1990's Oregon Rain Pullover

Finished The Man's Christmas present. And it's still technically less than a month late, go me!

This is from a 1990's Stretch and Sew pattern that my friend, Jessica, scored at a fabric swap. She's brought home a couple of these vintage beauts and they work very well for my guy.

The pattern is designed for polar fleece, but we have a Great Pyrenees, so that was a non-starter. Her fur sticks to polar fleece like velcro. Instead I used a nice, toasty sweatshirt fabric I got from Cali Fabrics. I think got 3 yards and darn if I didn't use most all of it. I was hoping there would be enough left over to make a little something for me.

The envelope art gives you a hint that this is a true product of the 90's. The back of the envelope notes that it's intended to be worn with 13.5 inches of positive ease. That's a lotta ease.

My guy prefers a trimmer, GQ kind of a fit, so I cut him the size for a 34 chest. He'd normally be more like a 40. Then during the fitting (yes, we did a fitting for a sweatshirt) he suggested it could still be a tad tighter, so I took in the sides about another 1.5 inches.

It's still pretty roomy as modeled by me, but he looks mighty slim when he's wearing it.

He was after a pullover sweatshirt without a hood, and without a bunch of logos or team names or advertising on it. The pullover version of this pattern was a very nice beginning, but I made a few small changes to make it more sweatshirt-y.

I added cuffs and a hem band, and The Man said he'd prefer inseam pockets to the zippered welt pockets. Thank you, sewing gods! I didn't have to try to install a neat welt pocket in sweatshirt fleece.

The pattern would have you finish all of the edges with strips of nylon/lycra fabric. I didn't have anything suitable in stash, so I subbed in some black fold-over elastic. If I make this one again (and I just might) I'll rethink the collar and neckline finish to ditch the edge trim entirely. It was hella hard to apply neatly. I tried a couple of times and, even with some washout stabilizer in the mix, there are still some little wrinkles at the front. Otherwise, I like the pattern a lot. The yoke and sleeves are cut in one piece and there's a cool little cut-on gusset at the underarm. Overall, it's an easy sew and I like the results.

 My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.

Raglan Man Tee

My friend, Jessica, is the kind of person who can hop into the Goodwill and emerge with 6 cashmere sweaters, a piece of Waterford crystal and a handful of vintage patterns. Luckily for her friends, she happily shares her good fortune.

I have a basic, set in sleeve tee pattern I've made a few times for The Man. It's cobbled together from a free Burdastyle pattern modified with tracings of his favorite store-bought tees. I've been wanting to try a raglan tee pattern for him and, wouldn't you know, Jessica turned up a vintage Stretch-and-Sew pattern that fills that bill.

Front view

And for 79 cents too.

According to the envelope this pattern dates from 1967. Though this guy looks like he's edging into the 70's.

70's dude with dark glasses

The Man has a few criteria for tee shirts, as follows:

• close fit
• high crew neck - no v-necks please!
• long enough to stay tucked in to a pair of jeans
• and a pocket that can hold a slew of vintage fountain pens

Side view

This pattern ticked all the boxes with the exception of the pocket, but that was easy enough to add.

Pocket with a heavy load of Mont Blancs

You know, I've never seen a men's raglan tee that has a pocket and I'm not sure why that's the case. I thought it might be because the pocket would interfere with the raglan sleeve seam, but that didn't end up being a problem.

This pattern should fill all my male raglan tee needs. It has a long sleeve version, a turtle neck version and instructions to split it up the front and make a cardigan.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.

And here's the Kirsten Kimono Tee I scrapped together from the remnants from my Trapezoid Top. My favorite tee pattern. I just love it.