How to Make a Hooded Woolen Cloak
Whether you are interested in a fun medieval costume or you have an interest in simply adding some interesting visual variety to your wardrobe, a hooded cloak is a great choice. A cloak can be thrown over other clothing to fend off the cold or to protect the wearer from rain, and one made out of wool can be quite warm. Making a hooded cloak out of wool is relatively straightforward and is a perfect project for an intermediate sewer
Things You'll Need
- Pattern
- Wool fabric
- Washer
- Dryer
- Scissors
- Pins
- Matching thread
- Needle
- Fasteners
Instructions
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1
Choose a pattern. There are many hooded cloak patterns out there, and you can find many of them online.
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2
Select your wool. Wool comes in a number of different weights, ranging from tropical wool which is for summer suits to coat weight wool, which is used to make heavy winter coats. Look for wool fabric that is heavy enough to be warm, but light enough to have a good hang when you are wearing it.
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3
Wash your wool the way you intend to wash it in the future. This will remove any starch that was in it.
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4
Dry your wool on the hottest setting that you have available. This will shrink the wool as small as it is going to go. Because wool is a natural fiber, you can count on it shrinking a little bit, and it is far better to shrink your wool while it is still uncut rather than sewing something with it and then having it shrink.
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Cut out your pattern pieces, making sure that you are cutting out the right pattern for your size. Though it might not seem so, you will need to size your cloak. The size of your cloak will depend on your height and your girth, and choosing the wrong size can lead to fit problems and problems with the way the cloak hangs.
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Lay out your wool fabric on a clean flat surface.
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Pin the pattern pieces to the wool. Make sure that if your wool has a pattern, that it is running the right way on all the pieces, and also make sure that if there is a wrong side and a right side, they will match up when you sew the cloak.
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8
Sew your cloak together. The pattern will give you instructions, but you can also simply sew together the body pieces and then attach the hood. Depending on the pattern, the hood may be cut in one piece or several pieces.
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9
Hem your cloak.
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Sew on the fasteners that will close your cloak at the throat. A simple button and ribbon loop is one way to do it, or you can choose to sew on a small buckle and strap or a pair of fabric ties. Some people decide against sewing on a fastener entirely and will simply pin the cloak together.
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References
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
