Wilder Sweatshirt Hack

I recently made a Wilder Gown top as a sweatshirt and I basically haven't shut up about it since. I love when I can replace a classic wardrobe staple with something that has more personality! This hack was easy to sew and took me less than an afternoon to complete. Iseefabric.com sent me the softest organic cotton french terry fabric in the world. I knew I wanted something out of this amazing ochre color.

The Wilder pattern is designed for woven fabrics but for the top was easy to make out of a knit. The only difference from how the top is constructed in the pattern is that I used a stretch stitch (it's a narrow zig zag that looks like a lightening bolt) instead of a straight stitch, and I didn't bother finishing my seams (no need to finish seams on knits, they don't fray!). 

For my version I made my usual size (medium) and the sweatshirt feels roomy enough to be comfortable without being baggy. 

To give it a more convincing sweatshirt vibe I added cuffs and a hem band. Your cuff and hem band pieces are going to be rectangles. To figure out how big you need to cut your cuff piece, first figure out how long you want your cuff. Mine is about 2.5" finished. Double that to get the height of your rectangle (5"). To figure out how wide it needs to be, measure the hem opening of your sleeve and multiply it by .85. This will make your cuff 15% smaller than your sleeve opening which will pull it in and make it look like ribbing. Add a seam allowance on all 4 sides and that is the size you need to cut for your cuffs! 

Once you have your cuffs and hem band cut out. Take one of your cuffs, fold it right sides together and use a stretch stitch to sew down the short side to make a loop.

Fold your cuff in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Pin your cuff to your sleeve opening, right sides together. You can match the under arm seam on your sleeve with the seam where you sewed your cuff into a loop. You will need to stretch your cuff slightly as you sew because it is shorter than your sleeve opening. Stitch around the cuff using a stretch stitch. Repeat on your other sleeve and use the same method to create the waistband on your sweatshirt!