break down the entire process covered in the video, in case you wanted to take on how to sew a vintage hood. If you’re watching the video, though… you might see that I’m also doing a GIVEAWAY!

I’m giving away the above floral 1940s-style headscarf, handmade by me!

You might recognize this fabric from my Almada Robe from last year, and I had just enough of a remnant to make something beautiful from it. Floral, teal, and beautiful for the spring season and all your warm-weather adventures! Its a poly-satin with a lavender lining, handmade with love while I binge watched Game of Thrones.

To enter the drawing, click the image above OR fill out the form below (same thing, really). Entries will be accepted until March 17th, 2017 and the winner will be announced and contacted by  March 20th, 2017.

**Giveaway has ended!**