Fleece Hoodies

Over the weekend I made my daughter a couple of Burda fleece hoodies.

First up I made a red hoodie, worn on Saturday:

The pattern I used is Burda 9614, a unisex pattern that includes sizes 3 to 13. I sewed a combination of view D (the hoodie) and view A (regular long sleeves as opposed to the layered sleeves of view D) in a size 8, which is intended to fit a child 128 cm tall (just a couple of cm taller than my daughter). The pattern is semi-fitted, and I think it's normally intended for a much lighter cotton jersey BUT it works well in a thicker fabric so long as the fabric has a good amount of stretch, as does this red fleece.

And then I made a checked pink and cream one, worn on Sunday and Monday:

Top stitching fleece is just painful, and I wasn't happy with my stitching on the curved pocket openings and lower line of the red pocket, so I added some seam lines to the pink and cream version with the intention of (1) getting rid of the curves and (2) getting rid of the top stitching. I guess I didn't think it through properly though, so although I did get rid of the curves I still left myself a lot of unpleasant top stitching. Oh well... I've left it as is, and hopefully the kind of people who notice messy top stitching will be distracted by all the check matching - front seams, pocket, side seams, and upper back to sleeve backs..

I've used this pattern (Burda 9614) many times before for both the hoodie and the long sleeved t-shirt pattern, and I really like the fit for a tall, slim child. Using a thick fleece I probably should have gone up a size in widths, as the pink and cream checked hoodie is apparently a bit too snug (this fabric has less stretch than the red fleece). And I should really remember by now that my kids have longer heads than the Burda average - every time I've made this hood it's been a bit short.

Next time I need to make a kid's hoodie I'm thinking to try Burda 9482, which looks - at least in pattern envelope photos - to be a much looser fit, with raglan sleeves and a bigger hood with a raised neckline.

I can't say I particularly enjoy sewing fleece, but sewing these up gives me back a little fabric space, and addresses my daughter's lack of warm jumpers. Is it just me, or is it hard to find proper warm winter RTW jumpers for girls? I haven't been searching that hard, but I get the impression from what I see in the city shops that girls are supposed to look pretty and not feel the cold - all year round. I know girls are tough, but seriously...


Back soon with some selfish sewing!

See you soon
- Gabrielle xx

One Small Outfit (Skirt, Top and Hoodie)

It's been a crazy week - the flu, way too much work on, lots of non-work issues at work, worries for my son at school, and lots of tears in the mornings as my daughter transitions to a new kindy.  Lots of broken sleep.  And then Blogger updates and consequent problems on top of that!

But finally I have something to show - the result of some Saturday night / Sunday afternoon sewing - a small outfit for my DD, started when the Saturday night project PJs for my DS went pear-shaped.

First up was a quick knee-length skirt, made from a remnant piece of heavy printed linen (plus cute button to mark the front and some lace trim for interest):

next up was a cosy fleece hoodie, which I originally planned to make last year - made using the hooded t-shirt pattern from Burda 9614 in a widened size 4:

and finally a long-sleeve t-shirt, made from some cotton jersey bought for a song at a Tessuti Fabrics sale a few months ago, and using the hoodless long-sleeve t-shirt pattern from Burda 9614 in an unwidened size 4:

front of t-shirt

back of t-shirt

Happily all these garments could be made from the stash - no need to buy fabric or haberdashery - AND all seem to coordinate well.  I want to make some leggings to go under the skirt too to keep little legs warm, and I think I've found a reasonably matching pink striped jersey remnant for that too.  

The three year old verdict: the skirt is pretty, the hoodie is not needed, and the t-shirt is great.  "Oh wow! Dat's soooo cool mumma!"  (I think the t-shirt is kind of cool too... )