I have this favorite hooded sweatshirt that I wear all the time. But it's cream and is now super stained (thanks baby) so I can only wear it in the house. Then, I found this great striped sweater knit at goodwill and decided to try and replicate the sweatshirt. If it didn't work, I was only out $1 anyway.
I used about 2 yards of material. To get the basic shape of the sweatshirt, I just traced around the sweatshirt that fit, adding room for a seam allowance. I made the sleeves a bit more tapered and added big cuffs at the end, like my favorite long sleeve shirts. The hem is extra wide and slit on the side.
The hood was tricky. And if I make another one, I'm going to have to rethink how to attach it. To finish the neckline I just did a very small facing and stitched it down.
The part I'm the most proud of is the hidden kangaroo pocket. It has single welt pocket openings with the pocket underneath. Love Love. So here's how to make it.
Hidden Kangaroo Pocket Tutorial
**I practiced first on a couple of old t-shirts. Which I would recommend. That's what these pictures are from. Hopefully the different colors make it easy to follow along. Black fabric is the main body piece. Green pieces are the welts and the brown is the kangaroo pocket fabric.
On your front body piece, draw on 2 openings where you want your pocket openings. Mine are 5 inches up from the bottom of the fabric. They are 5.5 inches long and 1 inch wide. Draw them on with chalk or a disappearing fabric marker. To get the angle, they are 8 inches apart at the top and 11 inches apart at the bottom.
Then, cut 2 pieces of fabric for your welt. This fabric will show on the outside when you're done. My welts were 9 inches long and 5.5 inches wide. Lay this fabric on top of your chalk lines and trace them on your welt fabric (green fabric). You want your rectangle to be on the outside 1/3 of the welt fabric (most of the fabric towards the inside)
Sew up the long sides, making sure top start and stop in the same place on both lines.
With sharp scissors, cut a straight line down the middle of your 2 lines that you just sewed, cutting through the welt and many body piece of fabric. When you get towards the end, cut towards both corners creating a triangle. (see below picture)
Press the fabric up on the lines you sewed.
Turn the fabric to the inside and press just the outside edge of the pocket opening.
Here's what it should look like from the back.
Fold the longer piece over the opening to create the welt. Press it down.
If you lift up the extra fabric, you should see the folded welt fabric along with a little triangle of the main body fabric. You're going to sew a straight line to keep the welt in place.
Here's the line of stitches over the triangle. Repeat for the other side.
Now for the kangaroo pocket. Cut a trapezoid (top and bottom are parallel sides, while the 2 sides angle into each other). Mine was about 10 inches on the top and 13 inches on the bottom. I just laid my fabric on top of the back of my welts to make sure it was big enough. It should go all the way to the inside of the welt openings with a little extra for seam allowance.
Sew the pocket fabric to the welt fabric (the inside parts).
Then cut a piece of fabric for the outside of your kangaroo pocket. It should go from the outsides of the welt openings. Mine was 14 inches at the top and 16 inches at the bottom. It should cover everything. Sew around the whole outside piece of the pocket making sure to catch the top and bottom pieces so your pocket is closed all the way. Trim all the seams.
Ta da!!! You're done. Top stitch around the welt pocket if you want.
After I had the pocket done, I just sewed on the hood, attached the sleeves, sewed up the side seams, hemmed the bottom and added the cuffs. If you need help sewing the rest of the shirt, here are some great tutorials for basic shirt construction.
Making a t-shirt pattern
Constructing a knit tee shirt
