Jalie 4670 Andréanne Hiking Vest

Pattern Background

Full zip fleece vest with curved hem and inseam pockets, two hidden mesh pockets on the inside. The inside pockets are sized so that my iPhone 12 fits inside perfectly.

I was so happy when Jalie released this pattern last spring, as I had wanted to make a fleece vest since last fall.

Fabric and Notions

Suggested fabrics are medium to heavyweight fleece fabrics like Polartec 200 and sherpa/berber fleece. I used the winter fleece from The Green Pepper, purchased this month during their fleece sale. (I managed to get the last yardage of the charcoal color.) It is roughly equivalent to Polartec 200 in weight.

For my size Y the fabric requirements called for 1.5 yards, but I was easily able to fit it onto just 1.25 yards of my 60” fabric.

For the mesh for the pockets I used some athletic mesh purchased from Fabric Mart last summer.

For the collar I used needlepunch from The Green Pepper. My fleece is on the thinner side for this project and since I don’t really wear scarves anymore I wanted extra warmth in the collar. Would I do it again? Probably not, while it does add extra warmth it also adds extra bulk.

The zipper is a YKK #5 molded plastic separating zipper from Wawak. I removed the extra teeth with these pliers. I felt there was no need for zipper stops after the collar was sewn into place.

Size and Alterations

I started with a size Y. The only alteration I made was adding a total of 4.5” to the hip.

Be warned that the fit is quite boxy. Maybe the 6.5” positive ease works for a thick Sherpa fleece but for my fabric, which is about the weight of Polartec 200, it just felt huge! Not flattering either. The armholes are quite low as well, something else I didn’t really notice on the models until making it. They actually go below the fullest part of the bust. You can see just how low they are if you look at the young girl wearing the reddish orange vest in the model photos on the Jalie website:

I normally find Jalie ease perfect for whatever the style is, so this surprised me. But I will say when I measured the actual garment and then cross referenced the finished measurements chart in the pattern, the finished measurements given were accurate. It just seems like 6.5” ease is a lot considering that people generally use a fleece vest over a t-shirt or maybe a lighter weight sweater and not a bulky sweatshirt. I ended up taking in the side seams a total of 3” from armhole to hem, making it 3.5” positive ease. While it still is a bit roomy it also feels like a much better fit through my torso and gives it more of the semi-fitted silhouette I wanted. The modeled photos are either shown unzipped or with their hands in the pockets which doesn’t give a true sense of just how much ease there is.

I should note that I actually found the shoulder and upper chest fit really well and as expected. It was just the area from the bust downward I found too large.

Construction

The instructions were good. The pockets are probably the trickiest since there’s several pieces involved, but the Jalie instructions lay them out well.

I do recommend serging the inner seams whenever possible because it helps control the bulk of the fleece seam allowances.

I like how the collar is constructed. The section where the inside collar is stitched to the outer collar is completely folded to the inside, which eliminates a lot of bulk at the upper edge of the zipper. I know it is really hard to see with this fabric but I’ve attempted to capture it here:

After making this I feel it would be far better to trim off the seam allowance from the inner collar and tape/bind the inner collar edge instead of folding it under.

The pocket is cut so that the cut edge is against the fold of the hem to help eliminate bulk. Just remember that you should probably pin or baste before hemming to make sure it gets caught in the hem properly.

I finished the armholes and hem on my coverstitch machine. For the hem I think if you keep the original ease it would be helpful to sew a buttonhole on the inside and add shock cord elastic and cord stoppers or even just elastic to help gather in the extra ease. Before I took in the side seams I found the hem, which had been altered to fit my larger hips, was almost floppy.

Conclusion

I do recommend this pattern despite my displeasure with the ease. The cut works for just about everyone: women, men, kids, and adults. I feel it is well designed in that whenever they could, Jalie took steps to eliminate bulk. Just keep in mind that as drafted this is an oversized fit through the bust/waist/hips. Don’t do the hem or armholes until you try it on!

Tractors Jalie Laurent Hoodie

I don’t have much to say about this one, only that it so stinkin’ cute I had to post it!

Really happy with my pattern matching for the pocket.

My three year old son LOVES it. I made it in 4T so that he would could get more wear from it.

Tractor fabric is a cotton/lycra french terry from Jumping June Textiles, purchased last month during a sale. Cuffs and hem band are a 240gsm mustard ribbing, also from Jumping June Textiles. (BTW if you find a fabric you like from Jumping June and are looking for a coordinating rib knit, just send her an email. I did this for my last order and promptly got back an email with several options. She is happy to help!)

I topstitched all seams in place on my Juki TL-2010. I normally skip this step but I think it gives a more finished look to this finer fabric. Since this fabric is lighter weight I also self lined the hood instead of using a jersey.

The Green Pepper 203: Drawstring Daypack

Pattern Background

Daypack in both children and adult sizes with grommets and drawstring opening, front pocket, hidden zip pocket under the front flap, and padded, adjustable straps.

Fabric and Notions

I used a polyester water repellent canvas, purchased almost exactly 10 years ago from Fabric Mart. I sewed the entire bag with matching Gutermann Mara 70 thread.

Zippers, ladder buckles, drawstring cord, cord stopper, front buckle, and 1” webbing were from Amazon.

Grommets are size 1 grommets from Wawak I had in my stash. You should technically use a size 0 for this pattern, but this is what I had in stock.

For the strap padding I used some leftover Bosal handbag foam from Wawak.

Construction

The instructions started off ok, but by the time I was starting to finish up the bag I realized there was a major error. Unfortunately there are no line drawings or sample photos of the back of this backpack, so I didn’t know what was happening until the very end when I went to turn under the top hem where the grommets are set it and realized I was going to be sewing it into the reinforced section with the straps and hanging loop. I had to figure out what went wrong, then unpick the entire section and try sewing it again. I was not happy.

Take note of the illustration under G. FLAP AND HANGER LOOP TO DAY PACK.

See how it has you place the flap with the cut edge on the line? That is wrong! If you sew it like that you’re going to have that issue of the entire strap and loop section being in the way when you go to sew the drawstring hem.

Instead, you want to place the angled part of the flap on top of the line and sew over that. Basically transfer that line which they tell you to use as a cutting line for the flap to the other aide as well, only don’t cut through it. Note in the photo below my chalked in white lines to the side of the flap and how my stitching line goes right at that angled part of the flap.

Here’s what it looks like when the reinforcement patch is finally sewn on.

The instructions also have you do 10 grommets, but I ended up doing only eight.

Conclusion

I will be honest, I don’t like this bag. I feel like it’s smaller than I expected, not just in size but like my frame is almost too big for it. You can see how the straps just barely fit me despite being nearly let out completely, and I’m not even wearing a coat, just a sweatshirt. I don’t have this issue with any of my purchased backpacks. It also feels like the bottom is caving in against my back instead of staying flat. The entire balance feels off.

I think another part of my dislike is how the poorly edited instructions caused me more time and work than it should have taken, which caused negative feeling about this project before it was even done. I ended up giving it to my son. It’s way too big for him but he loves filling it with his stuffed animals and dragging it all around the house!

Jalie 4674: Sophie Half Zip Sweatshirt

Pattern Background

Half zip style sweatshirt with collar and front kangaroo pocket. It comes in both cropped and longer hip lengths.

This sweatshirt has a roomy fit – about 8” through the bust – so you will want to pair it with something closer fitting on the bottom, especially if you make the longer length version. I wear mine with the Jalie 3022 yoga pants.

Fit and Alterations

I started with a size Y and made the following alterations:

Added a total of 4.5” to the hip.
Added a total of 6” to the hem band. As drafted there is almost 2.5” of negative ease through the bottom hem band and my alteration makes it closer to zero ease.
Lengthened the sleeves 1” which is a normal Jalie women’s pattern adjustment for me.
Added 3/4” length to the body. I actually added it at the hem instead instead of at the short/lengthen line because I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the length, so this would make it easier to chop off if I needed to. I ended up liking the length because it falls just below my widest part, so I’m going to keep the extra length. It does make the bottom of the kangaroo pocket taller this way.

At around 8” positive ease through the bust the Sophie is slightly larger than the Jalie Laurent, which has about 7” positive ease through the bust.

Materials

I used a rayon/nylon/lycra purchased from Fabric Mart five years ago. It has 30% stretch in both the width and length. Since it met the minimum stretch requirements I was able to use self fabric for the cuffs and hem band.

The zipper is a #5 nylon zipper from WAWAK which was also in my stash.

Since my knit has 4-way stretch I used two pieces of fusible knit interfacing, on layered on top of the other with the stretch perpendicular to each other, for the section where the zipper starts.

One thing I found a bit odd about this pattern is despite calling itself a sweatshirt, sweatshirt fleece is not one of the recommended fabrics! Instead they recommend ponte, sweater knit, or French terry. I think since it is a roomy fit they don’t want you getting “lost” in it, though at least the cropped version would be totally fine if made from a sweatshirt fleece.

Construction

Jalie categorizes this as a “quick” project on their website. I don’t really agree because the front zip requires taking your time to get right (I didn’t get it 100% perfect) and the collar requires hand stitching inside. But once you’re done with the front zip and collar the rest of it goes together quickly.

I recommend looking through the instructions once before actually sewing, at least for the collar and front zip. You sew part of the collar to part of the front neckline and then do the zipper, then sew the sleeves and back together before sewing the rest of the collar to the neckline.

Since ponte doesn’t roll or fray I only used the serger to finish the inside hem of the kangaroo pockets and otherwise constructed this on my regular sewing machine.

I made the hem band the same width as the body of the shirt. As drafted it is about 6” smaller. I have some Lands’ End sweatshirts where the hem band is the same measurement as the bottom of the shirt where it attaches and I feel they just look and feel better on me than when the hem band has negative ease. (I find Lands’ End clothing often has a lot of nice details that work well for me.)

Conclusion

The Sophia has some nice details. I like how they included a tiny piece to help cover the end of the zipper, it just gives a more finished look to me. Hoodies are definitely cozy but I find the hood gets in the way when wearing a winter coat that also has a hood, so I like having collared sweatshirts in my rotation as well.

I really like the zipper length. On me it zips down to just below my bust, which is where I often leave my regular full-zip hoodies unzipped to. Sometimes I find half zips can be a pain to get on and off, but since this zipper goes pretty far down I have no issues with that.

As I mentioned before I found their lack of sweatshirt fleece as a recommended fabric a bit odd, but I will say that the weight, drape, and structure of the RPL ponte I used gives a luxurious feel when worn. It definitely doesn’t feel like a sweatshirt. It also has PLENTY of room for layering. I’ve been wearing it with a slim fit t-shirt and merino wool base layer top under it during these cold fall mornings and it flows right over everything and feels totally comfortable.

Jalie Laurent Sweatshirt vs Jalie 3355 Sweatshirt

In the photos below I’m wearing both of these sweatshirts with the Jalie Roxanne pants and layered over a Jalie Tina t-shirt.

The Jalie Laurent, which I made last night:

This is why photos are hard for me now 😂

Jalie 3355, which I made about a year ago (and is a bit rumpled from just coming off the clothesline). I don’t remember if I blogged this one or not.

Pattern Background

Jalie 4131 Laurent

Classic sweatshirt and t-shirt pattern. You can make a hoodie with a kangaroo pocket or a cropped length short sleeve crewneck t-shirt. Most of Jalie’s knit top patterns require 4-way stretch knits, but for this one you can use just about any knit that has a minimum of 15% two-way mechanical stretch. If your fabric has at least 30% stretch a separate piece for a self fabric neckband (which is longer and narrower) in addition to a ribbing neckband piece. Lots of options!

It starts at size 2T. The drafting is geared for men: longer lengths in both the torso and sleeves, roomier in the shoulders/upper chest, and narrower through the hips. However there’s no reason why you can’t make this for girls and women as well. Just adjust the length and add some width to the hip if you need it.

One of the best Jalie patterns ever, in my opinion! Classic styling and can be made for the whole family from toddler to big adults. I have made this countless times for my son and husband, and now once for myself.

My son’s latest Laurent hoodie, embroidered by me

Jalie Laurent long sleeve t-shirt made from a cotton/lycra jersey

Crewneck Laurent sweatshirt, freshly embroidered for my husband last New Year’s Eve

Jalie 3355

Crewneck or hoodie sweatshirt with sweatpants. The sweatshirt has the traditional little V applique at the center front neckline, which is a nice touch. The sweatpants are very simple and quick to make: elastic waist, curved side pockets done in a way that minimizes bulk, and elasticized hems.

This one is drafted more for women: shorter sleeve length, narrower through the upper chest and underarms, and wider assumed hip measurement. Shorter inseam for the sweatpants too. The Jalie Henri jogger pant, drafted for boys and men, assumes a 15” inseam for size 3T; 3355 assumes a 14.5” inseam for the same size 3T. But just like with the Laurent you can make this for men as well (which I have done before).

Materials

Jalie Laurent

I used a sweatshirt fleece from Fabric Mart I’ve had in my stash for about two years. The description says cotton/poly but it feels and drapes more like a 100% cotton sweatshirt fleece to me.

Instead of self fabric I used some rayon Lycra jersey I also had in my stash for the hood lining. It just so happened to be a perfect match for the fabric.

I used a bubblegum pink 220gsm weight rib knit from Nature’s Fabrics for the hem and cuffs.

Jalie 3355

I used a cotton/lycra sweatshirt fleece from Jumping June Textiles. Fantastic fabric that I wish I could use for all of my sweatshirts! I also purchased the coordinating 220gsm ribbing she had available at the time.

For the front neck detail I used machine embroidery thread.

Fit and Alterations

Jalie Laurent

I started with a size Y based on my bust measurement and made the following alterations:

Added about 4.25” total width to the hips and hem band

I wanted to note that the Jalie measurements given in the instructions/pattern sheet are incorrect, at least for my size:

35” for the center back to sleeve hem length. I measured 36”
29.5” for the center back length. It was closer to 28.25”

Jalie 3355

I also started with a size Y for this one.

Lengthened the sleeves 1″
Traced a CC for the hip, based on my own hip measurement
Added about 1″ width to the sleeves
Added about 5″ total width to the hips

The finished measurements for size Y per my measurements were:

27.5″ center back to hem
33.5″ center back neck to sleeve hem

Construction

Super easy! 1/4” seam allowances mean you can construct both of these almost entirely on your serger.

The Jalie does include that little V of ribbing you often see in RTW sweatshirts at the center front neck. I did this detail on my Janome using machine embroidery thread and one of the decorative Mode 2 stitches on my Janome 6500P.

Comparison

Both sweatshirts have approximately the same ease through the bust, waist, and hip. As drafted, both of them drop straight down from the underarm. There’s no waist shaping at all.
The sleeves on the Laurent are long. Normally I lengthen sleeves 1” and instead I had to shorted these 1”. I could probably shorten them another 1/2” but since I was shortening them after cutting and sewing the entire shirt it was less of a hassle to do just 1” and narrow the cuff.
The cuff on the Laurent runs large. I ended up taking it in almost 2”. Meanwhile the 3355 cuffs were perfect as drafted. They are both about the same height, the main difference is in how loosely they fit.
The Laurent has a more dramatic dropped shoulder and wider sleeves, which makes it sit lower in the underarm area. 3355 has a generally trimmer fit through the shoulder and upper chest.
3355 has slimmer sleeves than the Laurent. The underarm also fits higher (about 1/2” or so). Both layered fine but I think the Laurent would be easier layer in the winter.
The Laurent has a more pronounced dropped shoulder than the 3355.
Jalie 3355 is also about 1” shorter in center back length than the Laurent.
The kangaroo pocket is almost laughably small and IMO set too low for the 3355. Meanwhile I feel like the Laurent pocket is almost too large.
The hem band for 3355 is very tight. The hem band for size Y has a finished measurement of 31.75” for a 43” hip. Over 11” of negative ease! Even after adding about 6” more ease than what the pattern called for I still found it too snug, which made it ride up constantly on my pear shaped body. (Since I didn’t have enough ribbing to recut I actually ended up cropping the shirt in an attempt to minimize this issue, but then it felt too short.) It is cut as one piece on the fold with just one seam, which can make it difficult to fit on those smaller tubular rib knits if you try to add more width.
The Laurent has two pieces for the hem band (one for the front and one for the back). The ease in the Laurent hem band is much better, despite it technically being for a smaller hip circumference. It measures 42” for a 40” hip, making it 2” of positive ease. I was using a remnant of ribbing so I didn’t have quite enough to cut it as wide as I wanted (it was about 2-3” of negative ease instead of the zero ease than I wanted) but it stays in place much better. I don’t find myself tugging it down as much as the 3355.
The Laurent hood is lined. They suggest using self fabric but this can make for a bulky hood, depending on the weight of your fabric. I lined mine with a rayon jersey. Meanwhile the 3355 hood is unlined. I definitely prefer the lined hood.
The 3355 hood is also shaped a bit different. They’re actually about the same size, but the 3355 is more square shaped where the back of your head would be, and the bottom edge where it attaches to the neck of the sweatshirt is less shaped than the Laurent. I felt like the Laurent hood fits me better.

Conclusion

I prefer the look of my Ottobre zip front hoodie to both 3355 and the Laurent, but due to the close fit that one doesn’t layer well with anything other than a short sleeve t-shirt. With living in an older house in the Northeast and heating oil over $6 a gallon right now, my focus is less on style and more about practicality, ease of layering, and comfort. 3355 has the advantage of an entire outfit in one pattern, but the Laurent has more options and IMO the drafting is a bit better. The Laurent fits a taller frame better (I am about 5’9” tall) and the looser fit around the armhole makes it a little easier for layering.