Waffle Dropje long sleeve (knit) hoodie

The Waffle Dropje and I have a history.  I was really obsessed with this vest pattern (see for instance here and here and here.)  When a sleeve addition came out I was very pleased.  In my LONG sewing list, and based on all my experiments leaning towards stretch wovens, I matched this pattern with a scuba fabric in my stash.  And when it came time to finally make it, of course I realised that one metre wasn't enough for a full hoodie, and I kind of forgot that this is a woven pattern, not a knit hoodie, and I pulled out this really stretchy double faced knit fabric.  It's from a destash by Lizzy in Port Macquarie.  I had it pink side out and kind of didn't like it, but as I was sewing I realised how much I loved the oatmeal face.  

It was, however, also very early in the sewing process that I realised this was massive on me. I had made the size 36, as in my many previous forays, 34 was too small (but in a woven!!) ... MASSIVE. I still went through with it.  I used a Riri zip.  I lined all my vests, so I had never followed the instructions before and done the facing.  I don't like it, and in a woven item I think it's better to just line it, but the instructions were clear enough (I like Waffle's instructions.) 

I have a new housemate and she's into slouchy, oversized things.  She has claimed this right away.  The fact that it was going to easily find a new home did get me through the more onerous finishing bits of the hoodie; it's not that fun to finish a project when you realise it is kind of a loss.  And interestingly enough I feel kind of done with this pattern now, like I've plumbed it's depths and gone as far as I want to go.  

I can't really speak to how well the arm fit is with the new sleeve addition since my knit was super roomy. 

The Assembly Line hoodie dress, a review in 2 parts

 Oh this has been on the queue for awhile!  And at some point, bolstered by the truly glowing reviews of this pattern, I attached it in my head to this lemon printed fabric I have had slumming in my stash for years.  It is stretch poplin and I was going to make a Grainline Morris jacket from it before I faced how much I don't like open jackets like the Morris.  Then I was going to make pants from it and probably I should have stopped there.  Oops.  I read the blogs and went with a size S and cropped it about 20 cm.  However I didn't have quite enough fabric, especially once I realised it was directional, and I did NOT dig through my stash to discover I had a large, similar weight matching stretchy navy blue piece...nope, I didn't do that.  Nor did I decide to make it sleeveless.  Instead, I somehow decided that using oiled cotton for the hood would be smart.  

Don't be like me 

 

This fabric mixing is only part of an unfixable problem.  The hood is crappy and sits up at attention due to the firm oiled cotton.  I don't find it to be a perfectly amazing hood that encircles my head, as others have said.  It's just your usual fashion hood.  The dress is overall massive.  MASSIVE.  I couldn't maintain the attention span for any hem elastic.  I get that the hem elastic probably pulls things in quite a bit, but I had about 20 cm of ease through the entire front body and chest from the upper chest down.  I could wear an entire outfit under it.  I will probably restrain myself from sending it to the op shop while I think of little shorts or things I can make to salvage this great fabric.  

In the meantime I managed to harvest the size XS out of the pattern pieces and I have already cut out the entire dress in a disturbing shade of bright celery greenish-yellow, which is a fabric I actually bought from The Fabric Store specifically to make this dress and which with the Wise Eye of experience I should have used first.  It's also stretchy - I have serious clothing claustrophobia and if I feel any entrapment whilst pulling it on I will refuse to wear an item.  I think I'm committing to the entire dress this time. 

***

When I finally got around to sewing it (it's been 3 months) I had basically zero expectation.  All the joy had leached out on the first go-round.  It's a satisfying dress to put together, with all the pieces matching up nicely.  Except, of course, the elastic cuffs. Since I had neglected to use them the first time I had not paid attention to the weird construction method recommended.  It might work on the hem, but I think it's a horrible idea on the cuffs unless you have an ultra-skinny arm option for your sewing machine.  I also have PTSD from my Wheaton windbreaker which had similarly catastrophic cuff issues, and that didn't help.  I did try to do both cuffs, and they were a loss.  I scavenged in my scraps and out of sheer luck I found the scraps from this cutting (again, recall it's been months!) and I redid normal cuffs, also did the hem in the usual way of attaching the cuff, then inserting the elastic.  I used 1.5" elastic instead of 2", so it would fit nicely inside the cuffs and hem band.  

 

So, my measurements are 33-27-37 and no way would I have made the XS going by the instructions or the size chart.  However, in my stretchy sateen it is clearly the best fit.  It still seems kind of shapeless through the chest due to the lack of real waist shaping.  I absolutely couldn't make this dress in a non-stretch fabric as I would have killer claustrophobia and wouldn't manage to get it on, but in this bright stretchy fabric it is a glowing tunnel to reach the neckhole-exit.  It's not something I'll make again in a woven though I have a sort of curiosity if it could be hacked with stable knits at some point.  The yellow dress has certainly garnered attention and compliments at work, also was pretty good to bike in since the elastic keeps it snug on my thighs, so despite the subjective feeling of shapelessness it seems to be a win - enough that I'm kind of wondering whether I should return to the lemon dress.  I think if I make it sleeveless or short sleeved and remove the hood it would already be quite fun, and I could then evaluate if it's worth applying the hem elastic.

Mile End hoody in both views, by Closet Core patterns

When this came out I wanted it right away but I was in the middle of a winter hoody binge and it really seemed like I should keep using the patterns I already had.  Eye roll.  I should have bought this right away. The papercut patterns undercover hood will always live in my heart but I think I've hacked it to its limit now and need to move on.

This is an amazing pattern.  The back seam wraps around to the front.  The sleeves are in two pieces and have an elbow dart.  The hem is also pieced.  

So add to that story: beautiful rainbow striped terry cloth from Blended Thread, and me post night shift.  

What could possibly go wrong?  ...with pattern matching across 6 pieces on no sleep?  OOPS

I made size 4 and I ran a commentary to my best friend as I tried to pattern match and that kept me awake and in good spirits through the drama.  It was pretty dramatic!  Because as much as you want it all to line up overthinking in my case always wins and everything is always off by 1 mm.  Just that little bit.  And then it all goes to hell with those elbow darts.  BUT at the top of the sleeves my matching is perfect, and it ends up that's the only spot that matters. 

 

I love this. It is a classic oversized, cropped hoody.  It's not super long.  I do however feel the draft up the sides, and in this fabric it's not warm at all.

The blended threads terry cloth is a bit stiff and not very stretchy, making it hard to get the bands on.  There's some white that shows through when it's stretched.  I love some of their designs but I have so far not been impressed with the fabrics and I don't think I would pay the shipping again. 

I obtained white terry cloth fabric from The Fabric Box to make the next one in the other view and ice dye it.  I have determined it's best to make an item and then ice dye it rather than the other way round, however the distressing problem is if the dye job comes out ugly you have wasted some time.  Making the hoody was slow because I was deep in moving, but it was fun as projects go and forced me to get friendly with my coverstitch machine, which is not a bad thing.  The ice dyeing was literally one of the last sunny days I was in Gisborne and was a bit stressful (ie late to work) but I love the result (and the other things I dyed are also amazing.)  In this case as well I had band problems - I absolutely could NOT use self fabric bands the length of the pattern piece.  I had to remove one half sewn on.  I think I added 3-4 cm and that was still barely enough.  So if you are not using rib, considering extra length on the sleeve bands.  The hem doesn't require as much stretching so it's not relevant there. 

 

Sadly I have to say - these are both beautiful, nicely made, based on good inspiration, I have no complaints...and I can't really find any place to wear them.  They are roomy so they aren't warm.  They are quite short so anything under them hangs out and looks sloppy - and I'm short.  The sleeves are really spacious.  The hood on the hoody version is gratuitous, it's the kind of hood you never wear up. 

I have been inspired by the many hacks on Insta - it's definitely roomy enough you can make it in a woven then just add stretchy bands.  It's tempting to try something like that.  Also I get now that the front tie pulls it in, and though I didn't like the look of that in the pictures, it's possible I would love it in real life and that it would make the hoody feel more cozy. 

So now that I have made both of them (sorry my new photo spot is not getting me very crisp pictures and my hair really needs more attention...) I think I'm done with this pattern for now while I mull over whether I have any use for it.  Unlike a lot of my projects I love both of these and I'm keeping them despite not knowing how I'll wear them.