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Saturday, October 22, 2011

DIY Animal Hoods

Has anyone seen these hoods?  I am gaga for them.  I want every single one.  Did you hear me? Every single one.  

I tried my hand at making my own cheap knock off.  Yes cheap, as in looks as cheap as it feels.  But oh, they turned out so cute.  Cheap and cute.  I still want a Spirit hood and imagine it feels like silk and real fur all mixed together (I do believe theirs are acrylic though...but probably high quality acrylic and not the sale bin at Joann's).

All you need is: a couple hours, preferably kid free because they will interrupt you a lot and want you to make other things instead...put the cat out too because she will sit on whatever you are trying to work on, and a room you are OK with destroying because it will get super messy.

Supplies needed:
felt (or any other easy to sew material...I used felt on the kids and thrifted polyester on mine because I new it wouldn't bunch up with the fur)
fur and lining 1/2 yard to 1 yard of each (I had a ton leftover)
felt or any fabric for embellishments
needle
thread
scissors
pins
sewing machine
hooded sweatshirt - the size of the person you are making it for.
 You can see I changed up my lining.  I really wanted to use this fabric but didn't have enough.
 Simply trace the hoodie part and at the nape (where it would sit around your shoulders) cut in a few inches and then continue to cut all the way down the length of the sweatshirt in a straight line to the bottom of your sweatshirt sleeve.  This should give you an accurate spot for little pockets.    You could do it another easy way too...measure.  I don't like to measure though.
 This is what it should like.  
Your pieces will include:

2 pieces each of the lining and fur in the shape of your hood.  

4 pieces of fur in the shape of ears (round for bears, triangles for cats and so on). 

 And 2 smaller pieces of felt or lining fabric for the inside embellishment of ears.

2 pieces of the fur and 2 pieces of lining for the pockets.

If you want to add paws...or little triangles for nails cut duplicates as well.

 add your paws or nails to the bottom of the right side of lining.
 add the felt to the inside of your ears (on the fur side) and stitch together the pockets...lining + fur right sides together.
 stitch the back side of the hood only of both lining and fur right sides together.
after adding your embellishments stich ears right sides together.
 cut any excess fabric on the outside of stitches.
 turn everything right side out.
pin ears on the fur and stitch them in place.  Also add pockets to bottom of "sleeve" (lining side facing fur) and stitch the sides and bottom only.
 Pin right sides of lining and fur together and stitch everywhere EXCEPT back of hood (neck).  This is where you will pull everything through.  I left about a 12 inch opening to make it easy.  Once everything is pulled through stitch the back of the hood shut.
 bottom part.  Pockets are on the other side.
 Wear it wrapped around like a scarf.

 Or draped around you shoulders and stick your hands in the pockets.  Have fun.  If you make one I would love to see it!  


Next up...making an abominable snowman for my son.  He thinks the bear is wack.

Linking up here.





22 comments:

  1. That is the coolest thing I've seen in a while. I'm going back to Joann's and I'm SO doing this, like, ASAP. Thank you SO much for sharing!

    www.atavisions.com

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  2. Eeeeee!!! I want one! I want one! You make everything look so flippin easy.

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  3. Those look awesome! I bought a bear-shaped hooded scarf last year and sewed felt teeth to the hood...now looking at your tutorial, I think I'll be adding another animal hood to my wardrobe! Definitely have to try out your tute! Pinning this :)

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  4. haha Oh wow, those are super cool! You got some cute kiddos there, mam :)

    -Arielle
    humblepievintage.com

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  5. This is absolutely awesome! I might want to make one for myself haha

    x

    Marielle

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  6. Wow, you weren't kidding about how messy this is! Our apartment is covered in fuzz despite the trash bag I put down!

    I didn't do mine right on a number of levels. First, I didn't cut the "sleeve" part correctly. Secondly, I forgot to sew the fur and lining together inside-out. I ended up cutting it, sewing some more, and making a really scary hat. I think I've learned my lesson about trying to do DIY's! (I'm extremely crafting challenged...)

    www.atavisions.com

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  7. Very cool. I wish my kids were still little. I'll have to wait a couple more years for my new grandson to be old enough.

    Can't wait!

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  8. Ok you rock for this!!!!!! AWESOME!

    Not So Average Mama.com

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  9. You make it look so easy. I'm sure my daughter will LOVE one, maybe I'll give it a try.

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  10. Love these! I even want one for myself! :o) Love your cute models!

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  11. so cute! I love them, you're so creative !

    love,mongs
    mythriftycloset.blogspot.com

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  12. This is awesome! I also am big into spirithoods... in fact, I have my own blog! check out my post about creating DIY Feather Accessories for your spirithood! http://www.getinmyhood.com/1/post/2011/11/diy-feather-accessory-for-your-spirit-hood.html

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  13. oh, they are so purrfect! love this idea, so would my girls

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  14. Great tutorial and such a favorite item for the kids (or kids at heart)!! I've featured this at the newest Craftastic Link Party. Stop by and grab a Featured On button. Thanks for linking:)

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  15. I was going to make one last fall but couldn't wrap my head around the pattern. Pun intended. Yours came out great!! Are you selling them? If not, how much do you think the materials cost to make one? Thanks so much for your eye candy!

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  16. @coffeeandcashmere I kind of overbought. I bet you could make one for $15-$25 +/-, less if you have a coupon for the fur-it's acrylic and probably about $10 a yard. I hadn't thought of selling them, but would consider it...if you were interested. I made three and my kids have worn them twice!

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  17. I am gonna try knitting and needle felting this...

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  18. Hi This post has inspired me to make Elmo and Cookie Monster Hoods for my boys - Check out my blog to see how they turned out. Thanks for the inspiration!
    http://lisaunhemmed.weebly.com/1/post/2012/12/elmo-and-cookie-monster-inspired-hoods-tutorial.html

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  19. To REALLY get the look, make the lining smaller than the outside so that the fur curls around the edge (will need to press). Also remember with fur to push the pile to the inside when making seams so that you have all the fluffy goodness when you turn it right side out.

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