Raglan Re-Do

Monday, February 17, 2014

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Over at the Oliver + S blog, they've been doing a series of posts about changing up their raglan t-shirt pattern.  There's a whole bunch of great ideas there, but the one that got me going was the color blocking one.

Now, I've made probably a bazillion raglan t-shirts in my sewing career.  I've sewn with knits for years, and the raglan t-shirt pattern from Kwik Sew (my back-up go-to pattern company) was a staple of mine.  There's something really satisfying in making up one of these t-shirts; they're so quick, and I've never had one rejected by any of my kids for not being comfortable/stylish or any other reason.

Well, one of my co-workers went on a six-week visit to her home in India.  Lucky woman.  I really don't even know how you return to work after being gone 6 weeks.  She brought me back a lovely bag:

I, however, am not a funky bag type of person.  I have one purse, that I use until it dies.  Then, I buy another.  I don't change bags to go with what I'm wearing - I generally wear black, and my purse is always black.  Yeah, boring, I know!  Well, when I looked at this bag, I thought about what I could turn it into....and, after cutting it up into strips, came up with this:


My original idea was much more ornate, but when I put the trim on the sweatshirt, I knew simple would be better.  I used some wonderful cottony sweatshirt fleece.  I bought it at least 19 years ago from a shop in Toronto.  I used to go there all the time, and bought many, many meters of his wonderful fleece.  I still have about 3 yards of a light blue left, but this little bit of the off-white is the last of this.  I really feel like I'll never find fleece as nice as this ever again.

I added a hood to the size 6 t-shirt.  I knew I had to go up a couple of sizes to accommodate the heavier fabric.  I also made a bit of a high/low hem to make it a bit more girly.  I used a hood from a Kwik Sew pattern I had for my older kids and the size  6 hood fit EXACTLY in the neck for the raglan.  Yes, meant to be!  I lined the hood with some random cotton print I had, and I think it works.


The sweatshirt is perfect for a gray morning on the beach.  I walked along the beach with Julia this morning, and based on her request, I may add a kangaroo pocket to the front.  I believe I can squeeze one out of the remnants.




I'm really, really happy with the way this turned out!



13 comments:

  1. I really love what you did with this! (Do you think the lady will be cross when she finds you cut up the bag? :)

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    1. Thanks! Hopefully, she doesn't read sewing blogs and won't find out! !

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  2. And so you should be! That is the most WONDERFUL pullover. Just the right amount of "ethnic" to make it interesting without being over the top and perfectly constructed. Well done! I love it!
    And I am absolutely with you on the plain wallet and bag thing.

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    1. Thanks! Yes, I'm glad I re-thought my original plan and went with this layout....much better than what I originally intended!

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  3. Love this !!!! Another cute,cute project - love your work:)))))

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  4. It looks great! I really like the high-low hem.

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    1. Thanks - a last minute idea that I had that totally worked!

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  5. I love this! When I saw the pictures on flickr, I thought you had been pattern testing for someone.;) I love the mods that you did to the Field Trip raglan. You did a great job on the placement of the stripes and amount of trim you added. It looks like one a high priced hoodie from one of the big surf brands!

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    1. Thanks! It worked out perfectly - having a hood that fit perfectly in the neckline....it does remind me of a beachy type sweatshirt too.

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  6. Me again! I nominated your blog for a Liebster blog award. Hope you don't mind. Details here

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  7. So fun and funky! I love this!

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