Stashbusting Hoodie Tutorial

Well You might be able to tell by the picture below but I kind of have a problem with getting rid of things. I LOVE PRETTY FABRICS. Its an illness I've inherited from my mother, who got it from her mother, and well.... I love it. It took me years to figure out what, if any, qualities could I have possible inherited from my mom. She is good at everything, and I finally put my finger on it. Neither one of us can get rid of stuff. I really don't think its a bad thing. Well... not if you can use that stuff for good. So this past month I have vowed to make things out of my "STASH". Today over at T-Shirt Diaries    Robin was sweet enough to feature me.  Today I want to show you one thing I made out of a few things I found in this pile of junk.

This sweatshirt was by far my favorite thing that came out of this stash.   However the cutest thing I ever made is the little squirt wearing it. 

Its overwhelming when you have such a large stash to pick from, so start by sorting you stuff.  I have different shelves for each category (after this shirt I had to take a couple days off of sewing to reorganize the storage room, it was getting crazy in there, so you can't tell I have it organized in this photo)

Sweatshirt fabrics, Knits, Flannels, cottons, fleece, Clothes to recycle (I only save the clothes that are in either really good condition, or prints and colors that I love), Fancy stuff, Small Scraps, and Misc.  The little drawers you see, are filled with, Thread, Elastic, Lace, Ric Rac, and Bindings.  A lot of these things I find at thrift stores or on clearance, I stock up when I see something I will need  I will need in the future.  I recently took several bags full to goodwill, DO NOT... I repeat... Especially if you are married, and want to keep your hubby happy, DO NOT KEEP EVERYTHING.   I know its hard for me too.

So here is the up cycled Hoodie.  I used three different shirts for this project plus a small scrap of flannel to line the hood.  The shirt on the far right had a faded picture on it, that is what I used for the front, the polo on the left was used for the sleeves and I used the buttons for the front of the sweatshirt too.

So back up - lets talk about a pattern, I used a regular shirt pattern that I got from taking apart one of his messy stained t-shirts.  I like to trace them on the comics, or if I want to keep it forever, a plastic disposable party table cloth, they are PERFECT, and don't rip. I used this other sweatshirt to get the hood shape.

First cut out the front and back, and sleeves, then cut the button piece off of the polo, sew it onto the little sweatshirt, fold it over the top and sew it across the top too.  Then open it up and clip the shirt behind it, making plenty of room for big toddler heads.
Measure the neck opening with a measuring tape, then make sure your hood is the same size

Once you cut out the hood, lay it over the fabric you want for lining, and cut that out, I left a big green border on the inside but you don't have to.
Then sew that around the neck.    **I sewed the side seams last so there wouldn't be a lot of bulk in the way while I did this next part.

For the pockets, I looked at another sweatshirt and drew this onto newspaper first, Cut it out and laid it on the sweatshirt to see if I liked the size and shape.    The fabric I was using was so stretchy that i made a flannel lining for the pockets, that part is optional.

I just love it,  and it makes him so happy that he saw me making it for him.  Now the other boys want their own..... hmmmm.

If you have any questions or I missed something please ask!!!
If you use this tutorial, or any of my tutorials, please let me know, I would LOVE to see your work.

Becky