FO: Kelopuu Ottobre Hoodie

Okay, so I know I said  I would finish my UFOs before starting a new project but well, I didn't manage it.  I HAVE fininshed my Burda jacket and will share it soon though,  But then a couple of things happened in December: 

It got colder 

I realised I have few warm tops

A couple of months ago I was sent a copy of Ottobre Women's magazine, Autumn Winter 2014.  This was not because of a blogging promo but because I cancelled my subscription and I think they sent out a free copy to entice me back as a subscriber. On impulse about a month ago, I decided to make the Kelopuu hoodie, enticed by the pockets and the asymmetric front.   I used some fabric on sale at Minerva Crafts, only £2.99 a metre.  I went back to the site and think it is sold out.   It is wine coloured with white flecks and a heavy-ish sweatshirt knit. It is not the greatest quality as it is already bobbling after two weeks but I love the colour and it is warmer than I expected.

The magazine's example of the finished hoodie

The pattern was much easier and quicker to sew than I anticipated. I started tracing on a thursday and finished sewing on sunday. That was much quicker than I had thought,   Ottobre patterns need seam allowances adding - I added mine after tracing and before cutting.   

Here are the instructions....they are brief and as you can see there are no diagrams.   The pattern calls for welt pockets which were new to me.   I had to look up several tutorials before I attempted them.  There was no way I could try them only using the Ottobre instructions!  I need pictures for new techniques.  This was the tutorial I liked best.  They were more straightforward than I had expected.  They are a bit counter intuitive as you sew the inner pocket linings to the outside of the garment, make a slit and push them through.  There was also a lot of thick bulkiness to sew through with the welts and my machine didn't like this. It also didn't like the bulkiness of the cuffs, I had to stop and handcrank the needle through the thickest parts. As the pattern is written for a sewer with an overlocker, the pattern instructions call for the cuffs to be added to the sleeves flat before inserting the sleeve.  Then the sleeve seam and side seams are sewn.  AS I don't have an overlocker, the only drawback of this is the cuff has an unsightly seam inside it.  If I make this again I think I would add the cuff in the round to an already stitched sleeve to give a cleaner finish.  That is how I added cuffs to my Lola dresses and Renfrews.  The sleeves came out really long.  I mean about three inches too long.  I learnt my leson here, I should check sleeve length before cutting out.

I have been wearing the hoodie a lot since completion.  I have been struggling to get pictures with the poor light, So I thought I will just post this anyway.  I was thinking of making it again in a darker colour.  Making it has made me look again at my Ottobre magazines, the patterns are often wearable and functional - does that sound too boring?  As I have a stash of them I wo't be renewing my subscription.  I just plan to sew using what I already have.