Sew U Home Stretch raglan sweatshirt

Hello! February already and I haven't posted yet this year, oops! That's mainly because I spent most of January working on my Kingfisher English Paper Piecing (EPP) quilt top, which is now finished hurray! Last year I got so absorbed in making this quilt as I loved all the hand sewing. I've already started two more EPP quilts but I'm back today with another garment - the first item I've made this year!  It's a repeat of a favourite pattern of mine - the Built by Wendy raglan sweatshirt from her Sew U Home Stretch book.

This is my third time making this pattern and, as previously, I made no alterations.  I sewed up a straight size S with 1 metre of a gorgeous denim blue sweatshirting (95% cotton 5% elastene) from Ray Stitch.  The rust coloured ribbing was from, I think, Kitschy Coo fabrics, and I only had a small amount left as I previously used it on a sweatshirt for my son.  I had to piece the underside of the cuffs in order to have enough but you don't notice it and it's very satisfying to be able to use up quality scraps in this way. 

pieces cuffs

The book gives you a number of ways of constructing this but for some reason I always do this sweatshirt the same way - cuffs attached to sleeves first > sew sleeve seams > sew side seams of front & back > attach sleeves > sew neck band >sew hem band.  I wonder if maybe it would be easier to sew in the flat like I do with a standard teeshirt but I guess you just get into habits with repeat patterns and I find this way works well enough. I also pressed all the seams and overlocked them with the overlock foot on my Bernina.  For sewing the seams I use a straight stitch with a small zig-zag on the inside and this has worked well on my previous versions so I'm sticking with it! I've made this twice before, both in 2016, and as they get so much wear they're both looking a bit ragged. My favourite version, the pink one, has holes in the cuffs. I'd like to try some visible mending on this though rather than get rid of it as I still love it!

This sweatshirt is also one of my Make Nine plans for this year so that's a good start to the year. Maybe I'll get more than one item of clothing made this year!