Spotty Hoodies

Warning: dots overload!

Finished Emily's hoodies a couple of days ago. Emily wore them to school immediately so I didn't get to photograph them till yesterday, by which time she'd already gotten wood shavings (don't ask) all over one of them. 

I bought these two spotted fabrics knowing that I would have to find a way to break up the print or be driven a bit blind each time I looked at them. All those dots are cute for a blanket, a towel, a tote for storing toys or possibly PJ pants but as a top they were trouble. I don't know how to explain it - it's just something about busy print near a person's face that looks crazy. Is this just me? Prolly.

So two cunning strategies to break up the print:

1. Deliberately NOT match print at the seams. With crazy dots like these, it's very easily accomplished! However, because I always like matching print at seams, I had to fight the bile rising in my throat just to think about it. 
2. Add solids. But not so much that it looks even busier and Picasso-esque than before.

This first hoodie is an unlined pullover. 

It has raglan sleeves

with solid white trim (which I shoulda pressed but didn't).

It has a single central unlined kangaroo pocket.

I left this hoodie unlined because it was a pullover, not a jacket. One commentor to a previous post asked about sewing fleece jumpers and whether they should be lined. My mental question back was, "Define jumper?" It depends on which country one is writing from: in the US, jumpers are overall/pinafore type garments and in the UK, they are also knitted pullover sweaters. Some factors to consider:

• If you need it to be warm, line it.
• If it means otherwise sewing facings for the neckline and armholes, line it.
• If you want it to hang well and have some weight (rather than cling to the inner garments and have to continually be pulled down when worn), line it.

These are not sewing rules, incidentally; they're just what I would do personally.

So as I was saying, this particular pullover is not lined. It therefore came together more quickly but it meant serging the seams and twill-taping the inner neckline, which I discovered was abominable. Only attempt this if you have a coverlocker; otherwise, you might pull your hair out trying to get simultaneously even edgestitching on the twill tape AND back of the hood while sewing on the front. Check out my deplorable edgestitching - shudder.

Since there was no lining, all the hems were serged and then folded and stitched - sleeves

and bottom.

Emily absolutely loves this blue hoodie. She's worn it indoors and out, all day.

Hoodie #2 took a fair bit longer because it was lined and because it needed a lot of solid-grafting to detract from its pink-and-dots-all-over-ness.

Like this wide band at the bottom hem, with white trim around the pocket opening. 

See this post for the tutorial on making these lined-and-self-bound pockets.

Also white sleeve cuffs, folded in to meet the lining. Can you see all the wood shavings on this hoodie? Unlike with Jenna's hoodie, I remembered to sew the cuffs before sewing up the whole garment! So no need for hand-stitching - pats on the back! 

The hood was also trimmed in white where it framed the face

and the entire knit lining is white.

Here is the hoodie being modeled. Emily specifically requested "very long sleeves, please".

The sequence for construction is the same as for Emily's hoodie from last year. So head on to that post if you want to know how to put a reversible hoodie together (just remember to buy truly reversible zippers; I didn't because none available matched this fabric). 

I think I've finally - after vigorously resisting - come to terms with the idea that I might have to sew many of Emily's basic garments just because she's so lanky. Take swimsuits, for instance - no store-bought suit fits her. She loves her lone Mom-made one and wears it exclusively, in spite of owning one other Speedo, so that it is now dangerously thin and translucent. And now this hoodie - in order to fit her shoulders and arms, a store-bought one would have been too balloony around her torso. Mom-made would resolve all this, obviously - a perfect money- and sanity-saving solution, if not for the the expense of time to draft, cut and sew it all up! I used to see myself as The Formalwear Seamstress - you know, the one who will make the prom dresses, the costumes for the school play, the wedding gown. I never imagined I might also have to be She Who Sews The Tshirts, Running Shorts And (heaven forbid) Underwear.

But then.......... there's the happy smile and the gleeful dance, punctuated by ecstatic shouts of how soft this is and how great the pockets are. And then there's me, checking from all angles, scowling and scrutinizing how it sits on Emily's body before exhaling and saying, "Yes. Finally - something that fits as if it were made for you (which it was) and not, say, your 10-year-old neighbor." So okay... sometimes Mom-made might be a little bit better than store-bought. But just a little. Grrrr. By the way, and just so you know, I'm drawing the line at underwear.  

Speaking of underwear, the girls might be superheroes this Halloween. Specifically, Wonder Woman. They all want to be Wonder Woman. All three of them! Have you seen her outfit? It's like spray-painted foundation garments. In frigid Minnesota?? Come on!!!! 

And speaking of superheroes, the husband and I watched The Avengers. I am quite upset that they bashed Loki up. My Loki!!!! Sniff. True, he was an idiot  megalomaniac and psychological nutcase, going around murdering random people in the name of world domination (try cardboard instead, dude!) but he had the best accent of the lot! And was the best dressed! Argh!