Open Weave Hoodie with Color Block Inserts

    
 The theme for the Project Run and Play Challenge, that I planned on entering,  is to use analogous colors when creating a garment for a child.  This analogous color scheme is one of my favorite, and I began to search for a print or stripe fabric in a softer tone of this color scheme.  

Summer is coming and this is the perfect time to create a new hoodie for summer.

 The hoodie that I made is banded on the edge of the hood, and features a analogous Cotton/Lycra stripe that has been inserted as a color block in the sleeves. The print was used on the diagonal pockets. Lastly, athletic mesh was used to create the body of the hoodie. I love one aspect of the pattern I chose... the diagonal inserts on the side front and back.  The pattern used is the Hideout Hoodie.

Since I had never sewn with an open weave mesh like this, I did a little experimenting with the fabric first. First, I tried to sew the sample by just serging the seams and it puckered. So, next I sewed it with a slightly longer regular stitch than normal, then I serged the seam slightly inside that row of stitching. This created an enclosed seam that was just perfect.
On the color-blocked seams on the sleeves, I sewed them with a regular straight stitch, then I coverstitched the seam from the right side of the fabric. 

A Different Way to Color Block

Sometimes I actually plan my color blocking for garments by directly pinning (the top of the sleeve) onto a scrap of fabric that I want to incorporate into the pattern piece (sleeve). I measure how large I need the color block, then I sew the next piece (bottom of the sleeve) onto the scrap. On this sleeve, I even coverstitched it too. Lastly, I cut out the pattern piece with the incorporated color block already a part of the fabric.

 

Smiles,

Deborah