Easy Way to "Dehoodify" a Hoodie in 5 Steps

Want to KO the hood on your hoodie?

In other words, how to remove an unwanted hood from a hoodie quickly.

First, can someone explain to me why so many fleece garments are made with a hood attached to them? Coats and jackets, I get, but IMHO, a great many fleecies should just be plain sweatshirts and not hoodies. The bulk at the back – that generally goes unused unless you're a wannabe gangster – mostly gets in the way and is just a waste of fabric.

After watching a couple of YouTube videos, I felt comfortable enough to take the scissors to one of my hoodies and do my own thing with it. What I outline here can be done in under an hour, with minimal unpicking and by sewing just two seams.

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Step 1: Mark a Cutting Line

First, place the garment on a flat surface and stack the hood on its side, with its center seam folded and outside edges even. Remove and retain the cord.

Mark a cutting line...

I marked a line 2.5" away from the existing seam, but go ahead and increase that if you want to have more of a cowl-like neckline for your finished garment. (I'd recommend 3" to 4" – or 7.5cm to 10cm – if that's what you're looking for.) I curved the cutting line to match the existing seam for the hood, but you can simply measure a straight line with a ruler, using the highest part of the existing seam as your reference point.

Step 2: Cut Off Hood and Unpick Stitches

Pin both sides of the hood together so that they won't shift when you cut, and then slice away. 

Sliced off and ready to proceed...

Once you open up the collar – which is what it technically is at this point – you may see areas where you'll have to use your seam ripper to remove stitches. (Some hoodies have a vertical seam at the back that will need to be undone in order to separate the two layers of the collar.)

Remove any extra stitching to open up the collar fully...

For this one, I only had to remove the channel stitching beside the button holes where the cording used to pass through upwards.

Step 3: Create a Top Seam

At this point, most instructions will simply tell you to clip or pin a new seam along the top edge of the collar. I decided to accomplish two tasks at once and put the cord back inside at essentially the same time. (I clipped all the way around first to create the desired seam, and then added the cord by removing the clips a section at a time.)

Encase the cord inside the collar as you (re)pin the top seam...

You don't have to do it this way, but I figured why not, as it would save me the trouble of threading the cord through a channel later. 

Cord encased and ready to sew...

If you're confident about not stitching into the cord – you can totally feel where it is as you sew, so it shouldn't be a problem – this will eliminate that bit of work at the end.

As for what seam allowance to use, I went with about 3/8" (1cm) simply because the fleece is rather thick and slippery. Not sure I would have been able to do a 1/4" (6mm), but really, it's not important at all; whatever you choose, just make sure it's even.

Step 4: Sew Top Seam

Put some matching thread into your sewing machine and stitch the top seam, ensuring that you don't sew on the cord if you've put it inside. Sew as close to the edge as is comfortable for your skillset.

One seam down...

Step 5: Create & Sew Channel Seam

If you've encased the cord, use your fingers to push it towards the top seam (that you just sewed) and then pin the collar together underneath it. This is where you'll sew the second seam, effectively creating a channel for the cord.

Note that in my case, the button hole leading into the collar is located high up so that I can simply sew a straight seam for the cord channel. 

Consider the location of the opening for the cord and adjust sewing line if necessary...

If the opening for the cord is located lower, you will have to extend the seamline down along the front opening of the collar to accommodate it, as shown by the black line above.

Once you've sewn that seam, that's all there is to it! 

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Thank you for supporting my indie designer dream...

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Note that you will come across more sophisticated and elaborate methods of eliminating a hood (or for converting a hoodie into something different) if you do a deep dive on YouTube, but they all involve much more work. If all you're looking for is to be rid of the hood, this is the easiest and quickest way to do it.

I'm getting a whole lot more comfortable about cutting up something to alter it. Over the past few weeks, I've cut a zipper out of a jacket and sliced a brand new winch cover in half.

Done in about a half hour!

If you're the sort who is hesitant about taking scissors to clothing, perhaps this would be a good first attempt at doing an alteration. It's certainly not hard and takes under an hour — the perfect project for when you have a "spare" moment to try something different and build up your sewing experience.

'Til next... 🇨🇦🍁