In the original version of the fairy tale we know as Little Red Riding Hood, a dear little girl was given a little cap of red velvet by her grandmother. It “suited her so well that she would never wear anything else, so she was always called ‘Little Red-Cap’.”
The story, originally published in German as Rotkäppchen (Little Red-Cap) was included in a collection of Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children’s and Household Tales) by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in 1812.
I was thinking about Little Red-Cap while sewing my latest project which, admittedly, isn’t red or a cap. But it is a hood with an attached scarf―often referred to as a scoodie (scarf + hoodie). I made it for an upcoming trip to Germany where, by happy coincidence, we’ll be passing through the town of Hanau where the Brothers Grimm spent their early childhood.
Scoodies are often knitted or crocheted from yarn but I chose to sew mine from fleece fabric. The basic construction was simple thanks to the Hoodie Scarf pattern and instructions Mad Cap Hats has generously shared online (see More Info section below for details). Special thanks to Tori at Mad Cap Hats for permission to share her work!
The Hoodie Scarf is designed to be made from fleece fabric such as polar fleece or blizzard fleece. These fabrics are available in a multitude of colors and patterns so there are countless design options. Plus, the front edge of the hood is designed as a separate piece making it easy to trim the hood with faux fur, deep pile fleece or contrasting colored fleece.
True to form, I decided to jazz up my scoodie with one-of-a-kind embellishments. A plain, light background makes the design stand out. Specifically, I chose these two fabrics from Joann:
. Debossed Checkerboard Sew Lush Fleece Fabric in cream for the hood trim (shown left). Only ¼ yard of the 57” wide fabric was needed.
. Luxe Fleece Fabric Solid, which Joann describes as their “premier fleece option … the epitome of warmth and coziness” in ivory for the main fabric (shown right). About ¾ yard of the 59” wide fabric was needed.
After considering a number of options, I chose to apply a simple leaf and flower pattern with felt applique and embroidery. The design was inspired by some special occasion, embroidered fabric spotted at the fabric store.
Fabric which does not fray, such as fleece and felt, is ideal for making applique cutouts. So, I used the felt left over from the project shown below―a pretty pincushion in a heirloom cup and saucer (see Teacup Pincushion – DIY Tutorial for step-by-step instructions).
This simple color palette, with only subdued greens and deep blues, worked well with the uncomplicated design.
The felt, purchased from Prairie Point Junction, contains wool which makes it a better quality than most craft felt. These pieces are a blend of 35% wool and 65% rayon. In comparison, the premier fleece I chose for the scoodie is 100% polyester. The mix of fiber content made it necessary to ensure the fabrics could be laundered together without any negative impacts.
Wool tends to shrink so that was my biggest concern. A secondary consideration was the possibility of the colors running. A quick test done by laundering sample squares of fabric in the same way I intended to wash the finished scoodie―wash on the delicate cycle and lay flat to air dry―answered my questions. Shown below is the outcome of my laundering test―there was no change to the fleece and there was no color transference. But the felt definitely shrunk. As a result, I pre-washed all the felt for this project.
Having selected all the materials for my scoodie, it was time to finalize the approach and sequence of construction. The scoodie is made with three basic pieces―hood trim, hood and scarf. Here’s a peek at the Mad Cap Hats pattern (again, please see More Info section below for links).
I chose to modify the pattern slightly by lengthening the scarf and adding pockets to the ends of the scarf. The extra length allows the scarf to be wrapped around my neck twice while the pockets will be convenient when the scarf is worn open. The pockets also hide the back (unfinished side) of the applique work.
As designed, the scarf piece was cut across the width of the fleece fabric resulting in a long narrow strip about 6” wide x 59” long. I cut three additional pieces of fleece:
. ONE 6” x 18” to lengthen the scarf
. TWO 6” x 8 ½” for pockets.
The additional 18” piece was simply inserted into the center of the 59” piece. The pockets were sewn onto the backside of the scarf ends by attaching them along 3 sides with a decorative blanket stitch. Here’s a preview of the finished appliqued scoodie with my phone tucked into one of the pockets.
TIP: Working with fleece is messy―little, fluffy bits go everywhere! An easy way to reduce the mess is to take your cut pieces outdoors and give them a good shake!
Mad Cap Hats conveniently shares instructions for their Hoodie Scarf in a YouTube video. I followed the steps as outlined but stopped midway through to apply the applique design.
Specifically, I sewed the hood and attached the hood trim but did not attach the scarf at this point. I also inserted the additional piece to lengthen the scarf but did not yet sew on the pockets. So, the starting point for the applique work was an assembled hood and an extra-long scarf.
There are 16 pieces in the leaves and flowers applique design so it was helpful to number them individually. I printed a second paper copy of the pattern and cut out the various parts. Then pinned the small pieces to felt and cut them out carefully. The entire leaves and flowers motif is repeated four times on the scoodie―one on each side of the hood and one on each end of the scarf.
To position the individual applique leaves on the fleece hood and scarf, I found it easiest to pin the full paper pattern into place. Then, gradually roll back the paper pattern and position, pin and sew one felt leaf at a time. The flowers were added after all the leaves and stems were stitched.
A simple outline stitch (aka stem stitch) sewn down the center of the felt leaves worked well. Detailed instructions for an outline stitch can be found in my previous blog post Hello Marvelous Photo Embroidery – DIY Tutorial under Step 6 Stitch Photo.
After the individual leaves were sewn in place, I created stems between the leaves with an outline stitch. Leaves and stems do not need to connect where the flowers will be placed.
There are three flowers in the design. In the Teacup Pincushion – DIY Tutorial blog post I refer to them as the “daisy form row of petals flower”.
The below image was copied from that post. Detailed instructions can be found in that tutorial under Step 6 Sew #3 Daisy Form Row of Petals Flower.
The only difference between the flower pictured above and those I made for the appliqued scoodie is the flower center. Instead of making it with yellow felt, I used a narrow strip of ivory fleece and securely sewed the ends to the back of the felt daisy.
The daisies were stitched onto the scoodie with small stitches hidden underneath the petals. After all the leaves, stems and flowers were sewn in place, I finished the edges of the scarf with a contrasting blanket stitch.
The below image was copied from my previous blog post Stitched Wooden Bowl – DIY Tutorial. Detailed instructions for this blanket stitch can be found in that tutorial under Step 10 Finish Top Edge.
The blanket stitch around the ends of the scarf also serves to attach the pockets.
The final step was to attach the scarf to the hood as explained in the Mad Cap Hats video.
Here it is! My one-of-a-kind Appliqued Scoodie.
And here it is, modelled by Willow (a digital stamp from Pink Gem Designs), in the golden light of early morning.
More Info
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Previous blog posts mentioned in today’s blog post include:
. Teacup Pincushion – DIY Tutorial
. Hello Marvelous Photo Embroidery – DIY Tutorial
. Stitched Wooden Bowl – DIY Tutorial.
The following unique products are featured in this blog post:
. Mad Cap Hats’ Hoodie Scarf pattern and instructions which are available for free here on their website. Special thanks again to Tori for permission to share her work!
. Willow Digital Stamp by Janet Roberts of Pink Gem Designs on Etsy.
The following major supplies were used for this project:
. Fleece fabric purchased in person at Joann―similar products are available here on their website
. Wool blend felt purchased online from Prairie Point Junction.
The following books and articles were consulted in the writing of this blog post:
. Children’s and Household Tales Collected by The Brothers Grimm Complete Edition with All 250 Stories in English, Dutch, German published by Lord Henfield in 2022 which is available here on Internet Archives
. Various Wikipedia entries.
Today’s Takeaways
1. A scoodie is a piece of winter headgear combining a scarf and hoodie.
2. A wealth of quality creative resources, including designs, patterns and instructions, can be found online at little to no charge.
3. Consider embellishing ordinary winter accessories such as scoodies, hats, scarfs and mittens.
