14th Century English Hood Construction

One of the most comfortable and convenient articles of clothing in the 14th Century wardrobe is the hood.  Just like a modern hoodie or cardigan, it was used for warmth, style and protection from inclement weather.  It can be made quickly, with or without buttons, as a pull over or open at the front. 

The hood we will be recreating appears in many illuminations and decorations of the time, ranging from hunting scenes to noble suppers and religious scenes.  Unfortunately, very few actual hoods have survived the passage of time, so we’re forced to extrapolate from a limited sample and a lot of guesswork.  Our hood will be an amalgam of the hood in the Museum of London, that depicted in Gaston de Phoebus’s Book of the Hunt and my personal pattern, developed from trial and error.

The hood in the Museum of London would have had buttons from the face to the hem, but the ones in the Book of the Hunt do not seem to.  A survey completed by the Museum of London indicates that hoods with buttons tended to be worn by women, but that at least 10% were men’s.  The men’s hoods were depicted to be closed at the front and pulled over the head.  I personally prefer the buttons, because I like the flexibility they permit and find the weight of them will pull the fabric down in front, preventing a feeling of being choked.  I will often wear my hood completely unbuttoned and secured to either side of my cotehardie with pins, or with just one or two buttons done up by the collarbones.Hoods are sometimes depicted with decorations, but as none have been recovered, we are unsure if this is artistic licence.  Most of the hoods I have seen in illuminations are on figures so small that it is impossible to determine if they should have embellishments or not.  Personally, I really enjoy ‘blinging up’ my hoods, so I will often wear pins, brooches and decorations on mine.  I have also done appliquéd designs and gone a bit wild with the embroidery.  I think this is a matter of personal preference and there is no wrong way to do it. As a fun note, hoods seem to show up in the late 14th Century as hats.  It makes me think that somewhere, some young man (perhaps after a few too many cocktails) put his hood on backwards and declared that he was ‘cool’.

Materials Needed

1.5 meters outer fabric, ideally felted wool but can be other materials            n/b.  If you use a fabric prone to fraying, you may have difficulties with making nice looking dags

1.5 meters inner fabric if lining is desired

Complimentary thread

25 buttons, if desired.

1 1/2“ strip of fabric to use as lining for buttonholes.  The edges must be finished or turned under.  Keep in mind, this must be a fabric that will not unravel easily and will be seen when hood is worn.

 Pattern

1.     A = Measure around your head and divide by 2.

2.     B = Measure around your face and divide by 2.

3. If you want a liripipe, add a little tail to the “back” of the square as long as you like.  If you don’t follow the blue line on the pattern to create a curve at the back of your head.

4. C = For the mantle of the hood, measure your desired length

5. Draw the “C” (red line) from the middle of “A” on the main square to the hem.  This line will be cut open and used for the gore.

6. Make 2 Isosceles triangles with the height of the triangle equalling “C” plus 4” and the base being at least 10 inches. 

7. Here, you can add another gore at the back of the hood if you like.  This will add fullness to the cape part of the hood, which may be desirable for some.

8. At this point, you will have to determine where you wish the hem of the hood to be, allowing for dagging and/or a seam allowance if the hood is lined.  I prefer the hem to sit about 5” below the point of my shoulder if I am including dags.

9. Decide on the dags and create a drawing template for them.

10. The space from “B” to the face opening should be 3-4”, depending on style desired.

 Dagging

Here are some fun examples of dagging.  Feel free to design your own!Interestingly, the word ‘dag’ and ‘dagging’ comes from sheep shearing; the nasty bits of sheep’s wool and poo that hang from an unsheared sheep’s underbelly are called ‘dags’.  This is a great example of how weird medieval humour can be!

The simplest way to complete the dagging is by making a paper template, tracing it onto the fabric with chalk and then carefully snipping them out.  Make sure you measure them carefully, you don’t want to be halfway through cutting them out to discover you’re going to end up with more on one side, for example!

 Construction

1.     Transfer pattern to fabric and cut. 

2.     Sew right sides of hood together.  Finish by ironing and stitching open.

3.     Measure and cut hem.

4.     Inset gores to both sides.  There are many methods to do this, depending on material, aesthetic choices, etc.  This is how I do it:

a.     Turn gore slit under and baste it as one would a hem.

b.     Lay hood piece right side up.

c.     Slide gore piece under gore slit, adjust and pin.

d.     Baste gore to hood.

e.     On right side, do a blind hem stitch (or other decorative stitch) to connect the gore to the hood.

f.      Flip to wrong side

g.     Trim hood slit to 1/2” from fold

h.     Trim gore sides to 1”

i.      Turn under gore sides and sew with a blind hem or running stitch, being careful to not allow the thread to show on right side.

5.     Measure and cut dags.  Ensure not to cut through the seams for the gores.

6.     If lining hood, repeat above processes and then sew right sides together, leaving a small hole at the hem for turning hood.  Turn and press, sewing gap closed.

7.     If not lining, take strip of fabric and sew, right sides together along buttonhole edge.  Turn so the wrong sides are touching, and press.  Baste strip to hood fabric.

8. Measure and add buttonholes along one side of hood. Buttonholes should be perpendicular and ideally about 3/8” away from edge.

9.     Turn under raw edge on other side of opening if the hood is not lined.  Sew buttons to the edge of the hood, as shown in picture above.  It is important that the buttons not be set in, away from the edge, but sewn directly on the edge, otherwise the hood will not fit properly.

10.     Add embellishments if desired!