Pattern:Kids Dutchie Jacket Designer: Ellie & Mac Fabrics: Black French Terry from Rubyjam Fabrics and Buffalo Plaid Flannel from Spotlight Skill level: Intermediate Measurements: Chest: 21″; Waist 20.5″; Hips 21″ Size made: 3 Adjustments: Hacked their instructions on the welt pocket. Pros:Love this jacket cause you can mix woven in the bodice with knit for the sleeves. Cons: I found the instructions a little confusing. Definitely read each step before progressing.
The Wrap Up
I’ve actually made this jacket for Jemma before (which you can read here) and while I loved it, I found the instructions a little heavy to follow. To be honest, some of it is that because I am such a competent sewist I tend to assume what the next step will be and go ahead with what I logically think will work, but sometimes patterns need to be done in a certain way for all the elements to work, so it doesn’t always work in my favour to jump the gun!
As I mentioned in my last review, I wasn’t a huge fan of the visible stitching lines on the front welt pocket, so this time I was determined to alter them out. I cut out all the pieces and ended up having a think about it overnight and came up with a pretty good solution I think.
I filmed it all to show how I did, you can see it all in the YouTube video below.
It is definitely a great pattern all in all, I just recommend you take your time while sewing it and you will get great results.
Pattern: Chill Tee & Hoodie Designer: Ellie & Mac Fabrics: Sew Unique Fabrics French Terry Measurements: Chest: 38.5″; Waist 35.5″; Hips 42″ Size made: L Adjustments: None Pros: I love the colour blocking on this one. It’s a great casual tee. Cons: I think this is more suited toward a tee than a hoodie. If I was to make it as a hoodie I would size up at least 2 or 3.
I’ve made two Chill Tee & Hoodies now and they have both turned out great for hubby. I do prefer this as a tee however as I think it is too tight fighting for a traditional hoodie. The feedback my husband gave was that you would definitely need to size up at least 2 or 3 for it to be more comfortable.
I do love the colour blocking on this one however, I think its a great simple one to showcase your fabrics without being too overpowering. It’s also a very quick and simple pattern to put together.
The hoodie I made from a french terry and the chill tee is a cotton lycra. The french terry is part of the current release from Sew Unique Fabrics winter range, check out the the super cool bomber jacket I made for Ted that I did a write up for here.
Pattern: Harper Hoodie Fabrics: Purple: Cotton Fleece from Sew Unique Fabrics Accent: ‘Artistic Ink’ from Sew Unique Farbics Pink: Jogging Sweater Knit from Wattle Hill Fabrics Measurements: Bust: 42.5″; Waist: 39.5″; Hips: 47.5″ Size made: Straight 22. I like my hoodies big and oversized Adjustments: None Pros: LOVE the colour blocking on this. It is super comfy to wear and I love the look of the welt pockets. Cons: I had to unpick the welt part of the pockets 3 times before I got it looking good enough that I was happy with it. I also felt the pocket bags on the inside look a little clunky.
This brand new hoodie pattern from Sonia Estep is a big winner in my eyes. From the minute I saw it, I knew I would love it and am so glad I got a chance to sew it up. It may be Summer over here in the Southern Hemisphere, but its never too early to start my winter wardrobe. Especially living in Melbourne. We can be in the middle of a heat wave and then next thing you’re freezing and fighting off hail storms! Never a dull moment in Melbourne haha.
I had a few choices for fabrics on this one. As I often do when I’m planning a new project, I got them all out and laid them together to see what combo jumped out at me. I straight away was drawn to the purple and pink combo, and the artistic ink was definitely a front runner.
As the artistic ink is a Cotton Lycra, quite thin, and the purple and pinks are cotton fleece, thick and fluffy, I decided to cut all my artistic ink pieces in black Cotton Fleece as well to ‘back’ each piece. I then treated them as one piece when sewing it together. It is a little bit of a extra tricky step, but well worth it for me.
Once I had decided on the fabrics, the next was choosing a size. In the past I have sewn to ‘my measurements’ and while the garments fit, and looks good, its taken me 3 or 4 hoodies to realise that I actually REALLY like oversized hoodies. Like, I buy RTW mens sized ones cause I want them big and snuggly. So this time I made a size 2-3 up from what my measurements said and its PERFECT.
The process of putting the garment together was quite straight forward, just a few extra steps in the piecing it together. I had to be very careful I made sure all the pieces went together as they should so that the colour blocks would match up. I did put my bottom pieces on upside down to begin with so that was a fun half hour unpicking that. doh!
My fabrics laid out to choose colour combo
The next part I had some issues with was the welt pockets. I had not done a welt pocket quite how it was constructed in this pattern and had some problems getting my outer piece even and nestled nicely from the front. One of the sides I unpicked 3 times, and the other side once. I am glad I did, as it was worth it to have it looking good, but it did cause for some swear words haha. I also thought the inside pocket bags were a little odd in terms of how they sit, and if I make another would look to how I could modify to perhaps make a circle through pocket, but for now I might hand stitch them to the inside so they don’t dip below the waistband when weighted down by objects in them.
Inside of pocket bags and my black ‘lined’ artistic ink pieces
I had some questions over wether I crossed my hood too much when I first did it, but it works. The designer also commented that the hood is intentionally a more ‘dramatic’ hood crossover than most. The cowl look around the neck when its not up is particularly appealing to me, I think it looks great!
The Harper Hoodies is definitely a staple in my wardrobe now and am looking forward to being able to crack her out A LOT over winter. The pattern is on sale for 50% till Thursday, click on the link below (afflink) to grab your copy.
