Put a bird on it!
This absolutely gorgeous thick sweatshirting was sent to me by Véronique at Chat Chocolat, a Belgium-based fabric designer. This sparrow print is part of her latest collection, "All Animals are Equal III," which is a pretty adorable combination of animals and their footprints (or some sort of marking related to the animal).
Her printed fabric collections also come with matching solid sweatshirting and ribbing for neckbands and cuffs. Thoughtful! Check out #chatchocolat and #allanimalsareequal_collection for more inspiration.
(PS: Sorry for the blurry photos! Full time job plus changing seasons leaves not a lot of daylight for taking blog photos!)
I'l admit that I'm not typically a novelty print kind of gal, but I think these Chat Chocolat fabrics are pretty classy looking. The sophisticated and saturated color palette certainly helps! I love the deep plummy color of the "wild ginger" sparrows I chose, but could have easily fallen for the mustard-y fish print, too.
The Chat Chocolat sweatshirting substrate is really great- super soft organic cotton, thick and brushed on the inside, great stretch and recovery (I suspect there may be Lycra in there). It worked perfectly for the Josie hoodie!
I've been meaning to make Style Arc's Josie Hoodie for a while now... I purchased and printed out the PDF months ago, but am only just getting around to sewing it. I was particularly inspired by Lindsay's R2D2 version, but also really loved Lara's and several others I saw out there.
Josie has lots of details I love: a high funnel-style neck on the hood to prevent drafts, curved hems with facings (my favorite!!), shoulder darts on the raglan sleeves for shaping. So much goodness.
My Josie is a size 16 and I'm happy with my size choice. My measurements put me in a 16 top, 18 bottom, but I couldn't be bothered to print out the extra pieces to grade out at the hips. I love the fit; it's not tight, but it's more fitted than some other sweatshirts I've made, in a good way.
Josie's shoulder darts really help the raglan sleeves sit nicely and I like that the sleeves are slim but not tight. I just adore the shape of the curved hem with the facing. I did skip the drawstring at the hem, knowing I would never use it.
I used some black ponte scraps from my stash for the hem and hood facings, to prevent bulk and save fabric. I'm excited that my efficient cutting left me with enough sparrow sweatshirting to possibly make a top for one or both of my nieces...
The only thing I might consider altering on my Josie is the curve of the hood; it's ever-so-slightly pointy at the top of my head at the seam, so I may shape it slightly to fit my head better by taking that seam in. We'll see if I bother, though.
I am absolutely delighted with my Josie! Thank you, Chat Chocolat for sending this gorgeous fabric!
