Pink Sweater with Half-Zipper

 I am finally ready with my third project of the Make Nine plans for the 2025 - the pink sweater.

Last year I made a pink hoodie for Gaby out of a big piece of sweatshirt fabric and I had quite a significant amount of it left - and I hate wasting fabric. My plan for it was to make another hoodie for myself, using the same iconic Burda pattern. 

Once I took out the pattern pieces, it became obvious, that if i didn't want colorblocking and insisted on having a solid color sweater out of this piece of fabric, I had to make quite a lot of changes and compromises. I could not have a hood and the cuffs and hem had to be cut out of ribbed fabric. I also had to shorten the sweater a bit and then also narrow it a bit - this was not a big problem for me, as I am petite and the pattern is quite wide. Finally, either the front or the back had to be cut in two separate pieces. I decided to make it a simple sweater with ribbed cuffs and neck, so I cut the front on fold and made the back with a seam. Luckily, I had some ribbed fabric, which was almost perfect match to the main fabric. 

Then, when I was almost ready with the sweater and was debating with myself whether to add the kangaroo pocket or not, I googled cropped sweaters and came upon plenty with half-zippers. At this point I had only cuts of fabric left, but the idea of adding a collar and half-zipper kept gnawing at me. I abandoned the project for a while and let it stew.

Meanwhile I bought three more or less suitable zippers, watched probably a dozen of videos on sweaters with half-zippers and in the end constructed my own collar and lining. I was able to cut four pieces of the collar and two triangular shaped pieces of lining for the zipper out of the fabric remnants. Thus the inside of the zipper and the collar came out very neat. I am really pleased with the result and plan to make more half-zipper sweaters in the future, as I quite like the style.

Pattern: Hoodie 102 Burdastyle 03/2022 plus elements of Burdastyle 113 09/2020

Fabric: sweatshirt knit

Size: 36, - 6 in width, -3 cm in length

Time to make: one month

The collar can be worn turned, opened or fully closed, but I think I like it best half open and up. I made the collar curved, wider at the base than at the top, using the collar from Burda 113 09/2020 as a model. However, most of the video tutorials I watched used simple rectangular collars, so next time I make this type of zipper, I might try it that way, to test the difference.

The kangaroo pocket is also from the Burda 113 09/2020 hoodie, which I've already made twice. However, because my sweater is cropped, I had serious doubts about adding it, as in its full size it went almost up to my bust. In the end I decided to cut off 5 cm from its height and add it anyway and I am pretty pleased that I did it, as it brings the ribbed cuffs and the body together and adds some interest and sports vibe, which I like.

Despite all the compromises I had to make, I am really pleased with how this sweater turned out and I expect to wear it a lot, especially with ashes of roses being one of my favourite colors ever since I read Thorn Birds at the age of 14 :)

We took these pictures today in the yard of the local monastery - yes, we have a small monastery in the area. Our residential quarter was once a village right at the outskirts of the capital, with its own church, school, market place, community center, a monastery and even its own graveyard. Most of the houses are long gone, replaced by apartment buildings, but the focal points of communal life are still preserved, snuggled between the tall buildings. In some respects, despite the wide boulevards and subway station, it still has the vibe of living in a village and we love that.

Blue Hoodie for Gaby's Boyfriend

Two years ago I sewed a hoodie for Vali - Gaby's boyfriend, and that is still his favourite hoodie. Two years is a long period of time, so it was time for a new hoodie. Gaby and I chose the fabric - double sweatshirt fabric and the color - light milky blue. The pattern is the same I used last time for him - Brad by Vikisews

 Last time I had made some minor modifications to the pattern - I extended the width by 1 cm, a total of 4 cm, lowered the neck by 1 cm and shortened the body and the sleeves. Although Vali liked the hoodie as it was, I thought it needed some lengthening, so this time I returned the pattern to its original length. As it turned out, it came out a bit too long, so the third time should probably be the charm lengthwise :) 

I don't remember whether I made any mods to the hood last time, however now I decided to use a completely different hood, which I know fits men's heads well - from a Burda hoodie I made for husband last year. I bought a thick cord for the hood and installed my biggest grommets - I think they look nice.

Pattern:  Hoodie Brad by Vikisews

Size: 178-184 cm; 40; modified

Fabric: sweatshirt knit fabric, rib knit, cotton knit

Time to make: five days

I also added the kangaroo pocket I had designed for this sweatshirt last time, as this hoodie comes without a pocket.

I hope the new hoodie would be as much loved and worn as the green one:)

This was actually the last finished project for 2024, but I still have to show you the blouse I made for Gaby before that, so there will be more 2024 FO pictures soon.

Hoodie for Gaby's Boyfriend

I can hardly believe it myself, but this is my eighth hoodie this year - 2022 was definitely the year of hoodies :)

This one is my Christmas present for Gaby's boyfriend, who is much taller and broader than her, so no wonder the hoodie is big on her. Still, I think the photos give a good idea of the pattern and the final result and I am happy to have them on my blog.

Although I have a couple of Burda men's hoodies, none of them was exactly what I was looking for - average volume, kangaroo pocket, roomy hood and set-in sleeves. After going through the catalogues of other pattern companies, I chose this one from Vikisews - Hoodie Brad.

Gaby's friend likes green and I was lucky to find a very nice quality warm sweatshirt knit fabric, suitable ribbing and even matching cotton knit for the lining of the hood.

 

Pattern:  Hoodie Brad by Vikisews

Size: 178-184 cm; 40; modified

Fabric: sweatshirt knit fabric, rib knit, cotton knit

Time to make: one week  

My modifications:

Although I bought size 40 and I believe the recipient is size 38, the body of the hoodie looked too narrow, compared to Alex's RTW hoodies, so I added 2 cm width to the front and the back, a total of 4 cm in the round. I also widened a bit the neckline opening, as it was much too narrow for comfort and respectively widened the neck circumference of the hood. I shortened the length of the hoodie, as the pattern looked much longer that the RTW hoodies I was comparing it to and I also shortened the sleeves (which on second thought I should not have done, better longer than shorter sleeves, now I cross my fingers the sleeves would not be short on him).
The original pattern does not have a pocket, so I made one, based on other hoodies we have at home.
 

All in all, I am happy with the final result, Gaby found the hoodie warm and soft. However the pattern did not turn out exactly what I was looking for, so I'm still in search of a good men's hoodie pattern with set-in sleeves.

Navy Blue Hoodie

When we went out today to take a few photos of my new hoodie, husband asked me "Didn't we already take photos of it a few days ago?" I know, I've been making a lot of hoodies lately, but this one is  brand-new and it is for me!

It is actually kind of a bonus-hoodie, as the fabric is the lighter weight sweater fabric I bought as a lining fabric for Gaby's navy hoodie and joggers, the rib fabric is a remnant from Gaby's hoodie also, the pink lining of the hood is a remnant from a couple of T-shirts I made for Gaby and myself this summer and the cord of the hoodie is also some remnant cord I had in my stash - so no new fabric or notion, total stash-busting, win-win!

The pattern is another Burda pattern from my stash, Burda 6315B, with the hood from Burda 6315A. As far as fit and comfort go, this is actually the best hoodie pattern I've made and I've made a few. However, I find the hood too roomy even for myself, and I love roomy hoods. Next time, and I'm sure I'll be repeating this pattern, I would modify it to be more like the hood from Burda #103 01/2017, which I made earlier this year. What I've found is, that the best fitting hoods are those, that have a broad overlapping at the front - it prevents them from pulling too much backwards.

Pattern: Burda 6315

Size: 36 with corrections for height

Fabric: two-thread sweater knit fabric, rib knit, pink jersey knit

Time to make: 5 days

I added two pink elements to the hoodie to pull in the pink of the hood lining - a pink label from an old blouse and pink wooden balls at the end of the hood string. My initial idea was to make a small machine embroidery of a pink flower at the corner of the kangaroo pocket, but all of my attempts at doing embroidery on my machine looked so pathetic that I finally abandoned the idea and settled for the pink label.

The pink wooden balls are also custom-made. I had basic white wooden balls I had bought in bulk for my crocheted necklaces and earrings and I painted six of the balls pink, using one of my nail polishes. It actually worked like a charm and the color came out very close to that of the hood lining. So, never despair if you can't find the right color buttons or balls, sometimes nail polish can be your best friend :)

I have at least three more hoodies to sew this season, two men's and one women's, so stay tuned, there'll be more of these here in the coming weeks :)