brindille & twig layette sew-along: hooded raglan

Hello stitchers! Today we get started on the Brindille & Twig Layette Sew-Along! This is a three-piece sew-along, sized preemie to 6T! 

 

(I am also looking for ideas for my final sew-along in my year-long series. If you have any, please do comment here, email me, or share on Facebook!)

Ready to get started?

A brief reminder: this sew-along includes the snug ear-flap beanie, the hooded raglan sweatshirt (which is a free pattern), and the big butt pants:

In our first post of the series, we tackled our beanie. Today, we are on leg two of the sew-along – making the hoodie. My hoodie sew-along differs from the B&T instructions as follows:

1. I am sewing with a zig zag stitch on a home machine – not serging (I am using 1.0mm wide by 3.0mm long); and
2. I doubled the width of the shoulder trim (page 19, “shoulder seam details”)

Pictured below: the entirety of my supplies for the baby ensemble:

Fabrics from left to right: a mid/heavyweight cotton rib knit in white, a 100% Michael Miller yarn-dyed stripe in pink and orange, a corduroy-velour Malden Mills fleece in red, and a cotton lycra custom knit – festooned with a wonderful monster print! Finally, I have a length of elastic for the pants, which I discussed last entry and will discuss when making the pant.

And finally: most of the seams shown in this project will benefit from a light steam-pressing, after sewing. Use your judgment. I find knits don’t usually respond well to tons of steam – but a little, including the use of a clapper – can help them set well.

So for the hoodie, our first step is making up that patch pocket. I elected to line the pocket with some of my pink and orange stripe; keep in mind whatever you line with, will likely peak through a bit on the finished garment. The instructions (page 19) show a vertical stripe lining. If you want the pocket to blend in perfectly with the body of the shirt, then self-line.

After sewing the three edges of the pocket (page 20), I gently push out the upper corners with a bone folder:

To sew the slanted topstitch, I used a bit of washaway stabilizer under the seam. Participants in my knit sew-alongs will notice I like stabilizers! You can use any kind of paper or even tissue paper – i thelps the seam form more evenly and “float” on top of the fabric, instead of being buried within it:

Next, we sew the bottom seam of the pocket at that lower open edge, right-sides together. Because I’m a huge nerd, I of course change out my thread colors to match both sides of this seam:

After trimming and carefully pressing up, I then pin the pocket to the body of the hoodie:

… and stitch that bottom seam, as well as up the “legs” of the pocket, and along the top of the pocket (page 22). Again, if you like you can stabilize under these seams while sewing, if you like:

Now it’s time to put those cute little bits of trim in the shoulders! Sew slowly here; I sewed just 1/16″ in fro my sleeve stitching line. I also made sure to stripe-match all sides, so that the trim was identical and symmetrical.

I then trimmed these strips along the raw edges. Remember: I cut my trim pieces wider than the pattern, because I wanted a bit more of a peak of that stripe:

Now, time to sew up those raglan sleeves (pp. 24-24)! You’ll note that using stable knits here is very nice – the raw edges line up without curling. A benefit of stable knits and rib knits. Sew either one stitching line or two, then trim:

Now, at the middle of page 24, we’re instructed to pin up those side seams, right-sides together. Make sure your trims are facing whatever direction you like – I chose down toward the shirt hem – before pinning and stitching:

It’s time to put together those cuffs and waist bands (page 25)! Do you remember how I said I always cut a slightly longer band, in case the knits don’t behave like the pattern thinks they should? This is where you measure and correct the band length(s), if need be. Then – sew them up, at the short edges and right-sides together! Here I switched to my orange thread:

Now we can pin these, matching our markings for the sleeve and waistband:

The cuffs are so small, it is easy to evenly distribute the sleeve and cuff seams together. But I have found the waistband is important. Make sure to evenly distribute that waistband, easing in the shirt’s fullness all the way around:

As for the cuffs, if I have a fullness differential I lift my IDT (walking) foot up, and sew with the fuller side against the machine. In this case, I didn’t have any fullness issues, so I sewed with the sleeve up and the cuff against the machine feed dogs. Yes, it’s a wee cuff. Sew slowly! You’ll be okay.

Now, we sew up the curved back edges of both the hood, and the hood lining (which are made of the same fabric, in my case):

Now, we sew the concave face edges, right-sides together, of the lining and shell:

Finally, we open up this last seam and place the scuba neck edges together, pin and sew (lower right of page 26). The better you line up that seam, the nicer the finished hood will look:

Once you fold the hood right side out (so the lining is nested in the hood), take your time to pin the hood into the neckline, right-sides together and with the seams evenly distributed:

Sew slowly, making sure your shoulder seams are sewn in whatever direction you’d like them to lie. (Reminder: mine faced away from the sleeve):

And that’s all!

So – I hope you enjoyed sewing up your hoodie! This was the trickiest garment of the three. The pants are a piece of cake!

Great work!

Let me know how it’s going! Drop a line here, email me – or find me on Facebook.