Dare to Make It: Holiday
Dare to Make It! Crochet-Along: Week 5
November 12th, 2008 in sewing, patterns & designs, gifts, crochet
Linda Permann, contributor
22 users recommend
Add the buttons and the edging, and you'll have a very sweet hoodie indeed.
Photo: Linda Permann
By now we've made all of the pieces and it's time to finish the hoodie. I'll give you fair warning—this was by far the most difficult part of making the hoodie as the intstructions got a little blurry. Hopefully the step-by-steps will save you some of the frustration.
For reference, here's the pattern we're using: Sweet Baby Hoodie. If you need to catch up, click over to: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4. Now, on to the finishing!
Step 1: Make the buttonhole and button bands.
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Begin by single crocheting along the right-side edge of the right front (for girls) or the right side of the left edge (for boys). Skip ahead to the third photo to get a clearer view of what you're crocheting in this section. |
I'm showing this in the green yarn so that it's easy to see. Note: You won't single-crochet up the entire edge; stop just before the neck decreases (the hood will be attached to that triangular part later). There's no perfect way to know where to place each single crochet, so just do your best. If something looks funny, pull out a few stitches and try again—practice makes perfect. Continue to follow the pattern for the second row and proceed to row 3, the buttonhole row. As described in the pattern, each buttonhole is made very simply—just chain 1 and skip the single crochet below.
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After you make the first buttonhole, pass one of the buttons you intend to use through the hole to make sure it will be a good fit. |
If your button is too small, you'll need to get a larger one (since this is the smallest buttonhole you can make). If you have oversize buttons, you might want to add one more chain and skip 1 more sc to make a larger buttonhole (repeat for all of the buttonholes, and subtract 1 single crochet beween hole repeats to make up for the extra space). Aren't these the easiest buttonholes ever?
Continue to follow the directions for the rest of the buttonhole and button bands. You'll work the button band the same way; just make a sc where you would have made a chain 1 in row 3.
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Once you complete the buttonhole and button bands, your front pieces should look like this. |
The vertical pink stitching is the part that was added for the button/buttonhole bands.
Step 2: Sew the seams.
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To sew the shoulder seams, with the right sides of the front and back facing, whipstitch through both loops of both edges. |
You'll just be sewing the short top edge of each shoulder for now. Leave the piece inside out for the rest of the seaming process. Next, sew up the back of the hood. Fold the hood in half, with the right sides facing, and sew from the fold until you reach the end of the back seam shaping (the last 6 rows of stair stepping).
Next, you'll need to attach the hood to the neckline. It looks a bit crazy all pinned up, but I think the photo below will sufficiently explain how to pin each side of the hood.
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With all pieces wrong side out, align the hood and neckline. Pin them in place and sew them together with a whipstitch. |
Again, it might not be as easy to know what stitches to thread your needle through since you won't have as clean of an edge, but you will get the hang of it. After you sew the hood, it's time to finish the rest of the seams.
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With all pieces wrong side out, sew the arm and side seams. Start by sewing the shoulder to the arm (where the hook points in this photo), using the stitch markers as a guide to where each edge of the sleeve is placed. |
Once you've sewn the shoulder to the arm, sew the side seam of the jacket. Finally, sew the sleeve seam, remembering to turn the sleeve inside out about 2 inches before you reach the edge. Continue sewing the seam on the outside of the sleeve.
Repeat the seaming for the other sleeve and side. You might want to weave in all of your ends at the end, instead of as you go, just in case you accidentally turn something right side out and sew it together. (Ahem, I speak from experience.) It's much harder to pull out a seam when you can't find the end to start ripping it out.
Step 3: Add the border and sew the buttons in place.
After all of the seams are sewn, turn the hoodie right side out. Edge the hoodie as it says in the pattern or as desired. On my hoodie, with the wrong side facing, I did 1 round of single crochet and in the next round (half double crochet, slipstitch) in each single crochet. That gave me the slightly subtler ruffle edge you see below. I also omitted the second round of edging for the majority of the button band (the one under the buttonhole band) since it won't be seen when buttoned and would just add bulk--but if you think yours will be worn unbuttoned, go ahead and add the edging.
Finally, sew the buttons to the button band so that they are placed directly in line with the buttonholes. Make several securing stitches, since small buttons can be a choking hazard for babies.
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Add the buttons and the edging, and you'll have a very sweet hoodie indeed. |
Step 4: Congratulations!
Now it's all ready for wrapping and giving, and we're still a good six weeks away from the holidays. Pat yourself on the back (and post your finished sweaters in the gallery!)—you deserve it.
After you make this project, show off your work to other members!
Post your project in the gallery
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Comments (3)
Posted: 4:19 pm on January 19th
Posted: 7:03 pm on November 12th
I'd made this sweater twice and was going to give up. I kept crocheting the button band all the way up. No wonder it kept having dimples!
Now I can go home and make one right. You're so right about waiting to weaving in the ends until your finished. Um, I speak from experience also.
Thank you again!
Posted: 5:12 pm on November 12th