Custom bugaboo cameleon hood tutorial

My most popular post is the Kinda tutorial I did for the Custom Bugaboo Cameleon hood.  I have since made an effort to take better photos of other hoods that I have done.

So anyway here is what I have compiled.

First of all, there are different kinds of hoods you can make.  I have done a single layer canopy, as well is the most common and they way the actual bugaboo hoods are made, double layer canopy.  The single layer canopy is awesome because you can use less fabric!  I will post both ways for you here :-)

What you will need besides sewing machine and thread:

Fabric: 2.5  yards           double wide bias binding
Pins                                1/4" elastic
Scissors

*For a hood with 2 layers with a print and a coordinating solid I would get 1.5 yards of the print and 1 yard of the solid.  I only had a yard of the print though, and I made it work so you can get away with just a yard of each, equaling just 2 yards of fabric total.

Step 1: Create your template.  I did this by placing my fabric over my current hood and pinned it into place.

In this photo I am going to trace the back panel of the canopy.  I draped my fabric, pinned it down, and with a water soluble pen, marked along the seams by feeling along the whole seam and staying in that little groove.  When I cut it out, I cut about a quarter of an inch away from the line that I drew.

After the back panel was cut out I did the same with the front panel.  In the front I did fold the fabric under so I got a nice exact fit and marked all along the seam and the edge of the front of the canopy.  Again, I used a water soluble pen so with a little water it comes right off.  I cut a quarter inch away from line again.

Once those 2 pieces are cut out,  used what was left on my fabric to trace the back piece that wraps around the top of the seat.  I used the same method and marked in the seam lines while the hood was on the seat.  I cut out my piece, making sure to leave a quarter inch seam allowance away from the line i marked.

Now its time to cut the second layer of fabric.  This is going to my underside of the hood.  My print is on the outside and the solid is on the inside.  For this I place my panels on top of my solid lining fabric and just cut the same exact shapes out.  The panel with the point edge is the back and the panel with the rounded edge is the front panel.

Now you need to cut the stripes that the plastic of the canopy will be inserted into to give the hood its shape. For this you will use the solid fabric, or under layer fabric.  It is important that you cut along the curve of the front panel.

 I didn't do that to begin with and cut straight strips.  That was a mistake.  The strips need to be curved along the curve of the canopy.  I just used one side and marked each strip to be 2 inches wide and 5 inches shorted then the end of the hood.   This will insure they lay flat with you sew them on.
Now everything you need is cut out and you can begin your sewing.  First I sewed the ends of my strips by folding over twice.

Once all your strips have nice sewn edges, go ahead and sew them to the inside panel on each side.  First I sewed the the outside edges with non matching thread because it wont be visible and then I sewed the inside edges.  The inside edges will be seen, so the top stitch thread should match well.

After the strips that make the casings are top stitched down you put the right sides together like so and sew along one edge.  I sewed along the side with will be joined to the back panel.

This is where I got sew happy and didn't take any pictures.  So I made sure to take pictures of a different hood I was making to better describe the process :-)  Below is how the one side is sewn rights sides together and one edge is left free.

 Flip it so right side are out and the wrong sides are together.

 Do the same process for the other side along the seam that will join the front and back panel and this is what you get.  A good pressing of those seams so they lay flat will help with the next step.

Once they are pressed and laying flat, go ahead and line those up and sew that together.

Next step is the bias binding.  First you will want to bind the little back piece that holds the canopy to the back of the seat.  Sew the binding all along the bottom.  You can go ahead and line that up with the back of the canopy and sew with the right sides together.

Now you will bind the inside seam of the canopy all along the inside of the hood.  That will incase the edges inside and make it pretty.  From there you are ready to start the bias binding going all the way round the canopy.

When you start the bias binding you will start from the back and encase the raw edge that holds the canopy to the seat.  Start there and work your way around the canopy until you get to where you will sew the elastic in.  Mark the spots on your binding and sew the elastic to the binding and then proceed to attach the binding the rest of the way across the front of the canopy.  Do the same with the other side when you come close to where the elastic needs to be attached.

Now you are done!

So, if you want to make a single layer canopy you just sew the encasing strips to the canopy and thats the only difference.

You can just barely see the line of stitching for the casings.  Personally I prefer the single layer because its quick and easy and using half the fabric!

I hope you enjoyed this post, please feel free to ask any questions is something isn't quite clear. :-)