Vintage Print Linden Sweatshirt

This Linden Sweatshirt is positively autumnal, not exactly the sort of thing you'd expect to see when I'm pretty sure the snow is about to melt. I bought this fabric months ago and I've been meaning to make a Linden with it, but I am easily distracted by pattern testing, and instagram sew alongs. Then my printer got jammed big time, started to crack apart when I tried to fix it, and smashed into a million pieces when I threw it off the roof of a three story rowhouse. Okay, that's not actually how it happened, but it's mildly therapeutic to imagine that it is.

You may be thinking that this print in highly uncharacteristic of me. I've made a mental rule that I will post one not blue thing between each blue thing I make... or at least one not blue thing for each blue thing that I make... or one printed not blue thing for each solid blue thing I make. Let's be real, that's probably not going to happen cause I've gotta wear this stuff, and I like blue.

I really love the underlying neutral palette of this print. It has tiny flecks of orange, brown, and black on a cream background. I'm not a huge fan of orange clothing, but in these small amounts I love it for the way it compliments all the blue I normally wear. I wanted the finished top to be more dressed up than a true sweatshirt, but I also didn't want to be overwhelmed by the print. My solution was to tone down the print with charcoal gray arms and accents.  I ordered a deliciously cozy charcoal gray sweatshirt fleece, but it was not nearly charcoal enough to suit my grand vision. The vintage knit is thinner than a sweatshirt fleece so I also ordered a few yards of charcoal gray jersey knit thinking I would line the vintage knit with it, to even out the thicknesses. The jersey was just the exact right color, but of course the wrong thickness. In the end, my heart was firmly set on having a new top by lunchtime, so I doubled everything. Double jersey for the arms, jersey and vintage together for the body. Its not a terrible solution, I like that it maintains sweater feel of the shirt, but the proof will be in the first laundry cycle.

PATTERN: The Linden Sweatshirt by Grainline Studio is a basic raglan pattern that can be made with banded long sleeves and waist for a sweatshirt look, or as a short sleeve t-shirt without waist band. To be honest, I didn't even look at the instructions. I've made enough raglan t-shirts that I know how to put one together. Based on the #lindensweatshirt pool, I suspect there is top stitching involved, I don't think this looses anything without it, particularly in the not so sporty sweater knit. I'll read the instruction next time, promise.

FABRIC:The 60's sweater knit print is from After Glow. The charcoal gray jersey is from Raspberry Creek Fabric. As mentioned above, I doubled the fabric at the body and arms to replicate the sweatshirt thickness.

FIT/SIZE: In true SweetKM fashion I cut all the sizes. Size 6 at the bust, size 8 at the waist, size 10 at the hip. I like the 6 to 8 fit, and would probably dispense with the 10 next time. I would also take 1" out of each arm length, and (if I'm going for a more cropped fit, which I was this time and did not achieve) 2" out of the length.

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Pertinent Info:
Pattern: Linden Sweatshirt by Grainline Studio
Printed Fabric: Vintage Sweater Knit from After Glow
Solid Fabric: Charcoal Lycra Knit from Raspberry Creek Fabrics