Making hood patterns

I have been busy working on some new domina hood designs lately, with a variety of inspirations. The first idea I had was to design something that referenced a police hat visor. It is a look I love, and that Mark Jacobs even showed on his runway models for Louis Vuitton recently. I know some might not think that it would be appropriate for a dom, because it could be seen as a sort of blindfold. But I just love the idea anyway, and controlling your sub's ability to see where you are looking is kind of cool. And who knows, maybe it will just become a submissive hood instead?


The next idea I had was: why do eye holes need to be so big? When the opening is close to the eye, you can actually see pretty well with a small opening. I starting doing sketches, and realized this was a pretty good description of eskimo eyewear, which is used by people to cut down the blinding light and glare from snow-covered environments. It's another take on controlling a slave's abilities to see where his domina is looking. Plus, the thin slits look pretty cool, and allows the shape and placement of the opening to become another design element.
The last idea I sketched out was a more traditional half-hood, sort of like something you'd use on a Falcon, with a pony-tail opening at the top.

Since I wanted to make several prototypes, I took the opportunity to use a variety of leathers in order to proof the pattern in each one. The thickness, softness, and stretchieness of leather all affect how a pattern will fit.
I was using zippers on these as well, as it is easier to set 3 zips vs. 36 grommets.
I assemble hoods in 2 sections: front and back. Then, once they are complete, the 2 halves are joined together at the midseam.
The patent leather hood looked particularly cool inside-out. You can see from the photo I was playing with the placement of the reinforcement around the eye opening. One is on the inside, one is sewn to the outside. Just trying out different looks.
I ended up making an open-mouth hood without eye openings of a pretty heavy leather. Definitely a submissive hood.
And here we have our final trio: Open-mouth submissive hood in heavy leather, slit-eyed domina hood in shiny, stretchy patent, and a visor hood in black lamb.
Unfortunately, these hoods didn't last very long, as they are tried on once, and cut up to assist in the refinement of the pattern. Nothing replaces the feedback you get from actually making a prototype in the material of your choice - all the fit problems pop out right away. These transitory prototypes are integral to my process of making tight-fitting hoods.