190. Wednesday Workshop: Simple Sweatshirt Recon

It has been a busy and a bizzy February!  I just got back from a short trip to New Orleans, and I had not seen the city since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  I didn't visit the Lower Ninth Ward or go on a self-guided photo tour of other areas that had been ravaged by Katrina, because I was working a lot and, in between, nursing a cold in the comfort of my hotel room.  Still, it was good to see spirits so very high.  The French Quarter was bustling and all outward signs say ongoing recovery.  Esp. with the recent Saints Superbowl win.  WHO DAT?!

I have thought a lot about sewing but don't have much new clothing to show for it (but lots of crafting!  I'm just not used to blogging those crafty projects...).

Well, I have one new garment to share.  After the sad news of Alexander McQueen's untimely death two weeks ago, I felt a little down and knew the best way out was to start one of the many sewing projects in my mental queue.  Behold: the simple sweatshirt reconstruction.

I got sick in December, after weeks of traveling.  For several days, I didn't want to get dressed in anything constricting or remotely fussy, so I lived in layered knits.  I dabbled heavily in the world of granny chic, with my knee socks over leggings and big scarves and a faux fur coat to top everything off.  After I got better, I couldn't shake the knits.  And after an uncharacteristically cold Austin winter, I couldn't stop thinking of ways to remake the lowly sweatshirt (or two):

This is a simple one: In short, I deconstructed -- cut off the sleeves and neckband.

I loved how the bottom half of the original sweatshirt draped like a tulip skirt, so I tried to preserve the fullness when I reshaped and recut the bodice.  I sewed the side seams:

The stark triangle-ness of the original sleeves is shocking, isn't it?  I used a trusty 3/4 gathered sleeve pattern piece to re-cut the sleeves.  Mostly-winged the sleeve cap so there was no "easing in" -- the sleeve cap matched the armhole perfectly:

The collar came from the second sweatshirt -- two rectangles of fabric sewn to make one long rectangle, then attached to the neckline in some asymmetrical way:

That's all she wrote.  I think my hips are proportionally sized to the rest of my body, so I was really curious to see how the volumized hips on this tunic/ dress/ thing would look.  I wore it today and the hips are def. bigger than I'm used to... not sure if I will take it down a notch (or take it in an inch as the case may be).  And this thing needs some pockets so I'll have to unpick the side seams a bit for that.  The sleeves are longer than I'd like but that's what happens when you fudge the sleeves.  I'll know better next time.

And some in-action shots, as inspired by Heather's Dance Monday:

And if I may plug the sweatshirt a bit more, 'cause I'm not sure I'm making a great case for it based on the pics I just shared: cotton fleece is a dream to sew!  I know it's a knit and many of us get scared away from sewing knits because they're so finicky.  But if you're up for some knit experimentation, this is a pretty predictable fabric to mess with and get decent results.