Jalie 4131 Laurent Sweatshirt

The boys in their matching Easter shirts!

I made this several times so far for both my husband and son. The latest version, which is shown in the photos, were matching Easter sweatshirts. I embroidered both of them on the ancient Janome 300e my mom gave me last fall (another new obsession of mine). The machine is ancient and was sitting in a closet completely untouched for about 20 years. I oiled the bobbin and needle bar and have been using it ever since. I had to hunt on Amazon for memory cards that would actually work and designs often require me to do some rotation and size adjustment in Ink/Stitch, but I’m making it work.

Another one I made for my husband, freshly embroidered! You can see how much nicer the neck looks.

Pattern Background

This pattern is for crewneck and hoodie sweatshirts as well as a tshirt. The size range goes from size 2T to 2X. Th suggested fabric is sweatshirt fleece with a minimum of 10% stretch and ribbing for the neck, cuffs, and waistband. You can also use self fabric if your fabric has at least 30% stretch.

Materials

I used a cotton/polyester sweatshirt fleece I found on Amazon. It is not great quality but for something like this which is worn only a few weeks it is fine.

The ribbing is a cotton/lycra rib knit from Nature’s Fabrics. I’m not really happy with it. It seems like the recovery isn’t great (which caused some gaping at the neckline) and the hand suggests there’s some polyester content hidden in it.

Fit and Alterations

For my husband I used size Y, which is on the larger side of Medium.

I found the collar ribbing rather wide and removed 3/8” from the width, bringing down the finished width to 3/4”.

He also found the collar was too tight. I added another couple of inches to the length.

My husband is 5’4” so I shortened the sleeves 3”. For the first version I shortened the length 3” but he found it too short, so I reverted back to the originally drafted length.

For my son, I just added a couple of inches around the hips because he still uses cloth diapers when out and about. I may have to take it in next year because he keeps getting taller and slimmer!

Construction

This is a super easy make. You can do it almost entirely on a serger. I did cut out the fronts and embroidered them before sewing it up because it’s just easier to hoop that way.

Conclusion

I use this all the time for sweatshirts for my “boys.” It is a classic style and one of the few knit Jalie patterns that doesn’t require a lot of stretch. Highly recommend!

Ottobre 3/2012 #2 (Infant/Toddler Sleeveless Shirt) and Ottobre 3/2023 #5 (Infant/Toddler Bermuda Shorts)

Hello summer!

Background

Ottobre 3/2012 #2 is a sleeveless knit shirt with a neckline and armholes finished with rib knit. Two snaps at the left shoulder help with dressing. It is drafted for sizes 50-86.

Ottobre 3/2023 #5 knit shorts are hemmed just below the knee, with a hem finished with rib knit. The side seam has a decorative stripe made out of rib knit. The waist is elastic, with a decorative drawstring at the center front. It is drafted for sizes 62-98.

Materials

For the top I used a cotton/lycra jersey from Nature’s Fabrics. I had it leftover from another project and it was just enough to squeeze this shirt out of it.

The shorts were made out of a cotton velour, also from Nature’s Fabrics. I really liked using this fabric for his shorts. It is durable, soft, and washes well.

The snaps are from KAM Snaps. The rib knit is from Fabric Mart. The grommets for the drawstring (not shown) are #00 metal grommets from WAWAK. The 3/8” wide cotton drawstring tape is from Amazon. The 1” elastic for the shorts waist is also from Amazon.

Fit

I used a size 86 for both shirt and pants.

For the shirt I added about 2” width to the hem at the hip. My son wears cloth diapers and I find that adding some width helps it not ride up as much over the bulk.

For the shorts I added 1/2” height to the center back seam.

Construction

I found I needed to mark where the binding went at the bottom of the armholes of the shirt, because otherwise it is hard to see exactly where the bottom of the armhole is when you’re binding it and you may end up halfway down the side seam! Otherwise it was a straightforward process constructing the shirt.

For the shorts, a Clover bias tape maker to make the binding for the side seams made the process go much easier. No having to manually turn under the edges, just run it through the tape maker and then sew it onto the front before stitching the side seams together.

For both projects I used a 5/8” finished width single fold binder for my cover stitch machine to attach the ribbing to the fabric. I found the velour was too fussy when it came time to stitch the elastic casing for the waist with my cover stitch machine (so many skipped stitches) so I ended up using a zigzag stitch on my regular sewing machine for that.

Ottobre 5/2012 #13: Women’s T-Shirt

Background

This fitted women’s t-shirt from Ottobre features a gathered scoop neckline and long sleeves. The fit is slightly looser than the other two t-shirt tops in this issue due to the front gathering adding extra ease. It comes in sizes 34-52.

Materials

I used a lightweight, stretchy rayon/lycra jersey purchased a few years ago from Gorgeous Fabrics.

For the neckline gathering I used 1/4” clear elastic I found in my stash.

Fit

I cut a size 44. This was the first of the trio I made. I added about 4” to the hips. After making it I discovered the front upper chest was rather wide, so I narrowed it on subsequent versions.

I also found the length of both the body and sleeves really long. The sleeves were very tight around the elbows. When I went to hem the sleeves I accidentally hemmed the same sleeve twice, which is why I ended up with three quarter length sleeves!

Construction

To gather the neckline you use clear elastic. I actually hate using clear elastic; the ultra thin 1/4” width elastic stretches into a skinny rope that’s almost impossible to stitch and the texture is sticky. I do have a heavier and wider elastic but it was packed away somewhere and I couldn’t find it at the time. (STILL haven’t finished unpacking after over a year!) once you gather the neckline though the rest of the shirt goes together quickly.

The neckline binding length is left up to you; I cut it 85% the length of the measured neckline and that seemed to work well for keeping it stable and snug.

Conclusion

Not sure if I would make this one again. I prefer the snugger fit of the other two tops in this issue. I do think it would make a nice shell for under a blazer though (if I ever wear one again!)

Another Ottobre Women’s Hoodie (Download)

Previous hoodie post

This time I made this hoodie out of a stretch bamboo fleece from Nature’s Fabrics. This fabric is so soft and cozy! The greater stretch is across the length, not the width, so I cut it against instead of with the grain. For the rib knit I used a gray heather bamboo/spandex rib knit which as you can see coordinates perfectly. Overall this is a much softer and stretchier version of my first hoodie.

The zipper is a YKK #5 molded plastic zipper that was in my stash, likely from WAWAK/Cleaner’s Supply. I finished the hoodie neckline seam with twill tape from Amazon.

For this version I also added a hanging loop, as I noticed with my other hoodie that I needed to hang it up more than I anticipated.

Ottobre Women’s Hoodie: PDF Download

The whole outfit for today!

With Ottobre 5/2012 #11 tshirt and Jalie 3022 yoga pants

Background

This downloadable fitted hoodie pattern is available from Ottobre’s Etsy store. It has front kangaroo pockets finished at the opening with rib knit, a full length front zipper, a concealed hood drawstring, and fairly wide rib knit cuffs and front and back hem bands. It comes in sizes 34-52.

Recommended fabrics are knits with 30% stretch.

Materials

I have a gorgeous bamboo fleece from Nature’s Fabrics in my stash I want to use for this pattern, but since I wasn’t sure about the fit or construction I decided to use something less precious for my first version, a cotton/poly sweatshirt fleece from Fabric Mart. It has about 20% mechanical stretch. I would not go below that amount of stretch for this pattern.

For the rib knit I used a pretty beefy rib knit from Jumping June Textiles. It ended up being lighter and paler in color than I had hoped for, but the quality is excellent.

The zipper is a #5 YKK metal zipper from WAWAK. The hood grommets are #00 metal grommets, also from WAWAK. The twill tape used for the drawstring and to finish the seam attaching the hood to the rest of the hoodie is from Amazon.

Fit

I cut a size 44 for most of the hoodie. For the hem band I cut a size 48. The hip of the hoodie where it meets the hem band is around a size 46. The hem band has negative ease so you stretch it to fit the hem of the fleece. I also made the sweatshirt length size 48 so I wouldn’t have to shorten my zipper.

I found the fit was spot on, though a bit on the snug side due to the lower stretch and lack of Lycra in my fabric. The sleeve and hem length were perfect for me. I didn’t know how I’d feel about the wide cuffs (about 3.5” wide) or wide hem (around 4”) but I like them! When I’m working in the kitchen I can just flip up the cuffs instead of pushing them up, and the hem band gives a good fit around my hips.

Construction

Ottobre instructions assume you’re using one of those cover stitch machines that does the faux RTW flatlock stitch. I don’t have one so I serged the edges together and any topstitching was done on my regular sewing machine. The seams were mostly sewn on my serger.

Once again when it came time to sewing on the pockets I used the Design Plus fusible web tape from The Sewing Place. It makes it SO much easier to do any sort of topstitching for tabs, pockets, etc when working with knits.

I should also mention the PDF download layers the pattern pieces onto the paper (much like the pattern sheets do) and no seam allowances are included. I actually prefer this as it’s less sheets to tape together and it forces me to trace onto tracing paper rather than take a shortcut and put the paper pieces directly onto the fabric.