Pattern Review: Women’s Undercover Hoodie by Ellie and Mac

I am excited to share with you today, the Women’s Undercover Hoodie by Ellie and Mac (aff link).

There is currently a unisex kids version of this pattern as well that I’m planning to enjoy some more stash busting with soon (aff link).

Pattern Description:

The Undercover Hoodie pattern features:

• Hidden Pocket
• Colorblocked or solid sleeves
• Drawstring or Banded hem
• Hood
• Knit Piping

This pattern offers a fun take on stash busting. I have tended to save various sizes of knit fabrics (leftover from other projects).  The version that I sewed has solid sleeves but a colorblocked sleeve is also included in the pattern for even more stash busting fun!

Pattern Sizing:

When I initially picked sizing and cut out the pattern, I thought this pattern would be fun to upsize (and wear layered on top of garments as a sweatshirt).  Typically I grade across three sizes for EAM patterns but I thought I’d pick a larger size (for me) at the bust and just grade across two sizes.

As I tried on the top in the basting stage I found that the beautiful drape in the rayon proved to not be as ideal to upsize.  If I would has picked a more stable knit (like jersey, ponte roma or sweatshirting), this top would have been a fun upsized, layering garment.

After seeing the drape in the top as it was coming together, I decided to take in the seamline. I ended up sewing a small at the bust/arms and a medium/large at the waist/hips.

Did it look like the photo/drawing when you finished sewing? Yes

We’re the instructions complete and easy to follow? Yes

Fabric used (did you use the suggested fabrics in the pattern)?

Black front, back bodice, drawstring, outer hood: Rayon knit** from Simply by Ti fabrics

Grey and black striped sleeves, cuffs and pocket: Sweater knit remnant (from my stash)

Mustard lined hood and piping: Jersey knit mustard fabric (from my stash)

I enjoyed approaching this project with stash busting in mind.  I had 2 yards of a lovely black rayon knit that I used for the main fabric.  I will say that although I do love wearing rayon knits (with the amazing drape), that fabric weight did provide some challenges with pairing it with this pattern.  If you don’t have a lot of experience with rayons or are newer to sewing with knits I’d recommend using a cotton jersey knit instead.

It took me more time then normal to baste the pocket to the front, baste the side seam, unpick and adjust the fabric, etc.  This is one of those projects that having experience with sewing rayon knits (and having some stamina to keep at the unpicking and adjusting the drape of the sweater knit and rayon knit fabrics) is helpful.  If you think you would be frustrated with the time involved to apply rayon knits to this project, I’d highly recommend using more stable knits with this project.

When I initially added the pocket, I found that there was a gap along the pocket opening.  I didn’t like this gap as it defeated the purpose of keeping the pocket hidden.  This gap was due to the very drapey nature of both sweater knit and rayon knit fabrics.  For the adjustment, I followed the same approach that I did with this other project (also involving a rayon knit at the turquoise printed back panel).

1. I first basted the pocket and front pieces together (aligned, as recommended).
2. Then I basted the side seam.
3. When I tried on the garment and found that the pocket was gaping open along the front of the garment.  I unpicked both seams.  I wanted to stretch the sweater knit more than the rayon knit (so that the sides are intentionally uneven).  This allowed the sweater knit to stretch slightly which helps keep the pocket taut and hidden along the front of the garment.  I trimmed the new edges, basted all three together and found that did the trick (to accomodate for the large amount of stretch and drape built into both rayon and sweater knit fabrics).

Did you alter the pattern in any way? Slightly due to the very drapey fabrics that I used (see details above)

I wanted to note, for the hood, I overlapped the front edges by 3″.  I marked the center front location on the top.  I marked I marked the center of the bodice front. For the 3” overlap I marked 1.5” on both sides of the hood to match them up at the Center front together. This was a quick way for me to add the hood.

 

I also found basting or serging the hood inner and outer pieces together made adding the hood easier as well.

Was there anything you disliked or would change? I shortened the drawstring length for the Medium size by 20″.  I will say that I using a rayon knit, the amount of drape and stretch in that fabric definitely impacted the length of the drawstring to be longer (then if I had used more stable knit fabrics).

Would you sew it again? I would!  I’d love to sew one in a more stable fabric like cotton jersey, ponte roma or even a sweatshirt knit fabric.  I would also sew this again with colorblocked sleeves.  This project is so fun to get creative with fabric scraps in your stash!!

Would you recommend it to others? Yes!

Do you consider the pattern beginner/intermediate/advanced? I would say Advanced Beginner to Intermediate due to the construction of the pocket and some unique grading if sewing across multiple sizes.  As a pear shaped body type I graded across two sizes at the side seams and also across the center front pocket.

Does the pattern include layers for easy printing? Yes

Seam allowances used in the pattern: 1/4″

Is the pattern cut or no cut pages? No cut

**I’m a Simply by Ti Ambassador and received the fabric mentioned in this post as complimentary fabric in exchange for review and promotion.  The fabric selected was my choice and the views expressed are my own.