Pattern Testing: The Avocado Hoodie

Remember that little blurb last Thursday about the kickstarter campaign for this hoodie pattern? Well, it looks like in the time since then, Mari has 100%+ funded her goal! Yay, paper patterns! There’s still about 6 hours left until the campaign ends, so if you haven’t had an opportunity to contribute and you want to snag the pattern at a discount price, now’s your chance!

In the meantime, let’s talk about why I even brought this up today…

I got to test the pattern over the weekend, and now I’m the proud owner of my own Avocado hoodie! Woohoo!

I’m not normally a fan of pullover hoodies… which now that I think about, it’s kind of dumb since I *always* zip my hoodies up. I can’t stand that shit flapping around! But anyway, for whatever reason, I don’t normally spring for the pullovers. Maybe because they remind me too much of those oversized college hoodies, I dunno. This one is surprisingly nice, though – the princess seams give it a bit of shape, so it still looks nice even though it has way more ease than what I would normally prefer to wear. And it’s sooo comfy, forreal.

Confession: After I took these pictures on Saturday afternoon, I wore the hoodie for the rest of the day – to clean, cook dinner, and lounge-y LT time. I love that it’s comfortable and snuggly, but it’s not so huge I feel like I’m swimming in something that belongs to a dude 4 sizes bigger than me.

In addition to being a basic, princess-seamed pullover hoodie, this top has a few neat features that differentiate it from similar hoodies…

Thumb-holes in the cuffs!

Pockets in the back – so when you are walking with your arms around a loved one (or fling, or friend, or whatev. I ain’t here to judge you), they can put their hands in the pockets. GENIUS, amirite?!

The hood is a great size – not so big that it gets floppy and falls off (ew, I hate that), not so tight that it pushes down on the top of my head and makes it hard to move around (hate that, too). I feel like hood size is kind of a delicate balance, and this one is drafted exactly to the size that I find most comfortable.

As far as how the finished hoodie fits… I opted to sew it as close to the suggested measurements as possible, and I think the bottom hem ended up a bit loose. Of course, you don’t want something like this to little or negative ease, since tightness can cause the hem to ride up. I cut a 4 for the front bust/hips, tapered to a 2 at the waist, and cut the back at a 2. I think the ease in the bust, waist, and arms turned out great – yes, there is ease (more than I typically wear, even!), but I feel like it still looks pretty flattering. I may take it in just a bit around the hips, but even as it is now, I think it looks fine.

One thing I do think is worth mentioning is that the length was a bit too long on me after adding the hem band. Here is how it looks with the band folded up – I think it suits my proportions better this way. Keep in mind that I am petite (clocking in at about 5’2.5″ on a tall day ;)), so it should be the perfect length for an average height/torso.

Putting the hoodie together was quite easy – despite there being a bunch of little pieces. I did have a bit of trouble figuring out the pockets, but as I was testing the beta pattern and left lots of feedback, I think it will be much easier after Mari adds more clarification and diagrams. With that being said, after I finally trolled through the pockets and started really assembling the hoodie, that part went FAST. I think it took me maybe an hour and a half, tops. I sewed the entire thing on my serger, minus a couple areas of topstitching.

The fabric I used is from Mood in NY – my first completed post-NY project! It’s a cotton french terry, and the lining under the pocket is cotton jersey. I loooove this fabric, it’s so soft and warm, and I think it will feel really nice in the summer when I’m dealing with air conditioning 😉 The only downside to this stuff is that is sheds tiny terry pieces like it’s going out of style. You will definitely need to finish every single seam if you use this type of fabric… and make sure you do a thorough sweeping after!

Ooh just look at that lovely terry.

Here you can see inside the pocket on the back – the dark is my pocket lining (the cotton jersey). Wouldn’t this be fun with something super bright and contrasty, like teal with yellow polka dots?? Which I almost bought, btw. Hm maybe I should have.

All in all, I think this turned out pretty good! I may end up removing the band and just topstitching the bottom, to relieve some of the length, as well as shortening the sleeves – this climate doesn’t exactly dictate the need for sleeves that cover most of the hand 🙂 I’m also thinking about screen printing something on the front, since it’s so plain! What do you guys think??

I must say, I was a little nervous on Saturday while finishing this up, since it was 70* outside and I’d spent the whole morning doing garden and yard work (yay, Spring!), I was thinking I wouldn’t have a chance to wear this hoodie at all! But just in case you were wondering… it got all cold and rainy again. And by “cold,” I mean 50*. What can I say? I’m a delicate Southern Rose who wilts at any temperature below 65* 😉

Tags: completed, Disparate Disciplines, hoodie, Mood Fabrics, NY stashbust, pattern testing