Sprinkling a little Black Girl Magic

I thought spring had sprung but winter still has a firm grip on my corner of the world.  The temps are still going into the 40s at night (BRRRRRR)!!!!!!  I love staying warm and cozy so I decided to make this one LAST winter project.  I’ve been wanting to upgrade my sweats for a while and this fleece from Minerva.com was the perfect canvas for this project.  It is a poly cotton blend and extremely soft to the touch both inside and out.  It’s so warm and cozy that I just wanted to wrap myself in the fabric.  But once I got done wrapping myself, I got to work.

For the sweatshirt, I didn’t want to buy another pattern so I decided to hack one that I already have.  If you follow me on instagram, Simplicity pattern S8947 may look familiar.  I’ve used it a few times in the past to make sweatshirt dresses that I absolutely love. 

To create a zippered hoodie, however,  I needed to make a few pattern alterations:

1.  I added a seam to the center front to insert the zipper. 

2. I shortened the length to meet my hips.

3. Though I cut a size large, I used the size medium hem band piece to give the sweatshirt a bit more shape. 

4.  Instead of buttonholes for the drawstring, I decided to insert grommets. 

I toyed with the idea of adding a satin lining to the hood but in the end decided to keep it simple.  

I knew I definitely didn’t want a plain hoodie so I found this graphic on Etsy and used my Cricut to add the graphic to the front. Walking the line between using enough heat to get the vinyl to adhere but not damage the fabric was a bit challenging.  It took a few tries but I am in love with the result.  

For the sweatpants, I went pretty basic with the pants from Butterick pattern B5473.  It was super easy and quick to sew. 

I will for sure be using both patterns again. For the pants, I would make a few changes. The crotch length was definitely too long for me.  Since this is a sweatsuit and meant for casual wear, I’m not sweating it too much. It would, however, really bother me for a dressier pair of pants.  I also found that the top of the pockets were a bit too close to the fold line for the waistband casing and that I would prefer a wider waistband.  One other consideration would be adding a cuff to the leg hem. Overall, I’m pretty happy with both pieces and you’ll see me out and about running errands in this outfit until summer decides to make an appearance.