One of the best things about sewing is being able to knock-off designer brands. Not only to you get a custom fit garment at a fraction of the price, you also have control over the colours and fabrics. This Lekala pattern (4708) looks to be based roughly on The North Face’s Arcata hoodie.
For version two of this sweatshirt, I’ve gone down three sizes from what was recommended in the size chart and added a little extra width at the hip. The fit is much better, especially through the shoulders. No way near as baggy as yesterday’s version. With the narrower shoulders, the sleeve came out to be the right length. I’ve still tapered the sleeve a little and reduced the cuff with. Continue reading “Ottobre Sweatshirt V2”
I would have thought that somewhere in my pattern stash, I had a pattern for a crew neck sweatshirt with set in sleeves. Most of the patterns that I have either were raglan sleeved or were hoodies. A quick look at the Big 4 patterns didn’t come up with any, even Kwik Sew. I did find a couple of indi patterns that fitted the bill, but expensive for what they were.
At this point, I did seriously consider just buying a couple of sweatshirts. I could get two for the price of the indi pattern and I didn’t have the hassle of finding matching ribbing. The next time I was in town, I dropped into one of the chain stores to have a look. I’d just be using them around the house and for working in the garden so the low quality was OK for what I was doing. They’d last a couple of years, by which time they would be permanently stained and likely to have a few holes from being snagged on branches. I’d might scrape 30 wears out of them, but not 30 washes. The thing that stopped me was they were made in Bangladesh. If I bought them, am I just reinforcing bad working conditions for the people who made them? Is this something you consider when buying RTW? Continue reading “Ottobre Sweatshirt v1”
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