Thursday, December 5, 2013

Unselfish Sewing: A Hoodie for Greg

I recently fell in love with the Disparate Disciplines Avocado Hoodie (they just released a super-cute new mitten pattern, too! That's totally on my to-do list.) 

Anyway, when I bought the pattern, I showed it to Greg and asked if I should buy the two-pack men's/women's pattern (you save some if you buy both.) He enthusiastically said yes. 


I made one for myself first, to test the pattern, then I made this one for Greg. The fabric is a fleece-backed Lycra from Fabric Mart in Pennsylvania. It's a lovely fabric and I highly recommend it. I also made some leggings out of it recently. 


For the pocket lining, we used an old t-shirt Greg had from Bike to Work Day 2009. The bottom of the shirt was the perfect size for a pocket lining. I do wish that I'd lined his hood, though, since the fabric we used is very thin.


The instructions can be slightly confusing -- I highly recommend reading Brooke's post before you start. The flat picture she took really helped me understand how the pockets were supposed to go together. I also took a few tries to understand how the hood was supposed to attach. But once you get it, it's truly a great pattern. The pieces fit together like magic.


The neatest feature of this hoodie is that it features pockets in the back, so that when someone wants to put their arm around you, you have a place to keep your hand warm (and maybe tickle a tummy while you're at it.) Actually, since it's all one giant pocket inside, you could put your hand in and hold hands inside the pouch if you wanted. Awww. 

Basically, this hoodie is super cute in terms of cuddliness. 


Avocado also has long sleeves and thumb holes -- though Greg did request that on his next version, I lengthen the sleeve just a bit. (I made the same alteration to mine.) 


So far, I've seen Greg chop wood, do yard work and hang out around the house in his hoodie, which I've already washed 3-4 times. And, bonus! It fits much more nicely than his old baggy cross country sweatshirts from college.


This was my first time making "menswear" but I think it worked out pretty well, though there are things I'll change slightly for next time (sleeve length, thumbhole placement, hood lining.) 



All my favorite friends wear black hoodies and white t-shirts -- even Lyra and Porter! Though I do hope you'll forgive the dogs for wearing real fur -- they don't believe in fake fur... ;)

Oh right! We got a second dog, by the way. The black-and-white dog on the right is Porter, rescued from the same place we got Lyra. They look like they're plotting against us in this photo, don't they? Poor Porter had to have a surgery this week and isn't feeling so well right now, poor boy.


Greg's so supportive of my sewing habit -- and such a trooper with my requests to just run by JoAnn's "real quick" for some thread -- that it's an absolute pleasure to sew for him. We've already bought some apparel fleece for version 2.0 for him and I can't wait to get started on it. :)

I'll do another post about my own Avocado hoodie; it got to be too much for a single post!

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