An Easy, Warm Balaclava

Deanna at Wedding Dress Blue posted a tutorial for this nice, warm balaclava.  I was unfamiliar with the term, but when I saw a hood tying tightly around the face with a piece coming up to the nose, I knew it was just what I needed for my three-times-a-day walks in all kinds of weather with my dog, Rusty.

You can find the pattern and tutorial here:

http://weddingdressblue.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/tutorial-balaclava/

The pattern prints out onto 6 sheets of paper which are easily taped together and cut out.  In printing my pattern, I found there was a small gap between the 1st and 2nd rows of paper on the right hand side, but it was easy to see where the cutting line should be.

There’s just one pattern piece to cut out and a simple zigzag stitch to put it together plus a couple of notions – elastic cording and cord stops.  I couldn’t find the single barrel stop Deanna mentions but used Dritz #493-1 2 Cord Stops along with Dritz #9342B Round Cord Elastic (JoAnn’s).  I shortened the cord by about 10 inches for the medium pattern so that the cord stops are on either side of the balaclava, about eye level.

Also, the piece of fleece remnant I picked up was only 22 inches long but worked fine by reducing the cuff to 1-1/2 inches. I had enough left from a 60″ wide piece to make another balaclava if I wish.

I’m sure I’m going to get a lot of use out of the balaclava in the next few months and thank Deanna for the good tutorial.  My youngest daughter served as model.