A Star Sweatshirt for my little star

The latest issue of Love Sewing Magazine arrived last week and I was really impressed with the free pattern and the projects in the mag. I'll definitely be making the dress soon - I have some fabric that will be perfect for it. As I had loads of sweatshirt fabric left after making the Linden Sweatshirt, I decided to start off with the boy's star sweatshirt to use up some of the offcuts. 

They have started making the patterns (except the free gift) available as downloads only. I don't really mind, but it does mean that everything takes longer, as you have to print, cut and stick before you can get going. Annoyingly, there was a mistake in the PDF and I had to draft one of the pieces myself, based on the layplan and surrounding pieces. I didn't have enough plain fabric to do the star on the back, so I only cut one of each of the star pieces and self-drafted a back body piece using the back neckline pattern piece and the constructed front piece as a guide. 

 Attaching the front pieces together to make the star design was the most challenging part of the project. I used my overlocker to attach everything together, then topstitched with my coverstitch machine. I'm still getting used to using the coverstitch machine, and ended up having to unpick sections and re-thread the machine a few times. I'm still pleased with the finish it gives and will be practising lots over the next few months. 

The rest of the project was straightforward and the end result met with Thomas's approval (although he wanted me to finish in one evening and it took longer!). I like the star being plain and the rest of the sweatshirt being striped. I'd like to claim it was a deliberate design decision, but the truth is that I was dictated to by the amount of each type of fabric I had. The pattern goes up to age 11-12, so I imagine I will be making versions again for both kids as it is a good stash buster. 

Here is the finished result, and Thomas modelling it below:

 

 

The Linden Sweatshirt - super quick selfish sewing

After the complicated marathon project that was the boy's shirts, I was up for some simple sewing. I also felt like making something for no particular reason other than I wanted to. My sister lent me the Linden Sweatshirt pattern by Grainline Studios when I 'accidentally' bought 2 metres of grey and red striped sweatshirt fabric from Girl Charlee (I thought it was jersey and had planned to make a long sleeved Agnes top to wear under my new Cleo dress, not blogged yet).  I've been planning to make this for a while and had spent ages sourcing some grey sweatshirt ribbing to go with it. I eventually found some in the Ottobre etsy shop and bought it, despite it being ludicrously expensive. 

However, when it came down to starting the project a few weeks ago, I was put off by the thought of pattern matching the stripes on the raglan sleeves. Inspired by another sweatshirt I bought ages ago, I realised that the solution would be to get some plain grey fabric for the sleeves. No pattern matching required and it would stop the stripes looking too much. My Mum picked up some plain grey sweatshirting at Guthrie and Ghani last time she was there (she's lucky enough to live nearby). 

When I finally got round to starting the project, I was pleasantly surprised at quite how simple it was. It can be sewn up entirely on the overlocker and the whole thing took a couple of hours at most. Although it isn't essential to finish all the seams using a coverstitch machine (or twin needle on a regular machine), I've hardly used mine and wanted to have a play. I'm still getting used to it, but I love the professional finish it gives.  There were a couple of hiccups, like when I made the rookie mistake of forgetting to put the foot down (think I thought I was still on the overlocker).  Even spending extra time doing this, it was still a one-evening project, which is exactly what I needed. Even better, I know I will get so much wear out of it. This is a fab pattern and one I will make time and time again.