This month’s Lynn sweatshirt hack turns the sweatshirt style into a simple top ideal for lighter weight jersey fabrics. I chose to make this in a viscose French terry which has a lighter drapey handle compared to the cotton French terry.
How to make:
Start by making a pattern for the neck facing. Trace the neck edge of the top front and at least some of the armhole on to a piece of paper.
- Draw in the seam allowance along the armhole (1cm).
2. Draw a second line also 1cm (seam allowance) next to the seam line. Shown here with a dashed line.
3. Fold the sleeve pattern so that the underarms match. Crease the paper so you have a line for the centre of the sleeve. Draw a line in the crease. Place the front of the sleeve to the front pattern, matching the edge of the pattern to the dashed line.
4. Now draw in the remaining neck curve along the upper edge of the sleeve pattern. You also need to draw in the centre of the sleeve. You can do this by folding the pattern towards you along the crease line so you can trace this edge. You can also lay a ruler over the crease line and draw above the crease, then remove the pattern and draw the straight line in place.
5. This is the upper edge of your front neck facing.
6. Now mark in the lower edge of the front neck facing. Measure down from the upper edge equally around the whole edge. I made my neck facing 9cm deep. You could go a bit smaller but remember you will take approx 1.5cm off with turning and edging.
7. Add a 1cm seam allowance at the shoulder edge where this will be joined to the back neck facing.
8. Join the dots to make a solid line. This is the front neck facing. Now repeat the process for the back neck facing.
To make the garment:
Cut 1 front neck facing in fabric and lightweight fusible interfacing.
Cut 1 back neck facing in fabric and lightweight fusible interfacing.
For this version I extended the length of the sleeves and the body so I could hem them rather than adding hem and cuff bands.
9. Apply the fusible interfacing to the facing pieces. With right sides together (RST) pin and stitch the facing pieces together at the shoulder seams. Neaten the inside raw edge of the facing.
10. With RST pin and stitch the sleeves to the front and back bodice pieces. Neaten raw edges.
11. Fold the neck facing with the shoulder seams matched and mark the centre front and back with chalk or a small snip. Do the same for the centre front and back of the top.
12. With RST and centre front and backs matched pin the neck facing to the neck edge. Stitch, trim and clip.
13. Understitch around the neck edge on the facing.
14. Push the neck facing to the inside and press. You can hand catch the neck facing to the armhole seams to secure. Complete the top by joining the underarm seams and hemming the sleeve and lower edges.
