This post is written by Jessamy of Jessamy B Makes.
Hello Imagine Gnats readers, I hope you have been enjoying Sweatshirt Week as much as I have! Much of the North East has been covered in cold, gloomy winter weather lately. If you are in the same boat, here is a cozy Ali sweatshirt comparison to help carry you through to better weather.
The Pattern
The Ali Sweatshirt by Sew DIY is a slightly cropped boxy sweatshirt with two piece dolman sleeves and a fun yoke detail. It comes with two different necklines included in the pattern: a crew neck and a scoop neck. I chose to sew the crew neck for both my versions.
Oversized boxy sweatshirts are definitely in my wheel house. I like the slightly cropped length of the Ali, which keeps it from swallowing you whole. I am 5’1”, short waisted with a 33” bust, 28” waist and 37” hips.
According to the size chart, I am a XS for the bust and S for the waist and hips. Due to the oversized nature of the pattern, I choose to sew a straight XS. There is 7-10” of positive ease included in the pattern, so keep that in mind when picking your size!
I did shorten the bodice pieces by 1,” and used the bracelet length for the sleeves, to help keep things proportional.
The Fabrics
Now, let’s talk about these fabrics! For these tops I used the stretch sweatshirting in plum with matching 2×2 ribbing. For the second version I used the tri-blend organic stretch french terry in Heather Forest with Charcoal accents for the yoke and ribbing.
The stretch sweatshirting is a bamboo/cotton blend with 6% spandex, giving it that bit of stretch. It has a nice smooth hand and wonderfully soft fleece interior.
The sweatshirt fleece washes well and was easy to sew with. It is just slightly heavier than the french terry, making it that much cozier. You can see in the comparison photos that the Plum sweat shirting holds its shape just a bit more, adding to the boxy fit of the sweat shirt.
The Heather Forest version was sewn with the tri-blend french terry. It is a tencel, organic cotton blend with 6% spandex as well. The tencel content of this french terry really lends the fabric a nice drape. It also has a smooth hand and a soft loopy interior.
It is just slightly lighter than the sweat shirt fleece. You can see in the photos that it hangs just a little bit differently, giving a more relaxed look to the garment. All these differences are very slight, and both fabrics lend themselves perfectly to this pattern.
The Ali Sweatshirt has a fun detailed yoke and two part sleeve. The pattern recommends top stitching the seam allowances down on these two pieces. I love this fun detail and feel like it adds some nice visual interest to the finished garment.
Over the last few years I have tried to up my wardrobe game a bit and tend to keep my sweat shirts for the house. However, don’t be surprised if you see me out and about in one of these cozy new makes from this Ali sweatshirt comparison!
If you would like to join in on the fun of Imagine Gnats Sweatshirt Week, we have a discount for you! You can take 10% off of all sweatshirting, french terry, and 2×2 ribbing now with the code COZY10 at checkout.
Also, if you need a new cozy-sewing pattern or two this will also get you 10% off of all sweatshirt and sweatpants patterns in the shop! This code is good from January 28 – February 4 at midnight. Happy shopping!