Time For A Fling

As I’m writing, winter is hitting the UK rather hard so I was super pleased to have made this over sized, long line hoodie in a snuggly fleece sweatshirting. It is a new pattern by the very cool Made It Patterns team and they gifted it to me. The Fling Hoodie dress is not your standard hoodie, it resides in its own stylish Hood. Team Made It have added a few lovely details to make this hoodie rather special and my love for it is pretty deep.

Let’s start with the fabric and a note of exasperation. I bought this cotton mix fleece from my local fabric store, Dalston Mill. Initially I was after a more emerald green but there wasn’t enough on the roll so I settled for this blue/green. I washed it as soon as I got home. It wasn’t until I was about to cut into it that I noticed a line of discolouration through the fabric, possibly due to light damage or me drying it on the radiator- forgive me but I had run out of drying space. I still cut through the fabric telling myself it wasn’t that not noticeable. I lied.

And guess what? It’s the same down the back. Am I sad about it? Yes. Am I cross with myself? Yes. Will I track down some dye in the right shade? You bet!

What colour would you call this- petrol or teal? The shop assistant called it petrol, but really, is this pretty colour the colour of fuel? It actually reminds me of the bluey flame that would emit from the little paraffin heater my siblings and I used to huddle around when we were young. Yes, it’s by the grace of God alone that we are still here to tell the tale! That’s how we used to live. This Fling Hoodie in this gorgeous snuggly teal fabric( that’s the colour I’m going for) is a much safer way to keep warm!

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. As I’ve said, the pattern is called the Fling Hoodie dress and made at it’s full length for someone 5.4 or 5.6 depending on the sizing band, it would fall about 2 inches above the knee at the front and behind the knees at the back. Judge for yourself how dress like that would be. Much as I love a jersey dress I felt that the roomy style would be best just as an oversized sweatshirt for my frame so I shortened the body pieces by 1.5 inches.

The sizes for the Fling are named after popular biscuits which is fun, and to my great delight my measurements landed on my favourite biscuits! I am all shortbread bust and custard cream hips. And having watched An Audience with Adele the other week it’s nice to know that we are both partial to custard creams.

This pattern is suitable for beginners and the instructions are very clearly detailed. The dress can be made with kangaroo pockets or simply with the built it side seam pockets. I went with that more straightforward option. The hood can be lined or unlined with bound seams. I learnt how to do bound seams properly through making this pattern and it was a lovely process. I cut up a t- shirt my daughter had outgrown to make the strips for the bound seams. I love that the hood is sewn high and close if you see what I mean, making it really cosy.

Another process I enjoyed was making the amazing sleeves. These are 3 part sleeves constructed to build texture and volume. The upper sleeve is pleated and the under sleeves are joined to them then top stitched. The hem is finished with a facing piece which is the only part of the whole sewing process that had me saying “Seriously?” It was really fiddly trying to sew that hem neatly. The instructions say the sleeves look a bit like prawns, and I do see that but I also see croissants and I even found myself at the grocery store the next day looking for fresh croissants, sadly they were sold out.

The finished sleeve is a funky thing to behold.

I also really enjoyed the topstitching, which is unusual for me. Although my stitching isn’t perfect, I feel that it added more interest and a professional touch to the make. And then there is the high – low hemline, love it! I don’t know why a deep hem is so pleasing, it just is. And the longer curved back hem providing bottom coverage and warmth is a good move.

What more can I say? It’s certainly worth flinging open your wallets and buying this pattern, you’ll love it. It is totally hackable. I restricted myself to making a solid coloured hoodie but just think of the fun you could have with the sleeves and hood! Colour blocking the sleeve pieces, maybe use a piece of quilted fabric. The hood can be lined too in a different fabric. You could size down for a less roomy garment, shorten it to make a boxy sweatshirt and I don’t think it would be too difficult to turn this into a zipped jacket. My youngest has already put in her order for a straight hemmed version.

Apart from the pale streak my only other regret is that I didn’t lengthen the sleeve. I must have measured wrongly because I didn’t think I needed to but alas as is common for this long armed girl, the sleeves are a bit short. Oh well, I’ll have to make another one!