Marie Stuart Cashmere Hood

From the stash:
1. 1/2 to 1 yard of irregularly shaped remnants of brown wool, originally from making a medieval half circle cloak
2. 1/2 yard of bias cut strips of copper silk dupioni, from large uncut piece

The hood was an alternative headwear option of the 1860s. Bonnets were mostly for daywear and hats were something the more daring younger ladies were wearing. Hoods are often seen as a nightime head accessory for things such as attending the opera. There are several hood patterns from Peterson's Magazine that are reprinted in 60 Civil War Era Fashion Patterns.

As for other patterns of the times, women were supposed to already have a basic understanding of the construction of these clothing items. Therefore the text mostly instructs the user on the colors and materials that are currently fashionable, rather than detailed construction methods.

I enlarged the pattern using an opaque projector. As has happened with other Peterson's patterns I could not get all the measurements to come out correctly, I suspect that some of the drawings in the magazine are not to scale. I then used some 1 inch square interfacing to draw out the pattern. Some fusing was required but overall the pattern is very simple and the neck shaping is accomplished by sewing a casing and drawstring at the neckline.

The decoration is gathered strips of copper silk cut on the bias. I used my scalloped rotary cutter to make the edges more interesting.