A Walking Hoody

 

Often when Minerva offer me fabric as part of their brand ambassador team program, I can get a bit like a rabbit in the headlights.  They have so many lovely fabrics and I am instantly drawn to the most colourful and most floaty fabrics on their site.  This time however, I have chosen a much more practical option. In January when it was hot and all I wanted to wear was floaty fabrics, I ordered this lovely coral coloured textured knit.  It is by Lady McElroy which is extremely popular but not a brand I had worked with before.  I threw caution to the wind and ordered it and I certainly wasn't disappointed in either the colour or the texture of the fabric.  It is extremely stretchy so lent itself to many different styles but I knew that I wanted to make myself a hoody of some description.  I popped it aside and spent quite a bit of time pondering what style I wanted to make.

While visiting Wanaka in early March, on an unseasonably cold weekend, I spent a bit of time wandering the shops, as you do and bought myself a hoody that had a built in neck warmer.  I lived in that top for the remainder of the weekend because I had packed for summer hadn't I!

When I returned home I had already decided that I wanted to recreate my rtw top in this fabric, although in more of a sweatshirt style.  

I did spend quite a bit of time drafting the hood and neck warmer on this top but the actual sweat pattern is one I drafted last winter.  To line the hood and neck warmer I used a piece of polar fleece I managed to find at my local Spotlight store.  It is heavier than I would have liked but the colour was hard to match and being it was early autumn, their winter stock was a bit sparse at this point.  Because the fabric has quite a lot of stretch I just made the cuffs out of self fabric and to finish the hem, I simply folded and topstitched it.

This top will make a great addition to my walking wardrobe (yes there is such a thing).  I spend a lot of time both winter and summer walking around the hills near where I live as evidenced in these photos.  Often on a crispy morning I will begin my walk in a sweatshirt or a jacket and end in just a tee, so this top will do nicely.