4 years ago
You've probably guessed by now that I love sewing bears, and that I also enjoy sewing clothing.... so for my final project from this metre of fabric, I thought I'd combine the two and sew a hoodie for a friend's bear!
There are patterns out there for clothing that would fit a Build A Bear sized toy, but the bear I'm making for is considerably smaller. I've tried printing patterns at lower percentages before, but that's a bit hit-and-miss on getting the sizing just right.
I decided to use the Apostrophe Patterns MyFit Tee, which generates a pattern to the measurements you give. Being a t-shirt pattern, it obviously doesn't come with a hood, so I printed off the hood from the Ellie & Mac Around the Block Hoodie kids' pattern. The 12 months size printed at 75% was perfect for the neck circumference, although I did have to remove 2 inches from the height, otherwise the front hood edge would be down to the bear's chest!
This fleece has 20% horizontal stretch which works well for a hoodie, and shouldn't fray so there's no need to finish the raw edges. While the front of the fabric has a lovely blue and white celestial design, the wrong side is plain white. This makes it simple to identify the right and wrong sides, but does make it challenging to see the stitches to unpick if you've chosen to sew with a white thread. I was tempted to use a darker thread for the bobbin, but I decided to stick with white for the bobbin and main thread.
Although the hoodie is for a bear, that doesn't mean I was going to skimp on topstitching! I topstitched the sleeve and central hood seams just for a little added detail, although I didn't topstitch the hood seam where it joins the bodice. Using the triple straight stretch stitch, the stitches sank into the fleece so you can see a line where the stitches are, rather than seeing the thread on top. This also means that it doesn't matter if you haven't got an exact match for the thread.
Strictly speaking the hood should be lined but I didn't want to add bulk to the hood, considering that I'd already shrunk the pattern down. So I stitched a simple 1/4" hem around the hood opening, and used a 3/8" seam allowance for both the central hood seam, and also to add the hood to the bodice. I know that shrinking down a pattern messes with the seam allowance, but I was confident that I had enough leeway to use a 3/8" seam allowance. You could of course, always add in a seam allowance after printing off the shrunk pattern.
I didn't add in a pocket, but it wouldn't be hard to just add a small rectangle for a kangaroo-style pouch to the front if your plushie wanted somewhere to store a couple of sweets. Of course if you're making clothing for a child, you could also make a smaller version for their teddy bear companion.
Hemming the sleeves was likely to be pretty fiddly, so I cheated and hemmed most of the sleeve before sewing the sleeve seam. Then there was only an inch or so left to finish off on the hem to ensure the sleeve raw edges weren't showing at the cuff edge.
I'm pleasantly surprised how well the patterns worked, and how easy it was to sew, given my struggle with the previous penguin project! It definitely helped that the hoodie didn't have too many pattern pieces, and also had no really fiddly angles to stitch.
Sewing should be fun, and I'm grateful to Minerva for giving me the opportunity to make something different with this gorgeous fleece. I hope I've given you some inspiration for what you could make!
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Hoodie pattern - bodice is Apostrophe Patterns MyFit Tee (https://apostrophepatterns.com/collections/customizable-patterns/products/myfit-tee) Hood from Ellie & Mac Around the Block Hoodie (https://www.ellieandmac.com/products/kids-around-the-block-hoodie-pattern) age 12 months printed at 75% and edited for height.
#MinervaBrandAmbassador #MinervaMakes #MinervaMakers #DragonSews #plush #toy #Fleece #Bear #IndiePatterns #ISew #MeMade #MeMades #sewing #sewist #sewists #SewingInspo #SewingInspiration #sew #sewcialist #SewingProject #SewingProjects #SewingIdeas #SewingProjectIdeas #SewingPatternInspo #LoveSewing #ILoveSewing #SewSewSew #SewersGonnaSew #MakersGonnaMake #sewaholic #sewaholics #ShareYourSewing #SewingLove #FabricInspo #seamstress #MeMadeEveryday #clothing #hoodie #top
There are patterns out there for clothing that would fit a Build A Bear sized toy, but the bear I'm making for is considerably smaller. I've tried printing patterns at lower percentages before, but that's a bit hit-and-miss on getting the sizing just right.
I decided to use the Apostrophe Patterns MyFit Tee, which generates a pattern to the measurements you give. Being a t-shirt pattern, it obviously doesn't come with a hood, so I printed off the hood from the Ellie & Mac Around the Block Hoodie kids' pattern. The 12 months size printed at 75% was perfect for the neck circumference, although I did have to remove 2 inches from the height, otherwise the front hood edge would be down to the bear's chest!
This fleece has 20% horizontal stretch which works well for a hoodie, and shouldn't fray so there's no need to finish the raw edges. While the front of the fabric has a lovely blue and white celestial design, the wrong side is plain white. This makes it simple to identify the right and wrong sides, but does make it challenging to see the stitches to unpick if you've chosen to sew with a white thread. I was tempted to use a darker thread for the bobbin, but I decided to stick with white for the bobbin and main thread.
Although the hoodie is for a bear, that doesn't mean I was going to skimp on topstitching! I topstitched the sleeve and central hood seams just for a little added detail, although I didn't topstitch the hood seam where it joins the bodice. Using the triple straight stretch stitch, the stitches sank into the fleece so you can see a line where the stitches are, rather than seeing the thread on top. This also means that it doesn't matter if you haven't got an exact match for the thread.
Strictly speaking the hood should be lined but I didn't want to add bulk to the hood, considering that I'd already shrunk the pattern down. So I stitched a simple 1/4" hem around the hood opening, and used a 3/8" seam allowance for both the central hood seam, and also to add the hood to the bodice. I know that shrinking down a pattern messes with the seam allowance, but I was confident that I had enough leeway to use a 3/8" seam allowance. You could of course, always add in a seam allowance after printing off the shrunk pattern.
I didn't add in a pocket, but it wouldn't be hard to just add a small rectangle for a kangaroo-style pouch to the front if your plushie wanted somewhere to store a couple of sweets. Of course if you're making clothing for a child, you could also make a smaller version for their teddy bear companion.
Hemming the sleeves was likely to be pretty fiddly, so I cheated and hemmed most of the sleeve before sewing the sleeve seam. Then there was only an inch or so left to finish off on the hem to ensure the sleeve raw edges weren't showing at the cuff edge.
I'm pleasantly surprised how well the patterns worked, and how easy it was to sew, given my struggle with the previous penguin project! It definitely helped that the hoodie didn't have too many pattern pieces, and also had no really fiddly angles to stitch.
Sewing should be fun, and I'm grateful to Minerva for giving me the opportunity to make something different with this gorgeous fleece. I hope I've given you some inspiration for what you could make!
----
Hoodie pattern - bodice is Apostrophe Patterns MyFit Tee (https://apostrophepatterns.com/collections/customizable-patterns/products/myfit-tee) Hood from Ellie & Mac Around the Block Hoodie (https://www.ellieandmac.com/products/kids-around-the-block-hoodie-pattern) age 12 months printed at 75% and edited for height.
#MinervaBrandAmbassador #MinervaMakes #MinervaMakers #DragonSews #plush #toy #Fleece #Bear #IndiePatterns #ISew #MeMade #MeMades #sewing #sewist #sewists #SewingInspo #SewingInspiration #sew #sewcialist #SewingProject #SewingProjects #SewingIdeas #SewingProjectIdeas #SewingPatternInspo #LoveSewing #ILoveSewing #SewSewSew #SewersGonnaSew #MakersGonnaMake #sewaholic #sewaholics #ShareYourSewing #SewingLove #FabricInspo #seamstress #MeMadeEveryday #clothing #hoodie #top
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