Striped Hoodie Dress – A Frankenpattern
When I saw this striped hoodie on either Facebook or Instagram I knew I had to make it. 1) It looked comfy B) it was striped and III) it was black and white. (lol) All of my favorites in one and a definite no-brainer!
Sadly I am on a fabric fast (seriously I must make a dent in my stash) and though I have some black and white striped ponte, it is reserved for another project that has been in my head for at least a year but that’s another topic for another day. So I tried to satisfy myself with a similar project and instead I whipped up this Heather Gray Sweatshirt Dress using some heavyweight gray cotton spandex knit from my stash. I am actually glad that I didn’t use my precious striped ponte for that project because, though wearable, it didn’t fit like I had hoped.
Fast forward about a week, I open an email from Fabric Mart one morning and "behold!" the fabric of the day was this B&W Striped Metallic Ponte! And it was.........$2.99/yd!! WHAT?!?!?! Y’all know I had the break the fast! I added 5 yards (plus some Julie’s Pick fabric...ssh) in my cart and hit checkout quick, fast and in a hurry.:) Sorry guys it sold out that day. I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived because it was difficult to see the metallic thread in the pictures, no fault to Fabric Mart as they take amazing fabric photos, but it really has a sparkle in person. The feel of this ponte is amazing I just wanted to caress it when I took it out of the box. It has a soft hand and I knew it would be extra comfy.
Moving on to the sewing, after being disappointed in fit of the grey sweatshirt dress I decided to frankenpattern McCalls 7061 and 6886 to get achieve this inspiration look. Frankenpattern is a word I picked up from some sew sistas which really just means to merge tw0 (or more) patterns together to get your desired look.
Since I know I like the fit of M6886 I used it as the base. The front, back and sleeve pieces are from View C but I actually cut the neckline from the front and back of M7061 View A. I did cut a size larger (14) than I typically do partially because I’ve put on some weight but primarily because I didn’t want a skin tight dress for this casual look.
The hood and kangaroo pocket are from M7061. I determined the height of the pocket by trying on a previous M6886 creation and pinning it wear my hand comfortable hit if I held my own hands. I measured up from the finished hem of the already completed dress to pin added and inch (for the hem) and transferred that measurement to the new dress front, centered and attached it.
For the hood I initially attached it just as instructed for M7061 however that hood overlaps and the inspiration hood does not. So I decided to fold facing over twice to allow the two edges to meet, instead of overlap, in the center. This meant sewing new button holes for the drawstring openings, I eyeballed the placement. The drawstring is just a narrow tube. I cut about a 1” strip along the selvage edge of a scrap piece of fabric, folded it in half (right sides facing), sewed very close to the edge and turned it using my handy turner. Once I threaded it through the hood I cut it to the desired length and knotted each end.
I am in love with this dress, because I love when I am able to recreate a look. That is a large part of why I decided to learn to sew originally! I hope you love it as much as I do.