You know how you work on a project and it just seems ‘jinxed’ from the get-go? That would be this striped top. While the final outcome looks alright, I had lots of ‘hidden’ issues with this version of the Jalie hoodie top…. all because of those darn stripes. Somehow my fabric got wonky so one sleeve is ‘off’. Something also happened to the back of the top when I cut it and it’s slightly off too which make the hem look slightly lopsided if you look very closely. And then, of course, you have the pocket facing issue. The moral of the story? Don’t use a stripe.

With all that said, I do like this top. It’s fun, comfortable, and different than anything I currently have in my wardrobe… I just might not admit that I made this one considering how many errors I made!

I spent a lot of time pattern matching my latest Jalie hoodie: making sure the front and back worked together, assuring the sleeves were the same, and the pocket lined up. Apparently, I didn’t think that much about how I cut the pocket facing because after I sewed it on, I realized I had this (photo on left). I debated ripping the whole thing out and starting over, but the fabric is thin and I was afraid what I might do to it and decided to leave it…. I figure I can just stick my hand on one side of the pocket all the time.

Honestly, though, this caused just enough frustration that I’ve decided to put it away for a little bit, I really don’t want to have to tackle the rest of stripe matching at the moment and would rather do something less stressful.

With my husband traveling in Alaska last week, it was almost impossible to get any sewing done. So, this weekend, I spent time in the sewing room and finished a Jalie Hoodie! I was inspired by the fabric I used – it reminded me of something you might see at Hot Topic (which is a good thing when you have a teen)… and fortunately, Taylor loved it! Once again, the fit is spot on (she’s even wearing a tank top and shirt under the finished hoodie) and the construction was great (although more time consuming that what I anticipated). I’m anxious to sew up my striped version now!

I was really hoping that I would be much further along in my second version of Jalie 3132, but I haven’t had much time to devote to sewing this week so, the photo on the left is all that I have to show for now. It still need all the hems set and a hood before it’s complete – right now it looks a lot like a scrub top with a kangaroo pocket. I’m hoping that adding the hood (also black) will tone down all that print… it’s really pink and very Hello Kitty at the moment.

A few things I discovered sewing this version:
If you use a small enough adult pattern size (this one was a ‘T’), you can squeeze this top (short sleeves, hip length) out with 1 yard of fabric so long as you use a contrast for the pocket and hood… it does take some planning, so be prepared to ‘map’ everything out before you cut.

The kangaroo pocket takes longer than you expect to assemble. While the sides are completed with self fabric, there’s still lots of pressing, folding and placement to deal with. This may just be ‘me’, though because I seemed to spend a great deal of time measuring everything to make sure it was even.

Since I had ‘just the right’ thread in my serger, I decided to start with the silver knit Jalie tunic first. I was a bit leery about working with this material because I’ve had problems sewing some beefy rib knits in the past, but I was pleasantly surprised working with this one – it sewed up beautifully, although it did sound rough going through the serger (all those ribs are pretty tall). The instructions were easy to follow and the instructions for the neckline produced a perfect, pointed ‘V’. My only complaint is that the tunic is way too long (at least for my short body) and looks more like a dress than a top. The photo on the left is the (unhemmed, so you’ll have to envision it 2 inches shorter) tunic while the photo on the right has the excess material removed (and hemmed):

Overall, another winner, but I’ll probably just stay away from the longer tunic length unless I’m looking for a short dress this summer.

I loved the fit and look of my last project so much that I went out and bought a new Jalie pattern – 3132. It arrived over the weekend and I couldn’t wait to get to work. I picked several fabrics to give this pattern a test run: two jerseys and a silver cable\rib knit that I picked up years ago. I also started tracing off both styles, the hoodie and ‘regular’ style as well as both lengths and sleeve styles. First up, a tunic length, 3/4 sleeve style top in the silver knit fabric. I can’t wait to get sewing!

Project Details:

Pattern: Jalie 3132

Fabric:
Silver cable knit from Fabric.com

Plum stripe butter jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics

Hello kitty jersey from Fabric.com

Materials & Cost:
Pattern……..$11.69
Fabric………$21.58
Notions……..stash
Total……….$33.27