Sewing a hoodie

WNBRich

My DS has to make a fleece hoodie for his design technology project at school. His teacher told the children to make a template from their own clothes. My DS's design is far too small and is the wrong shape, but I'm amazed he managed to do what he did. He is completely lost, as am I ! I have looked at other threads for suggestions, and one was to use an old piece of material to see if the pattern works. I haven't a clue how to design the hood part. Any ideas would be appreciated.

westcoastscot

Hi,
The easiest way to make the hood, is to measure an existing hood - you need to fold it along the fold, which should run from the middle of the forehead to the centre back. Measure from the edge to the fold. Otherwise measure around the head, and divide that number by two. That will give you the width of your piece.
To get the length, measure from shoulder to shoulder over an existing hood, or measure from shoulder to shoulder over the top of your head. That will give you the length of your piece of fabric.
So, if you can picture it, you have a long thin piece of fabric. Fold this in half, putting the short ends together, with the right side of the fabric on the inside, and sew down one of the long folded sides.
If you can picture it now, the sewn edge makes the back of the hoodie, and the small edges are the ones which you stitch to the top of neck of the hoodie.
It's not as complicated as it sounds - be easier with a diagram!
If I can clarify please ask
WCS

carerof3

WNBRich wrote: »

My DS has to make a fleece hoodie for his design technology project at school. His teacher told the children to make a template from their own clothes. My DS's design is far too small and is the wrong shape, but I'm amazed he managed to do what he did. He is completely lost, as am I ! I have looked at other threads for suggestions, and one was to use an old piece of material to see if the pattern works. I haven't a clue how to design the hood part. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Not sure if this is any help to you, it's the pattern for a hoodie vest - perhaps you could adapt it;
http://wkdesigner.wordpress.com/2009/07/

WNBRich

Thanks Westcoast for the clear description. I will also try link that carer has kindly given me. I'm a bit worried that the finished garment will not fit as my DS has a very large head and the neck opening needs to be large enough.

flea72

WNBRich wrote: »

Thanks Westcoast for the clear description. I will also try link that carer has kindly given me. I'm a bit worried that the finished garment will not fit as my DS has a very large head and the neck opening needs to be large enough.

as longs as he uses fabric with a bit of stretch, and cuts the pattern out with the grain in the direction that has the most stretch, then he should be able to get it over his head

however, if he has made a template using his own clothing, why has it turned out too small? ok, you need to allow about 1cm all round for a seam allowance, but if hes laid the item of clothing down on a sheet of paper and drawn round it, it cant be too small

tbh, the easist fleece hoody, would be to make it tabard style, so fold the fabric in half, roughly draw a 'T' shape with the top of the 'T' along the fold, forming the shoulders and sleeves - then you just need to sew the underside of the sleeves and down the trunk of the body

cut a slit for the neck hole (do this bit by bit, until its big enough to get your bonce through), and then construct a hood as suggested above by westcoastscot, and attach

saves having to do fancy armholes, and neck bindings

F

westcoastscot

Hi,
If you use two squarish pieces for the body and use the whole size of the hood bottom for the neck it will fit over easily - the shoulders will be small compared to the hood but once on it will look good. I used to make them for my kids with just two squares for the body, a rectangle for the hood and two for the sleeves and they look very smart on. With the large hood and vents in the hem they are easy to put on whatever head size
WCS

CupOfChai

What I remember doing as part of D&T textiles is 'deconstruction'. Basically, it might help him get a feel for it if he could get an old hoody or one from a charity shop or somewhere and take it apart by unpicking the seams, to see the separate pieces it's made of and how they go together.

If said hoody roughly fits him before taking it apart he could also just iron flat the pieces and then draw round them on to paper to get his pattern .