Collar your hoodie - the end!

Good day to you.  This is the last episode of "Get this fricking thing off my neck" in the series "Things I can't wear since menopause".  This was my first attempt at a zippered front and I will make some changes for the others.  First off, each one of the four I plan on changing is different.  One will need to have the back seam of the hood taken in slightly in order to achieve an even front.  Regardless, I will wear them now.  They aren't wool blazers, they are sweatshirts, so I wasn't too concerned about the finishing, but I think they are pretty neat looking for former hoodies.

Start off with folding the hood down inside, leaving several inches for the collar, and pin the back center seam of the hood to the neck. 

Then keep smoothing and pinning as you go along toward the front, working only one side. 

When it looks good, use a fabric marker and run it along the neck seam, remove the pins, and do the same to the other side.

After marking, lay the hood on its side, lining up the neck seam, and pin your mark.  Look at the other side and see if the pins are close to that line.





Mine wasn't, so I moved the pins to be between the two side's lines, splitting the difference, which was even enough for me.  If you need to do this, erase the old mark and make a new one along the moved pins. 

 Take the pins out and open the hood, measuring (or eyeballing) the lines from that top center seam to see if they appear even.  They did!! 

 

I should have done this inside out so the marks would be on the inside, making it easy to sew on the double fold bias tape before cutting, but I didn't,

so I just cut off the hood at the line, and encased the raw edge into the tape.  Cut the bias tape longer than needed, fold over on the edges, and this is what it looks like with that step completed.

Now I folded over the collar, pinned the tape just below the neck seam, and sewed on the outside just below the neck seam. 

Done.  I don't know if it will be this large on the next one, and I am thinking of doing a stand up collar instead.   I'm not too happy with the seam binding showing at the front edge and may line the top front corner with the fabric from the hood's top, or angle those front inside corners slightly. 

The ties are still working so here it is gathered a little and also the back.

 

Looky here - two baskets I grabbed at Pat Catan's for $6 each.  LOVE them.  I'm a Gemini and usually buy two when I find something I like.  I also got 3 galvanized tubs at the flea market for $15 total.

Perfect for hanging from the stair railing.

Finally....Lucy. 

What a test of my patience.  Really putting me into a slump.  I was so excited about doing the smalls I have waiting, but I'm really getting discouraged.  I know that if I put her down, she will never be finished.  The vase had to be removed and redone because I messed up the right handle and counted over from it, making everything way off.  I quit the stems for a while and decided to run the bottom border so I can line up a house and start mindless stitching for a while.  When I see all the gorgeous samplers with lots of motifs and such, I am more convinced now that they will not be in my future.  I have many plus sized girls kitted and waiting, but they will need a second look.  Maybe the problem is just with Lucy, who had many many misaligned stitches.   Usually I follow a repetitive stitch or border without checking the chart and that was not a good idea with this design. I really love it and the colors ~ the errors have been my fault.  I'm sure I will attempt another after doing a bunch of smalls, but I also have many medium sized charts that I will enjoy. 

That's all I have! 

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend.