Completed: A Striped Hoodie (by way of sacrifice)

Man, I love me some hoodies. I wear them year-round – even in the summer (because some people like to crank their a/c up to “frigid,” eep). I love how a well-fitted, soft hoodie can be the most comfortable piece of clothing in my closet. Here’s my sacred secret, though: my go-to hoodie was a ratty pile of SHAME. I really did wear it for everything – from cleaning the bathroom to keeping warm on a drafty airplane – and it showed. It showed in the form of faded, pilled black, bleach spots, paint stains, ratty edges, and a giant hole at the neckline (that was from a fight. Also, that’s all I’m going to say about that). I loved the way it fit, which is why I kept it long after it’s sad sorry state should have sent it to Hoodie Heaven (that’s my other sacred secret: I don’t repair my ratty clothing. That hole stayed in the neckline for OVER 6 YEARS. Yeah!!).

Sooo I ripped it up and made me a new hoodie, using the old one as a pattern!

HA!

It has a pocket!

Scratch that, two pockets!!

I’m afraid I don’t have a pattern to share, as I literally ripped up my ratty-ass hoodie and traced each piece onto paper, adding 3/8″ seam allowance. I didn’t make any changes to the pattern as I liked the way the hoodie fit pre-rip. And boy, did that hoodie want to be ripped up – the pieces were falling apart in my hands. Damn!

You’ll notice my stripes don’t *exactly* match up – on one side, and also at the top of the zipper. That’s ok, I’m not totally heartbroken over it. This is what happens when you push yourself to finish a project long after the mojo has dried up – you get sloppy. Usually, I put everything away and try to revisit the next day with a fresh outlook. I was cold, though, and since my hoodie was laying in pieces on the cutting table… I soldiered on. At the expense of a little stripe-matching, but hey, shit happens.

Sorry about the wayward stripe over my rear – it’s straight, promise!

Figuring out the order of construction required a little forethought, since the length of certain areas (the neckline where the hood fits, the front where the zipper goes) need to be pretty precise. In case you are thinking about traveling down the same path of hoodie rebirth, here’s the direction I took:
1. Sew band to pockets, attach pockets to front
2. Sew front to back at shoulders
3. Insert sleeves
4. Sew up side seams
5. Sew hood seam, attach band to front
6. Sew hood to neckline
7. Attach bottom band
8. Insert zipper
9. Attach sleeve cuffs

Not too hard! It’s just like sewing a tshirt (in fact, I bet one could use the Renfrew pattern as a jumping off point, although you’d have to raise the neckline), just with an added zipper and hood If you are adding a hood, make sure the measurement of the bottom of the hood (where it attaches to the neckline) is the same as the measurement of the entire circumference of the neckline, minus the zipper. Otherwise, it won’t sit right!

Oh yeah, mine does have a hood!

Man, you can really see my mismatched stripes here. I’m sorry.

The pockets have the usual knit band at the top (cut slightly shorter than the measurement, then stretched to fit), topstitched with a twin needle. I sewed the zipper in using the twin needle because I liked the way it looks – we’ll see how well that holds up, since it’s not usually the strongest seam Surprisingly, the zipper went in quite easily and I didn’t have to stabilize the seam like I thought I would. My knit was pretty stable, it might not work as well with really stretchy fabrics. If you are having trouble getting your zipper lump-free, sewing on a piece of ribbon or even fusing a stripe of interfacing really helps, fyi!

Oh yeah, I reused the zipper from the old hoodie! What’s old is new again, or some shit.

Just for fun – I stabilized the shoulders seams with neon yellow twill tape, and added a little cycling tag. Aw I miss my bike! Summer, where are youuuuu

Ok, now I’m going to show you some shots of my sorry old hoodie. Don’t you dare judge me.

Bleach, paint, and weakened seams. You can’t tell too well in this picture, but the sleeve band was so ratty it was all split and frayed.

The rip I never repaired. And look at how dull that black is! Yeech!

This is so, so much better ♥

NOTE: Today is the last day for the Drape Drape Giveaway! I will be closing the entries at midnight, so get yer comment in!

Completed: A Stripey Tiramisu

It’s no secret that I love knits – I love sewing them and I love wearing them. Sometimes when life throws you a big shit sack full of bummer, the only way to get back on the horse is with a good ol’ TNT. All knits are TNT as far as I’m concerned (so. freaking. forgiving!), but I especially love my purple Tira, because it goes the extra step of actually looking pulled together. Which is nice, especially when you just wanna feel like you’re wearing comfy pajamas.

As much as I love purple, though, it’s pretty winter and no duh I need a stripey summer Tiramisu now, right? No shame, I totally ripped off both Steph AND Penelope, because I am shameless and awesome and secretly hoping we can be twins(triplets?). Ladies, pls.

Anyway, who doesn’t love stripes?! It’s like wearing a circus ON MY BODY.

This fabric is from the giant sale at my local fabric store, where I totally cleaned up last month. I actually have this stuff in black/white stripes too (and I think I bought some crazy amount, like 4 yards of it haha). It’s so stripey and soft and awesome. It’s also kind of not really suitable for this kind of dress; it’s VERY stretchy, 4 ways, and super drapey. I had to make a few changes to the pattern to get it to work – which ended up ok in the end, but please heed my warning: you need something more stable for this dress, unless you want to futz with the fit all night like I did.

Still, it turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself! And it looks so good with my new shoes

Anyway, let’s talk about the changes I made:
- I reduced the size of the bust to a C on the pattern tissue, but once I basted the top together to test the fit, it was still a bit low (as the fabric was pulling under it’s own weight. And this was before the skirt was attached!). I removed another 3/4″ from the underbust, although looking at these pictures, I could’ve stood to remove a little more.
- I reduced the waist by 3/4″ before sewing; once sewn up I had to take in the side seams another 1/2″ or so. I’m telling you – this fabric is soo stretchy!
- I shortened the neck and arm bands and stretched them to fit when I sewed them on; without stretching, they would have ended up floppy.
- I shortened the hem twice – first hacked about 3.5″ off the pattern tissue, then another 2″ when the dress was sewn up as the skirt had stretched under it’s own weight.
- I left out the pockets – I feel like they add a lot of bulk with fabric like this.

I tried to match up the stripes, but I didn’t do the best job. They match up on this side…

… but not the other side. This is partially because the fabric was a PAIN IN THE ASS to cut (so shifty!), and partially because I had to keep sucking in the side seams after the dress was finished, to get it to fit. Also, please note that the waistband is not cut straight. Again, shifty fuckin fabric.

The shoulder seams also do not completely match up. Oh well!

Despite my problems with the fabric, the gape factor is pretty non-existent:


I think the key to this is shortening the bands and stretching them to fit the neckline. It kind of sucks everything in, and allows it to curve to your body.

If you have your heart set on sewing this pattern with a very drapey fabric, make sure you are vigilant about pressing every seam. It really makes a huge difference, especially on the bands.

Sorry about all the loose threads; I had literally just finished the dress before I took the pictures

Now then, let’s have a bit of Spring up in here, pls?