I love sweatshirts. My favorite outfit, that I would wear every day if it were cool enough, is jeans and a sweatshirt. We are taking a little road trip to Montana this week, and I really didn’t need one more thing to do, but I knew I had some grey French terry in my stash. And, I knew a sweatshirt really wouldn’t take long to sew. I don’t even know if I’m procrastinating on something else, which is usually the case when I decide to make something right before a trip.

I started searching on Instagram, which is my favorite place to find new garment patterns, and ran across the Hug Hoodie by MadeIt Patterns. I was drawn to MadeIt Pattern’s modern, fun children’s patterns awhile back, but I don’t really have a little to sew for anymore. You should go look, if you like funky, modern patterns.

I wasn’t really sure if I would like the angled waist on the Hug Hoodie, but since I have tried to stop overthinking my projects and just dive in, I decided to give it a go. It’s just fabric, after all, and a little time.

Overall, the pattern is really well written, and easy to follow. I think even with the blunder when I thought I knew the next step and ended up having to pick out a seam, it took less than 2 hours. I have an old Bernina serger, which speeds things up when sewing with knits, for sure. I also had some really nice ribbing yardage, in 2 shades of blue, that I picked up for a song at Goodwill last winter.

During construction, I got a wild hair, that I should dunk the grey sweatshirt fabric into my indigo bucket. I’ve been playing with Indigo from Dharma Trading. It’s just the kit they sell, but I’m already so hooked, it’s not funny; not as hooked as my niece, who just extracted her own indigo from plants that she grew. Amazing!

I skipped putting on the cuffs, and finished the construction, including the hood; I had some beautiful navy and white knit from a t-shirt that I made, which I used to line the hood. I zigzagged the raw edges of the sleeves to keep them neat, and dunked the whole thing in my indigo bucket. That was a good call. My dyeing experience is very, very amateur and can be generally summed up with this phrase, “let’s see what happens.” I really wasn’t worried about the possibility of it ending up uneven, since I like the distressed sweatshirt look.

After I dyed, washed, and dried it, I put the cuffs on and it was finished. And, I am smitten! I love the waist detail and it’s so comfy not having a waistband to keep adjusting, since it hangs loosely. The sleeves are a more modern cut, so if I want it to be roomier next time, for more layering, I will have to alter the sleeve and add some more ease in. I did choose a size 12, so I would have more room, and it’s really not too baggy at all, even a couple sizes bigger than I would choose if I were making a t-shirt.

You can see the pictures here until I have time to upload them!

Next up, a jacket I’ve been crazy about since I first saw it, the Wiksten Haori kimono style jacket.

Have a beautiful day. A severe thunderstorm rolled through at 4:30am, and ordinarily, I would just sleep through it, but it must have caught me during a light sleep. So, I got up, and cut out the lining to the jacket. I’ll really try to take pictures, but when I start to sew, I like to sew…not just write about sewing!

Anne - The Fit Quilter