Project 30: Dress Hoodie

There's something I find very appealing about the hoodie. The ability to just flick that hood up on your head and disappear, the convenient length, the moderate insulation, and the easy front zipper. The typical fabric, though, limits its usefulness for me. Jersey can be convenient and comfortable, but it's never dressy. Fleece is a little more structured, but very hard to find in natural fibres.

I decided to experiment and make a jacket with the silhouette of a hoodie, but in alternate materials. I used Garment Designer 2.5 to make the basic pattern shapes, then printed them out and made my plastic pattern pieces for the shell, lining, and facings from those.

If I had a tailor's dummy you could see the effect a little better, but alas, a hanger and your imagination will have to do.

It's about a half inch shorter than I planned due to a fairly dramatic construction error I made. I had to take the whole thing apart when I realized I had left the zipper only half installed the first time!

The shell is a medium weight suiting. It has a little stretch to it, but not enough to give me too many problems.

I quilted the lining pieces with some poly fleece for warmth. I read subsequently that you're supposed to quilt the lining before you cut the pieces out. That would have been a bit easier! As it was I had to mark the quilting lines, then carefully stitch to exactly the edge of the facing, then stop and pull the needle thread through to the back and tie it off. I did that dozens and dozens of times!

The facings do look pretty sharp, though.

I made a welt pocket on the inside for my iPhone. It came out the nicest of the three welts, I think.

On the outside, I made two welt pockets and finished them with snaps. In retrospect, I probably should have merged the bottom seam of the pockets into the hem seam for a little more security. As it is, the pockets can wiggle around and make lumps under the shell.

The hood is generously sized, and a little too pointy, I think. Before making another one I think I'll adjust that pattern piece a little.

I only ever intended this to be a practice run at the garment, but as it came together I liked it better and better even though it was made of pretty basic materials.

I think I'll make a few of these to figure out what I like best. I might make one out of coating wool with a simple lining next and see how I like that. I might also make another of these with the same construction and colors but with higher end wool and silk.

The most important thing I learned on this project was how to install a zipper in a lined garment. That's going to come in handy time and time again.