MY-S-Cap Snoods

     In 2012 I created a new turban design for MySCap.     Making it was the easy part.  Giving it an appropriate name was much more of a challenge.   As with naming my two sons, I tried out many different names….. taking months to finally have the perfect name pop up.

      This design needed a name that would convey a bandana look in the front, yet a closed-in look in the back.    I thought of using the term “bustle” like ones seen in French impressionist painting.   The design puffed out in the back and was flat in the front, and so was a “bustle”.  The more I thought about it, the more I didn’t think the image of having a “bustle” on your head would be very appealing.  “Bouffant” was my next choice, which I did use for a while.   The problem was that a “bouffant” reminded me more of a shower cap, but it was the best word I could find at the time.

     Out of desperation, I expressed my dilemma to my dear etsy penpal/fellow artist at SoftShelterHats      She suggested “Snood”.    I had never heard of the term before, so I decided to look it up.   To my shock and delight the image that I pulled up was my design!    I found the correct name at last!

     Historically a snood is a type of headwear that looks like a bandana in the front, yet is closed in the back to contain the hair of a young unmarried Scotland or Northern England peasant girl while she went around doing her daily work.    Snoods were and are made today using cloth and yarn.     It is a very practical design.  Put it on and forget it!

      You will see snoods made out of beautiful macramé designs.  Since every turban/headwear item listed on MySCap is made first with a cancer patient in mind, they are made out of soft usually jersey rayon blend knit.    The ladies that purchase the snoods on MySCap, share the same needs as the young peasant girls, plus they are dealing with other issues such as chemo therapy, alopecia, other hair issues, a full time job, raising a family etc.    They need a design that they can “put on and forget it” and still feel pretty!   The last thing they want to deal with is adjusting their headwear.

     Every snood that is listed on MySCap has to past my “feel good” test.   I literally close my eyes and feel the fabric’s softness and weight.   Each snood weighs less than 2oz or 1/8^th of a pound.   I believe a feather might weigh more.   Once the fabric makes it into my home it must pass the second test, which is the washing machine and dryer.     All of MySCap’s fabric is prewashed, to remove any chemicals, dyes etc., and to eliminate shrinkage.

     With over 500 snoods sold, I feel that it is a design that works!   Presently over 150 different snoods are listed at www.myscap.etsy.com.    I only make a small number of each offering.    I do this because for one thing I would go crazy stitching up the same fabric over and over, plus I love working with different fabrics.