Ultra Cuddle Sweatshirt

Have you ever made someone something and had them like it a little too much? Two years ago I made my boyfriend a robe for his birthday (well, he got it a few months after his birthday but that is beside the point). It's made from a blue ultra cuddle (minky) fabric and it is just that, very cuddly and he wears it often.

All well and good, expect that he has also taken to wearing it on long car rights and on rare occasions in public (gasp!). So, I have decided that this year I will make him something that is a bit more socially acceptable to wear in public, a cuddly sweatshirt out of the same material. I considered using a different color so it wouldn't be so matchy matchy with his robe, but I'm not sure he would really like the other colors Jo Ann offers in this fabric. I wanted a pattern that was specifically for fleece type material so I choose McCall's 5538 (also McCall's patterns were on sale at Jo Ann so that may have swayed my decision).

I choose the variation on the top left, only without the sleeve pocket, that just looks a little crazy to me. I read the reviews online and they indicated that the pattern runs pretty large so I am a bit concerned about the fit. My boyfriend normally wears size large shirts because he likes a looser fit, but I don't want him to be swimming in it. I cut a medium, but now I'm having second thoughts thinking maybe I should have cut the small because it does seem quite large. Especially the sleeves.

So far I have the hood done and on, the zipper in the front yoke, the front facing sewed in on the inside and the back piece connected at the neck and shoulders. I also have the sleeves sewed but not on. I think I am going to put it on hold for a week or so until I can measure some of his clothes and compare that to the finished measurements of the sweatshirt. I will have to do it stealthily while he is in the shower or something because I don't want him to find out what I am up to.

One thing I wish I had done differently is I didn't iron the kinks out of the zipper before I put it in and now it is a bit wavy. I know your're not really supposed to iron fleece so I'm not sure what I can do about it now. Being lazy really doesn't pay off in sewing (or most other things).

The other thing about using this fabric is the raw edges shed like crazy. It doesn't really make it that much harder to sew, but I do have little blue fuzz balls on everything now. It's kind of hard to to act like your not up to something when you are covered in blue fuzz balls.