I wanted to make Abbey a sweatshirt she could wear during the busy Nutcracker Practice season. Something she could easily throw on over her leotard when dashing in and out of the studio, but also something she could wear any time. The Ebony pattern fit the bill perfectly.
However when I started planning out the sweatshirt, my daughter came in and insisted I make one for her BFF as well. (who is also in dance) I had to get creative to make 2 tops out of the amount of fabric I had. So I ended up chopping off the sleeves to cut out of a different fabric.
I also shortened the pattern a bit and added a waistband. Since I cut the sleeves from a different fabric, so I added stripes to the sleeves to tie the look together. I actually love the way it turned out (even without the back slit and pockets) that I want to make more like this.
How to Hack the Pattern
To hack the pattern: I cut the sleeves off right about at the curve of the underarm. I also cut the front hem to curve up and the back hem to curve down. I shortened the pattern about 4″ shorter than the actual pattern as well. For the sleeves, I cut the cut off portion out on the fold. (subtracting the seam allowance along the “fold line”) Then I added 1″ stripes on to the sleeve spaced 1″ apart. I simply stop stitched them on since I didn’t mind the raw edge. After sewing the front and back bodice together at the shoulders I added the sleeves then followed the pattern for the rest.
For the hem band, I have instructions HERE. I also added eyelets to the center front. Then cut a simple tie from the knit and looped it through the eyelets. The tie doesn’t feed through the whole band, just for decoration in the front. The Nutcracker applique is a free pattern HERE. I loved making him in non traditional colors.
