A sweatshirt for my great-granddaughter

 Ah, the overthinking happened again. 

Her first birthday is coming up.  I honestly had no plans to make anything; timing and all that.  Then I thought, what about a cute little sweatshirt for fall?  Then I remembered how hard it was to hoop the onesies and thinking about a size 2T sweatshirt got me to the idea of making a sweatshirt and embroidering the front before the shirt was sewn together.  How hard could it be?

Last Saturday the hardest part was finding suitable fabric.  Locally we have JoAnn Fabrics and Hobby Lobby.  My preferred local fabric store doesn’t carry the fabric needed for the sweatshirt.  Hobby Lobby had their Minky on sale (maybe it always is?).  I had never worked with Minky and again thought, how hard can it be?  I opted for it because of price and also thought this would be great for a tester.

The fabric is a pretty blush color.  What I didn't realize was that what I saw on the bolt was the WRONG side of the fabric.  When I got home, I found the plushy side and thought, oh, this is not what I wanted.  But I had it and I needed to use it.  

Here's the pattern and a link (NAYY), the Sage Sweatshirt:

I purchased the pattern last year and it certainly seemed easy enough.  I used to make my clothes back in junior high and high school, made play outfits for my toddler, and clothes for myself as an adult back in the days when sewing was a frugal way to build a wardrobe.  I made a baker's dozen batik shirts with stand collars and a multitude of buttonholes for the Hubs about 5 years ago, but that was the only garment construction I've done in at least 20 years.  

When we went to Nashville in May, I gave my daughter a tape measure so she can measure herself, my granddaughters and, of course, my great-granddaughter anytime I ask.  Saturday morning I texted Kelsey and found out she had her, and I had the measurements in time to walk out the door to go fabric shopping.

So back to the pattern and sewing.  I cut out the front and stitched out a really cute embroidery applique design from All Things Applique:

The design is from their shop on Etsy.  They also have a website but the design wasn't available there. 

Here's my stitch-out--I did not personalize it.  My granddaughter and I agreed that leaving items without names allows her to hand them off to family members, and I'm all for it.

So far, so good, except for forgetting that the pumpkin vine doesn't show up.  Before I stitched it I had thought about adding a knockdown stitch for it, and then promptly forgot about it.  I cut out the rest of the pattern and marked my notches.  I took off from work Thursday to finish it because family is coming to town this weekend and I probably won't get much quality time in the studio. 

But operator error dives in when one is paying too much attention to the video about Minky playing on YouTube that the operator should have watched prior to cutting.  It's a raglan style top, and I got as far as stitching the sleeve backs to the back of the sweatshirt, then joined the front.  The next step was to join the side seams when I realized I attached the back to the front instead of the sleeves between the front and back.  And I did the seams in a triple stretch stitch...and struggled to see the stitches in order to rip them out.

Now here's where the cards were in my favor.  My granddaughter had told me she was going to start putting my great-granddaughter in size 2T clothing.  The measurements my daughter gave me Saturday landed her squarely in a 12-month size, but I thought no, I'll make the 2T size and she can get some mileage out of this.  So I whacked off the seams.  I don't know what size it is now, but I'm pretty sure it fits. 😤

My wonder clips got a workout until I watched a second Minky video...

After I sewed the seam above, I watched another YouTube video of someone using Press 'n Seal to stabilize Minky as you sew seams.  Maybe this is a common tip out there in Minky world, but since Minky is all new to me, I tried it and out and, by golly, it was terrific--no pinning or wonder clips!  The Press 'n Seal held everything steady.  

The tiny neckband wasn't a problem; I hand-basted it before I stitched it.  No worries. 

And this is the part where I explain other issues.  I didn't know that I shouldn't have cut the Minky with a rotary cutter.  Minky fluff is everywhere in our apartment.  My birds think there are others that have joined the flock but just can't find them.  I took a vacuum cleaner to the cutting mat, the ironing board (not that I ironed the Minky, I knew better--I just set the pieces on the ironing board), and the whole area around the cutting table, and I'm still finding fluff.  I'm going to give my cutting mat a good scrubbing, too.  

And here's the finished shirt:

That neckline could use a little trimming

I will definitely make the shirt again; I may even make one for myself.  I will definitely NOT make it with Minky.  If I ever use Minky again, it will be for a baby blanket.  But it's always good to learn what you like and don't like.

I'll try to remember to get a photo with it on my great-granddaughter next weekend.  But for now, I think I'm going to pick up a size 2T sweatshirt and see if I can get it maneuvered just right to stitch out another cute design.

And no, I haven't returned to the Stitch & B!tch Sampler, but will when we return from Nashville. 

In the meantime, go make!