Monday, May 21, 2018

Halifax Hoodie review

I actually finished this sweatshirt like, a month or more ago, but didn't get around to pictures til today.  Lovely weather at the park today! (finally! it's been cold and drizzly/rainy/cloudy up til last week...)


I spent a whole bunch of time thinking about different color combo possibilities, and I did some coloring and Paint-ing to decide.




I like it because it's  super comfy and warm, but I'm not sure I'll be wearing this out in public much. I did wear it a ton after making it though, around the house.

Pattern is Hey June Handmade, Halifax Hoodie, view E (high-low hem, twisted side seam, funnel neck, minus drawstring and its casing). IIRC I cut a straight size 2X (I'll have to go find the pattern pieces I traced out to confirm).  Fabric is 70% cotton / 30% polyester  280g/m² ("heavy jogging") bought at Arrow Workshop. (please excuse the fold lines at the small of my back, I washed and air dried it prior to photos, and didn't notice the lines where it was draped over the clothes horse til looking at the pictures :P)






I had to piece the funnel neck (it's meant to be all cut from one piece of fabric on 2 folds) because I didn't have enough black fabric and not quite enough turquoise; I chose to do the inside and outside different colors. If I have to piece it again, I'll need to pay attention to where the side seams would be (I just did the piecing seams where the "place on fold" bits were, the original is a single piece with the seam at the back, which means that the piecing seam ended up at the front).  This neck needs a much drapier fabric than what I have, which is a nice thick sweatshirt fabric - it stands up instead of slouching attractively as in the illustrations and the pictures I found on instagram . I don't think that it's just because I pieced it (more seams giving a bit more structure) that's doing it (on re-examining the photos, it does look like most people used a lighter weight fabric).



The cuffs are too large, and because I used the same fabric as for the body (as per pattern instructions), they're stiff (doubled fabric). Just like with the funnel neck, if using a thick main fabric, a lighter weight fabric should be used on the cuffs. The sleeves are slightly too long, which I think wouldn't be a problem if the cuffs weren't too big, or had more pull-in.

The lower arm has zero or maybe even slight negative ease on me. I'll need to figure out how to expand that, without affecting the cuff sizing. Because of this lack of positive ease, the sleeves don't stay pushed up when, say, I'm doing the dishes.

The shoulders are too wide, so probably when I make it again, I'll need to check that and cut a smaller size and grade out at the armpits. It's also got that wrinkle at the armpit and the drag lines from the bust, so maybe a FBA is in order (haven't looked into this in depth, but I'm not sure how that should be addressed with the twisted side seam...)

I do love that the lower hemline isn't constricting at all, most of the time sweatshirts are smaller at the ribbing than the main body, and since my lower part is not narrower than my upper, that makes them mildly uncomfortable for me. I do not find it a problem that the lower edge is thick and stiff (just like the cuff) because there's plenty of ease for me, and I didn't want a sweatshirt that pulled in, I wanted a slouchy comfy thing. I'm not sure that the high-low hem is flattering on me though.

Mostly it went together pretty easily, though because there's instructions for the twisted side seams, straight side seams, funnel neck, crew neck, hoodie, and cardigan all in one great big long numbered instructions booklet, there's a lot of jumping around (go to step 47143. Now go to step 1231. Now go to step 7861864125.). I think it even managed to completely avoid telling me how to put in either the cuffs or the hem, I forget which. The pieces fit together nicely (and almost all my seam matching points are almost perfect! even with the pieced bits! go me!~) so no problems there.






Overall, I'd say this isn't a bad pattern, and I've got some really lightweight sweatshirt fabric to try making probably the cardigan view with, and I may well make this view again with some slightly less thick sweatshirt fleece. I do wish that they recommended a lighter weight fabric for the funnel neck and cuffs and maybe the lower hem depending on maker preferences. I got some sweatshirt ribbing to try the cuffs with for my next attempt, but while I seem to recall that the instructions mention ribbing as an option, there are no fabric yardage recommendations made.

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