Category Archives: Knits

Boxerbriefs Progress Report

Time for a report on the boxerbriefs project.

Truth be told, this may be a project where I have bitten off more I can chew. I’m making a total of 20 pair assembly-line style, which means a lot of repetitive work, and each step takes a long time. Plus, it’s been several months ssince I began this project, and my enthusiasm has defintely evaporated since the project began. But, I don’t like UFO projects and so finish this I will.

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Make My Boxerbriefs: The Sequel (Part 1)

I decided recently I wanted to make another batch of boxer briefs, as I had done before. Making underwear is a great way to use up the scraps of knit fabric lying around in your fabric stash, and get a result that fits great and is comfortable. In my case, I had also bought yardage specifically for the project, and I got some knit fabric at swap meets that would be perfect for the project.

But, the project has turned out to be a bit of an albatross. It’s become something of a UFO (un-finished project): I started it this past winter, put it aside because other projects and teaching commitments became a priority, and now I’m not feeling the enthusisam to finish. But, finish it I will because I firmly oppose UFOs.

But first, let’s talk about boxerbrief patterns.

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Make My Hoodie, Part 2

In this conclusion to the Make My Hoodie series, we’ll look at fit, some samples I made, as well as pattern alterations to make this hoodie even more beginner-friendly than it already is.

Fit

The thing that made me most curious about MakeMyPattern was the fit.  How well would a computer-generated pattern fit me out of the box?

The answer: pretty well for the first attempt, well enough that I’m inclined to stick with it.  Here’s some self-timer fashion photos of my first sample.

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Make My Hoodie, Part 1

Though I like the challenge of working on intricate shirt projects, I also love to make more casual wear, especially hoodies.

For the fall, I’ve started a hoodie making project with several goals in mind. The first, of course is to make hoodies. The second is to try out MakeMyPattern.com, a free online service that drafts patterns for you based on your measurements, and provides them as a print/cut/tape PDF download.

And the third is to develop a hoodie pattern I can use in a course to teach beginning sewists. The Sips N’ Sews studio offers a bootcamp course to complete newbies.  It teaches basic machine operation, measurements, fabric, and patterns. The students leave the class ready to work on their first project. I think a hoodie can be an ideal first project for a new sewist. And the MakeMyPattern.com hoodie is ideal in several respects:

  • It is free, so students don’t have to spend extra money on a commercial pattern.
  • It is drafted to the student’s measurements, so this makes an end-run around finding the proper size for a commercial pattern.
  • It is a pullover, rather than a zip-front, so there are no zippers for a newbie sewist to cope with.
  • It has raglan sleeves, so attaching sleeves means sewing six nearly straight-line seams.
  • Sweatshirt fleece is a relatively stable knit fabric, so it won’t pose too many difficulties to a beginning student.

The only difficult parts are attaching the hood to the neckline, and attaching cuffs and waistband which are made from rib knit. Constructing the hood does requires sewing around curves, but this is not as challenging as attaching a sleeve to an armscye and there is no easing involved. Continue reading