Monday, February 29, 2016

French Terry Striped Hoodie-- Hey June Lane Raglan Review

There is so much to love about this sweatshirt that I'm not sure where to start!

This is the Hey June Raglan Pattern. I've avoided raglans after my one make with a big-4 pattern was a barely salvageable hot mess. But seeing other really nice Lane Raglans out on blogs, I decided to give it a try. I actually bought this pattern at the end of last year during a Hey June pattern sale, but it is on sale again right now if you want it! 

It could not have been simpler. I love that the finished garment measurements are right there next to the size chart-- sure, I could always go figure them out by measuring the pattern, but it is so nice and easy to have them all laid out for me. My measurements put me in a large, but I decided to go for an XL to make a nice slouchy sweatshirt. If I were making a T-shirt with one of my favorite stretch knits, I would probably go for the Medium for some negative ease. Having that sort of control over fit is what makes sewing so worth it!

I made no other changes to the basic pattern. I was going for a slouchy fit, so there was no need to fuss!


I'm on a fabric buying fast, so this fabric actually is from the thrift store! I found two french terry sweatshirts in two different but coordinating stripes... they cost me about 3 dollars. The wider stripe is 100% cotton, and the small stripe is a rayon/cotton blend.


As usual, refashioning encourages some creative design choices. The extra little triangles at the raglan seam and at the hips are not part of the original pattern, but I tried my best to make them look intentional, even if they designate places where I needed just a bit more fabric than I had! Pattern matching the stripes just wasn't in the game plan for this sweatshirt, too much else going on with the tetris-like layout process. The neck triangle and the wrist cuffs are reused from the original sweatshirts. There's a funny seam mid-arm that I tried to camoflauge in the stripes-- yet another artifact of the refashion process. 



The hood on this pattern is pretty huge, worthy of Obi Wan Kenobi. That's sort of fine with me in a casual sweatshirt... I just like to throw it over my head every now and then for kicks, or to play peek-a-boo with the baby. I didn't bother with a drawstring. I love the lapped front of the hood though, nice and cozy. 



The one thing I don't love so much is that the weight of the hood pulls the whole sweatshirt back, so I am often feeling like I need to tug things forward. But it's not too much of a problem, since I wear this sweatshirt all the time!


There's something very satisfying about re-using textiles. Have you made anything from thrifted fabrics lately? 

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