Preparing The Hood

Since the goal is to save a little money, let’s save all the money and only use my scrap pile. Yes, it’s another scrapbusting adventure. This time around, the raw materials are a pair of jean shorts that are beyond saving and a couple of old t-shirts that were too stained or holey to be worn.

I used a commercial balaclava pattern for this project rather than trying to draft something myself. This pattern is intended for fleece, which has a great deal more stretch than the materials I was working with, so I had to size up the pattern. I also ditched the mask part of the balaclava, since that’s not needed for a fencing hood. Otherwise, this is a pretty straightforward project.

Step one was to cut out and baste together a sample hood muslin. I wore just the muslin for one practice to see how it fit and was fairly pleased. The basic design is two pieces, the hood and the bib. Each has a single seam and are then attached to each other.

Putting The Hood Together

Satisfied, I took the muslin apart and used the pieces as templates to cut out the shell and lining pieces. I didn’t have enough denim laying around to make the bib out of it, so I just used the same t-shirt for the lining and the shell of the bib. This teal shirt became the hood lining.

Just as with the muslin, I put together the hood and bib separately. I attached the lining to the shell by folding over and zig-zag stitching over the hem, through the shell, lining, and interlining.

Then I attached the hood to the bib shell and folded over the lining and understitched through.

The end result has a good tear-resistant outer layer, a sturdy interlining, and soft lining. It works great for fencing and was a quick weekend project.