Crafting a Hoodie: Of Hems and Hemptation

Okay, I don't even know what's up with the title, but it seemed like a good idea now that it's 12:45am. Progress is continuing in spurts since WoW just came out with it's pre-Cataclysm patch. That drained a bit of the focus reserves usually devoted to creativity as I used it to fuel my mad flight around Azeroth re-enacting Pokemon on my hunter. Pets: Must tame them ALL!!

Still! There is progress, slow and in random spurts as I get closer to finishing the sewing process. I'm getting into trickier areas of work as I stray from the pre-made patterns and instructions into parts I've customized.

For example, the original jacket pattern had no cuffs nor hem at the bottom of the jacket. However, I like having the rib-knit cuffs and hem, like I had on my older jacket that I was using as a base model. Thus, I estimated the pieces I would need and modified the patterns accordingly. Still, I had the adventure of attaching a very stretchy fabric to a not-as-stretchy fabric. You can see how I'd pinned the middle of the bottom strip to the middle of the back of the jacket. I figured (correctly) that if I started at the center of the back, I could stretch the knit out as I sewed it down so that it would contract and give the jacket the shape I desired.

Things worked out very well for the bottom... not so much for the cuffs. I learned that in the future, I shall have to sew the cuff knit onto the sleeves before I sew the sleeves closed. That should save me a lot of stress and fighting the fabric and machine. Still, I persevered and got all the hems sewn onto the coat. I also got the hood edge folded over and sewn to form the channel for the pull-cord.

Slightly old pic, the ears and horns are also currently sewn together and ready for the next stage!

I'm a bit hesitant about the next parts as I have two very daunting tasks before me: Sewing the zipper onto the jacket and making sure it aligns correctly between the two pockets and bottom hem... And sewing the fur onto the hood. After trying to pin the zipper in place and getting frustrated with the little divots it was making in the smooth line of fabric, I've taken to basting it by hand with some light-colored thread that I'll pull out after I sew it with a machine. Tomorrow I'll be figuring out how to use the zipper foot!