You can feel it in the air... the change of temperature, the smell of wet earth and the sound of crispy fallen leaves on the ground. Fall is here and will soon give way to winter's grip.
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With fall approaching and in the midst of KCWC, I wanted to make something to keep my girls cozy. So while I was poking around the KCWC Community Board on Pinterest, I found this:
Oh.my.goodness.
How crazy cute is this?! Now I can't knit to save my life so I decided to sew something similar to this. Thus, my hoodie scarf was born! After a few tries and some researching, I came up with a very simple pattern that is easy and quick to assemble.
So let's get started shall we?
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SUPPLIES:
5/8 yard of main fabric
5/8 yard of contrasting/lining fabric
small piece of fusible interfacing for ears
coordinating thread
TOOLS:
scissors
pins
chalk or sewing marker
twine or yarn
sewing machine
iron
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| diagram 1 |
Here is a diagram of the pieces for your hoodie pattern (not including the scarf).
To make the hoodie pattern, take your child's hoodie and trace.
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| diagram 2 |
You will need to trace two separate pieces, one for the lining and the other for the outside. For the outside, you will need to measure 3 inches from the upper left corner edge of your pattern and draw a line from that point to the bottom left corner of the pattern as shown in the picture above.
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| diagram 3 |
Cut along the line, creating two pieces of the hoodie pattern.
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| diagram 4 |
Add a seam allowance to the cut edges. You should have one uncut hoodie pattern (for the lining) and two pieces of the hoodie pattern (for the outside). Set aside.
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| diagram 5 |
You will need to make a pattern for the band that goes down the middle joining the two sides of the hoodie pattern together. You will need to measure the length of the band and probably the easiest way is to use a piece of twine or yarn. Starting at the upper left corner of the whole hoodie pattern piece, trace the curve of the pattern with the twine/yarn to the bottom right corner. Add an extra 1/2 inch to the twine/yarn (just to be safe).
Now you have the length of the band. For the width, do 4 inches. So you will cut out a rectangle piece with a measurement of 4" by whatever your twine/yarn measures. Set aside.
For the ears, it's up to you what shape and size you'd like. Just remember to add a seam allowance and a little extra (about 1/2") on the bottom edge. Also, make the bottom of the ears wide enough so that when you sew a dart onto it, it will be at the desired width.
Once you have your ear pattern, band, and hoodie sides both lining and outside patterns, you are ready to cut your fabric. Your pieces should resemble the picture above. Also refer to the Diagram 1 on how many pieces of what to cut.
Let's start with the ears.
Following the instructions for your interfacing, fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of your main fabric. Matching the main fabric with the lining and right sides together, sew ears together leaving the bottom edge open. Trim the corners and clip along the curved edges.
Turn right side out, iron and topstitch close to the edge of seams.
Fold ear in half with main fabric on the outside. Trace a slight curve with chalk or sewing marker and stitch along curve. Back stitch to secure. Repeat for the other ear.
Trim the bottom edge of ears to have a straight edge.
Open and flatten the back edge of dart and baste the flatten area in place.
When you sew a curved dart, it will give a nice curve to the ears. See? Oooo... Aaaahhh...
With the larger piece of the cut hoodie pattern, measure 1 inch down from upper edge and pin ears in place on right side of main fabric. Baste ears in place.
With right sides together, attach the smaller piece of the hoodie pattern to the larger piece. Turn over and iron the seams, having the raw edge face backward.
The outer sides should look like this.
With right sides together, attach the band to the sides. This may be tricky for some of you... have patience...
You can do it!
Once you joined the band with the sides, trim off any extra band fabric, set aside and do this step with the lining. With your lining piece inside out, iron the seams facing outward. Take your outside piece and iron the seams facing inward. It's nice to have the seams pressed so come time when the two pieces are sewn together, it lays nice and flat.
Take your two hoodie pieces and with right sides together, pin and sew along the front raw edge of the hoodie. Leave the bottom raw edge open.
Turn right side out and iron seam. Fold along bottom edge of hoodie to find the center. Mark it and set aside.
Now the scarf is a rectangular scarf. You can get fancy, but for this tutorial, we'll stick with the basic. If you're sewing for a toddler, I find the dimensions of 8" x 22" to be perfect. Not too long that'll get in the way and just wide enough to cover their necks and even tuck under their coat. For older kids, it's really up to you. Also, depending on the amount of fabric you have you may need to cut two pieces for the front and two for the back and attach together to get the desired length, which is what I did here.
Mark the center of the back piece of your scarf. Matching the center marks of the backside of your hoodie to the backside of the scarf and having right sides together, baste in place. Roll your hoodie up and attach the front side of scarf with right sides together. Leave a 4 inch opening along the long edge of the scarf so that you can turn it right side out.
Trim corners before you turn it right side out.
Iron the seams flat and topstitch about 1/4 inch along the edge of the scarf and hoodie.
Woohoo!
You're done!
Now go wrangle your little animal and tie it on!
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If you made one of these lovelies using our tutorial, show us and post it on our Flickr group:
www.flickr.com/groups/suburbia-soup-creations/
I would love to see what fabulous things you make!
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