A Couple of Avocados

And now for something completely different.

(Well, maybe not completely – it is still about sewing.)

I recently had the pleasure of being a pattern tester for Mari of Disparate Disciplines as she launches her first sewing pattern for her new independent pattern business – the Avocado Hoodie, in versions for both men & women.

This is my brief review of both patterns.

She needed testers to be a variety of sizes and I just happened to be the small end size most others could not test for her. And since my husband was a size that she also needed to test for the men’s version, I was able to make one for each of us.

Part of what attracted me to this pattern is the unusual back pockets for your Significant Other to use.  I love the details on the hoodie because they are interesting and something I wouldn’t want to take the time to pattern & test myself. For me, it’s always about the style lines and interesting details when I choose to buy & make a pattern.

(The Avocado Hoodie even has a sweet backstory that can be read here.)

The pattern is a downloadable pdf file that you print from your home printer and then tape together. The printing instructions are easy to follow and I had no trouble taping all the pages together and cutting out the appropriate sizes.

I cut mine at the pattern’s size 0 and cut my husband’s in his suit size.

Pattern pieces taped and cut out.

(Tip: If you are cutting a size that is not the smallest or largest, use a highlighter to mark your cut lines because it can be a little tricky to follow the one you want through the nested pieces.)

I chose a dark grey microfleece with 40-50% crossgrain stretch (10″ stretched to about 18″) for our hoodies because the standard sweatshirt fleece options at my local fabric store did not have ANY stretch. (What’s up with that?? I still can’t figure out what you would want sweatshirt fleece without stretch for.)

I had fun playing with a new-to-me stretch stitch. I chose to use it for all my seams and the topstitching because it is like a straight stitch & serge all-in-one (at the moment, I really need to have my serger serviced) and it looks sort of like a coverstitch as topstitching.

Samples on scrap fabric of the stretch stitch I chose.

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you may remember that I asked for opinions about topstitching color on my hoodie. And you sewcialists were no help – it was a perfect 3-way tie, lol!

Lime, Orange, or Hot Pink?

My jersey options were limited (and boring!) at the fabric store, so I resorted to buying the biggest men’s t-shirts I could find (and they were only $4 at Walmart!).

A men’s 4X t-shirt is perfect for cutting up when you need nice jersey fabric!

Despite my favorite colors being green and orange, I ended up choosing the pink for my hoodie for three reasons:

1) I decided to use pink jersey,

2) I recently got a new pair of sneakers that would match,

and 3) I had already decided my husband’s hoodie topstitching would be blue (you know, the whole cliché boy/girl thing).

I followed the pattern & instructions as printed. The only small modifications I made were lining the hoods with the same jersey fabric I used for the pockets, stitching the seams and then trimming the seam allowance close to the stitching as I went, and adding some decorative topstitching.

Pocket assembly.

The pocket was fascinating to me. I didn’t realize it would be all one pocket with 4 holes until I started assembling it. Nice engineering!

Bright jersey lining!

For the decorative topstitching (on both hoodies), I used two spools of thread at the same time through the needle. It made for better topstitching and the slightly different shades of the same color added some visual depth.

Oh, and I did manage to figure out a way to completely clean finish the thumbholes so there is no topstitching or handsewing necessary. I followed the pattern instructions up to the point just before you turn them right side out. Just before I turned them, I made two more stitchlines to attach the edges of both cuff holes to each other.

It is a bit advanced and hard to explain exactly how I did this with still photos, but here are some example pictures. (I might try to do a video if anyone is really interested in seeing how I did this and if the photos are too unclear.)

I tested what I thought would work with safety pins first (so I could turn the cuff right side out). When it worked, I replaced the pins with stitching.

Both hoodies fit very well without any alterations! That’s something that almost never happens for me – most mass produced patterns seem to have ridiculous amount of ease. I can tell that Mari spent a lot of time and attention to the fit of her hoodie patterns. They’re very well planned & drafted and went together like a dream. These patterns are about as close to custom drafted as you can get with something that has been graded.

I liked the snugness of the sleeves on the women’s version; however, I have really skinny arms, so I’m guessing that the average woman might prefer the sleeves a little looser. (I might even cut my next hoodie a little bigger in the sleeves just for ease of wearing with more layers.)

And here’s a series of photos of me and the comic-relief husband wearing our hoodies:

Non-overlapped hood on his. Overlapped hood on mine.

Hoodies from the back.

Men’s Avocado Hoodie

Women’s Avocado Hoodie

His Emperor Palpatine impression.

And my pockets don’t really gap in the back, but no one told me I was pulling forward with my hands in the front pocket. Where’s my costumer when I’m in front of the camera?

Crummy self-mirror shot. See? No gapping pockets.

Hood detail.

Men’s Avocado Hoodie with back pockets.

These shots just make me laugh. =)

My “Vogue Sewing Patterns” pose and a cheesy sitting pose to show the hoodie with my matching shoes.

I love this pattern and plan to make a few more variations of the hoodie for myself, probably with a center front zipper because that’s what I wear the most when I work (the zipper makes it easier to shed when I’m wearing a walkie and other costuming junk around my neck).

If you want to sew your own Avocado Hoodie, you can buy your own downloadable copy of the Disparate Disciplines Pattern. There’s the men’s hoodie, the women’s hoodie, and a discount if you buy both together.

Both versions fit true to measurements and have nice style lines, which keep them from looking sloppy.

I highly recommend these hoodie patterns! Thanks, Mari, for letting me test them! =)