[Tehra]

I made this jacket last fall as a rain coat and had a little trouble with the hood. I could not get the side pieces of the hood to match up well with the center pieces. It matched from the front to the first notch, but after that the center piece seemed to be too small. It turned out fine and seam allowances hid the errors, but I am wondering if there is a trick to sewing this that I might not know. I am going to make a wool coat for my daughter in the next size up and I am hoping that I can figure this out as it was the only issue that I encountered. If anyone has any advice, I would love to hear it! Thank you!

[Liesl Gibson]

It really has to do with clipping into the seam allowances on the center panel. Since one piece is curved and the other is quite straight, you’ll need to release the seam allowances so the center panel can contour to the same curve as the side panels of the hood. The seam line for both pieces is the same length–it’s just that the seam allowances on the center panel make the piece seem shorter. Give it a try; I think once you’ve clipped into the seam allowances by about 3/8″ on a regular basis you’ll find that it fits ok.

[Tehra]

Thank you! I will let you know if I am more successful this time around!

[rachel]

i also found that it helped a lot to cut out the center hood piece *off* of the fold, using the whole piece on the pattern vs on the fold using half of the piece. the one i cut on the fold came out a bit wonky for some reason.

[Tehra]

I just wanted to let you know that it worked! I actually used my fabric marker to draw the half inch seam allowance on the center piece. Then I cut like crazy up to the line. It all matched up. The last time I just made a few “V” cuts in it like it was pictured in the instructions. This worked out much better for me. Thank you for answering me Liesl. There was a blog that you tweeted about recently that made a statement about how Oliver+S pattern were a little more expensive, but would you be able to get help from the designer for those other cheap patterns? I think not!! In case no one has told you yet today, you are awesome!

[Liesl Gibson]

Always a pleasure, Tehra. Thanks for your nice reply!