Scrap-busting Crew Neck Sweatshirts

Hip hip hooray for scrap-and-small piece busting!!! I've been having heaps of fun whipping up these simple sweatshirts. Lemme tell you about them...

Pattern:

I've mentioned Brindille and Twig sewing patterns on this blog various times before, but I must admit that to date I've only actually sewn their free hoodie pattern (which you can see here). Well, that free pattern did it's job because I thoroughly enjoyed that project and went on to buy another from their range. I saw the crew neck sweatshirt pattern (pictured below) ages ago via Pinterest and thought, 'That's the one!'. It seemed to have the fit and proportions that I had been hoping to achieve when I used an Ottobre magazine to make this sweatshirt. 

(image source: Brindille and Twig)

The crew neck sweatshirt pattern is graded in sizes from tiny baby to 5-6T. After comparing the pattern pieces of the hoodie pattern to this one, I decided to go for the 18-24 month size which for a height of approx. 90cm, even though Dolores is nearly 2 and a half and over 90cm high. The garments have come up a bit big, but that is fine as I was hoping she'd grow into them anyhow. Aside from the sizing coming up a bit big, my only other minor issue with this pattern is that the seam allowance is a scant 6mm. I traced off the pieces I wanted so I could make the seam allowances a more manageable 1cm and retain all the other sizes of the pattern.  

Fabric: 

In the kind of sizes I'm making for Dolores at the moment, this kind of project requires such a pleasingly small amount of fabric! The pattern recommends jersey, interlock or stretchy french terry, rather than traditional sweatshirt fabrics which I guess might not be stretchy enough for this garment to be comfortable. For my first version of this pattern, I used a small piece of gorgeous emerald jersey that I was given by the amazingly lovely Katherine Sheers as part of a secret santa swap at a sewing blogger's Christmas meet up. At first I intended this fabric to become pants for me as it was the perfect weight and stretchiness, but it seemed such a shame for such a vibrant colour to be hidden most of the time! 

(image source: Cos)

Initially I tried to use an iron-on transfer of a sparkly rainbow on the front piece, but the transfer was too old and wouldn't stick properly so I had to abandon that plan. I then took inspiration from the image above that I'd squirrelled away on my Kiddie clothes making Pinterest board and used a sample of spotty knit that was sent to me by Girl Charlee to make a simple little patch pocket detail. 

For my second version, I used up a small piece of this fawn print organic cotton knit by Birch fabrics and this magenta jersey knit, both of which were left overs from sampling work I've done for the Village Haberdashery. Annoyingly, my camera can't seem to show the magenta colour accurately, you'll have to believe me when I say that it's much pinker and more vibrant IRL.

My third and favourite version is a crazy mix of monochrome with a splash of lime. The spotty and solid black double knits were scraps leftover from these knit pencil skirts, both of which are now completely busted. The zebra stuff has been lurking in my stash for a while and I still have some left for future projects. The almost-neon lime jersey knit was a small sample sent to me by the VH and is available here. After trying this sweatshirt on Dolores, I realised the neck was too tight, probably because the solid black and zebra print fabrics don't have as much stretch as the jerseys I used for the other two versions, so I cut away the black neckband and made another from a strip of black jersey which is much better. 

Thoughts:

I love making these sweatshirts! For my second and third version I shortened the length of the body and I'll probably continue to do that for any future versions (of which I expect there to be many). Also, I'll probably start cutting the neck hole and neck band for the size above to avoid them being difficult to get on and off. Fickle toddlers can let things like a tight neck hole put them off a garment entirely!

Cost:

Pattern: $7.50 (approx. £5.18) available here. I've used this pattern three times and have a couple more planned for friends' kids. Plus I'm sure I make many more for Dolores in bigger sizes in the future.
Fabric: £0 (all entirely scraps and small pieces from my stash, or little samples recently sent to me for free)
Total: £1.72 each

Bargain, non?