Scood / Skood / Barf

A few days ago, I got a sudden, strong urge to own a beanie or hood-thing with attached scarf. 

I had no idea where to start - what are these things called? After some googling, it emerged that they go by the charming "barf" (beanie-scarf) or scood/skood (hooded scarf).

I'd seen some cool ones at the Rose Street Artist's Market off Brunswick Street, but I couldn't spend the $50+ (although I'm sure the cost is more than justified). So I decided to make one. 

I've always been wary of sewing machines, probably because they haven't really featured much in my life. They just seem counter-intuitive to my way of thinking, which basically means I have no idea how they work, and therefore they are unpredictable and liable to hurt me. Perils include getting stabbed with needles, mysterious knots and extra pieces of thread that emerge out of nowhere from the lower-thread-thing, daunting-looking diagrams and potentially ending up with something that makes a cruel mockery of the glorious concept I have in my mind. 

It therefore took some courage on my part to dig out my Mum's old machine, cart it to my house, read the manual and get it functioning, without any external coaching. 

Anyway, the end result was very gratifying! I may be a sewing convert yet!

I made a reversible scood with a Japanese-inspired print on one side, and some purple tracksuit type material on the reverse. 

I'd tried to find a pattern on the 'net - not that I have any idea how to use a pattern - but I couldn't find one, so I traced the hood part of a tracksuit top onto newspaper (praise broadsheets! You couldn't make THIS with the Herald-Sun), then added a scarf. I then pinned that onto the two layers of fabric and cut it out. Then I sewed it on the reverse side, leaving a gap at the base of the back of the head to turn it inside out. 

To jazz up the finished product, I cut out circles of the fabric and made badges with my trusty badge machine and pinned them on.  

Ta da!