How to Make a Leather Hood

Leather jackets and coats are generally quite useful for protection from inclement weather. One major feature that they rarely include, however, is a hood, forcing wearers to use an umbrella or other means to keep their heads dry. Fortunately, a basic leather hood is not difficult to make. Attach the hood to your leather jacket for better protection from the elements.

Select an appropriate leather for a hood. To prevent the hood from being heavy and stiff, use a soft, thin garment leather. Choose a leather that has already been dyed and treated, rather than tooling leather, which will permanently show any marks made on it.

Cut out a rectangle of leather 10 inches wide by 16 inches long. The smooth side of both the rectangle and the rest of the material should be facing down.

Cut off the top right corner of the rectangle and curve it so that the top and right sides have a smooth curve joining them rather than a hard corner.

Flip the rectangle over and lay it on the leather material. The rectangle should be laying on the material rough side to rough side.

Trace around the rectangle with a pen and cut the traced shape out. Try to make the new rectangle as perfectly identical to the first as possible, but slipped so that, if both are smooth-side up, the curved corners are on opposite sides.

Place the two pieces smooth side to smooth side against one another and line the edges up.

Sew the top and back sides (the sides connected by the curve) together with linen thread. Sew these edges together tightly, using small stitches, to maximize the hood's ability to protect against the weather.

Turn the hood inside out so that the smooth side is facing outward.

Fold the outermost 1/2 inch of the front edge in on itself into the hood and sew it in place to hem it. The hood is now done and is ready to be sewn onto a jacket or other upper garment.