How to Add a Hood to Almost Anything

I have a secret. For months, I’ve been stocking up on any Christmas-y clothing I’ve found for $1 while thrifting.

Tacky Christmas sweaters, shirts, vests, and the dress below have all been fair game in this side quest of mine.

I was originally planning on reselling these to Ugly Christmas Sweater Partiers at a holiday market. Then the pandemic hit, which effectively killed that scheme.

Oh well! I suppose that just means I’m going to have to subject you all to a few holiday refashions!

Remember this fabulous Ugly Christmas Sweater Gown I made that one time?

When I put this dress on, I was amazed at just how very soft and comfortable it was. It’s made of a nice sweatshirt-type fabric.

The label gave me a chuckle, as in my ad agency days I used to do search engine marketing for this brand.

For a moment I was tempted to just curl up on the couch and take a nap, enveloped in the warm folds of my frumpy Christmas dress.

But only for a moment.

After some thought, I decided I wanted to refashion this dress into a hooded minidress.

The original neckline for this dress felt a little stifling, so I cut it right above where the ribbing was sewn in to widen it a bit and left the edge raw.

I cut off some of the fabric from the bottom.

I was very careful of exactly how much fabric I cut. I needed to make sure I’d have enough fabric to make a hood, but leave the dress with enough length to still be worn as a dress after I took the sides in a little.

I put my dress on my dress form inside-out and pinned the sides.

I still wanted it to be loose and cozy, so I didn’t take it in very much.

You can see how I left the sleeves pretty blousy too.

After both sides were evenly pinned, I sewed them down.

After taking my dress in, I tried it on again to check the length and decided to trim off just a bit more.

I didn’t care for those buttons on the skirt of the dress, so I picked them off with my seam ripper.

Don’t worry! I didn’t toss them out. They’re now chilling in my button stash until it’s time to use them on something else!

Since the buttons were the only things holding the front of the dress together, I pinned it back together and sewed it down.

I folded the bottom hem under once and pinned it.

Then, I sewed my new hem down.

I also took a moment to take the sleeve cuffs in a little bit to enhance the slightly blousy look I was going for.

Now for the hood!

I grabbed a hoodie out of my closet that I liked the fit of, laid it over my bottom scrap, and traced it in chalk.

You can see I drew my chalk line slightly outside of my template. That’s my seam allowance.

You can also see how I’m taking advantage of that bottom hem by making it the hem of the front of my hood to save myself a step.

I cut out the two pieces of my future hood (since the scrap fabric is doubled over).

Then, I pinned them together, front sides facing each other.

I stitched the two pieces together.

Then, I turned my dress inside-out and attached the hood to the neck, centering it from the back.

I sewed my new hood in.

Now I have a cozy new hoodie dress that’s just perfect for a relaxing dinner with Mr. Refashionista!

This was my first night out of the house since my most recent chemo treatment, so I styled my new dress with comfy Uggs. Don’t judge me.

Check out my DIY hood!

And yes…that’s a new pixie wig!

I think my new hood and the shorter length really updates this dress!

I took my elfin ensemble out for a rooftop dinner with Mr. Refashionista!

Cheers!