craftgrrl | diy hoodie, hk-style!

Hello from HK! One major fashion influence in Hong Kong for the 30-under crowd is the fruits movement from Japan. A big thing I've noticed a lot of girls wearing are loong sweatshirt hoodies. They usually come in cute patterns with bears or round-headed people and hit below the hip. Some have knit ribbing on the bottom and the sleeves, and some have monster fur trim on the hoodie. For a mid-westerner like myself, it's a pretty smart statement: fashionable AND warm.

To make one of your own, I would suggest collecting the following instructions. These are pretty liberal, as I haven't tried it myself yet. But hey, exploration and discovery are all part of the process when you actually go out and do it! I drew some pictures to visualize, for people like me. ;D Feel free to make comments on modifications and the like.

- a PREWASHED hooded sweatshirt several times too big for you, or at least is big enough to go over your hips comfortable.
- a zipper that will cover the length of the hoodie
- 1/4 yd monster fur (if you want fur trim)
- fabric glue
- measuring tape
- thread and needle, or a sewing machine
- chalk or something that will mark your clothes temporarily
- pins
- sissors, rotary knife, and/or box cutter
- patches and/or stencils and paint, of your choice

1. Resize the width of the hoodie body and the sleeves to your specifications. Do you want it to fit close? Do you have wide , child-bearin' hips? Do as you see fit, then mark with chalk and allow .5 inches for seams. Allow another inch for sewing on the zipper. Don't cut into the pouch if you have one.

2. Cut and pin together. Or go to craftgrrl memories and look at how to resize big shirts. Don't mess with the length though.

3. Sew it all up.

4. Going down from the center of the front of the hoodie, cut down all the way to the bottom.

5. Fold over each end a quarter of an inch and fold over another quarter of an inch. Loosely baste the folds down. Iron so it keeps folded, or pin it.

6. Pin the zipper to the folded parts, placing the zipper underneath the folds. You can use the basted lines you did earlier to guide your sewing the hoodie to the zipper.

7. Now take the monster fur. Turn it fur-side down on some surface like a cutting board or heavy cardboard. You don't want to be messing up your mom's coffee table. Use a rotary knife or box-cutter, 'cause cutting through monster fur will result in hairy hair ends. We want to minimize cleaning up. Cut it so the length matches the length of the opening of the edges of the hood (where your head goes) with .5 inch on each end. Make it however wide you want - do you want a lot of fur or a little or none? .5 inch allowance on each end as well.

8. Fold .5" in on each side, holding it down with glue. Or you can sew it if it's easier. You just need to minimize shedding. Now glue or sew this piece onto the edges of the opening of the hood. You're almost done!