Here's a Halloween costume in honour of my favourite event of 2021: The Ever Given getting stuck in the Suez Canal back in March. What a good time it was.
This is a pattern for a quilted, dolman-sleeve sweater which, with arms extended, becomes a stylised version of the Ever Given Container ship, perfect for wearing while blocking doors or passageways, yelling at everyone that you are stuck.
Dolman sleeves are the easiest to sew, because they are just an extension of the body fabric. As a result, the making of the sweater itself is very easy: it is the piecing and quilting that is the hard part.
But I made a way for you to cheat it!
A panel that looks the same as the result of the piecing instructions below is available on Spoonflower. It is super simple to order the panel, in any of their 56” wide fabrics (fleece and performance piqué are what I would go for, depending on if you want something warm or not), and skip down beyond the piecing and quilting instructions below to the cutting and sewing instructions, and make this sweater much much more simply.
If you do this, you will also need to buy a yard of the same type of fabric in a neutral colour for the back that also measures at least 56” wide (it is so much cheaper to get this at a store than from Spoonflower, although you could also just buy two of the panels), and 2-3 yards of elastic.
Another handy element of this design is that, because it is oversized, it should fit a wide range of sizes fairly comfortably. The only real fitting spot is the hip measurement (finishes at 56” (but could be made at up to 72”) with elastic bringing it down to a preferred size), and it is also possible to add an extra couple of inches to the arms by raising the height of the shoulder seam. More on this in the instructions after the cut.
If you are going to piece it:
These instructions assume you are only going to piece this on one side and leave the other side plain, but feel free to do it on both sides if you prefer - you will just need to get more of the small cuts of fabric, and do everything twice. Fabric requirements are based on 44" wide quilting cotton, rounded up for safety, and all cutting assumes a quarter inch seam allowance.
Materials Required:
1/4 yard each of five dark colours - These will be your containers on the ship. I went with black, two different dark blues, a maroon and a dark green.
1/8th yard of bright red. This will be the waterline of the ship, as well as some of the containers (if you want extra variety).
1/8th yard of white, for the letters, as well as enough fusible web to applique the letters. It is also possible to use iron on vinyl, fabric paint, or even just t-shirt transfer paper (for dark fabric) cut to size.
1/2 yard of a sand colour. Light brown, cream, or natural cotton all work. Part of this will be quilted and part will be used for the wrist cuffs.
EITHER 5/8ths yard OR 1 ⅝ yards of green. This will be your ship colour, and possibly also the back of the sweater, depending on preference. You NEED a piece measuring 8 ½” by 56 inches, which CAN be made by joining two strips together. But the leftover from cutting this strip’s width from along the edge of a 44" wide fabric will be the right size for the back, the colour will coordinate, and you won't have a seam in the front.
1/2 yard of a teal blue colour, for the canal water.
2-3 yards of 1 inch wide non-roll elastic.
White embroidery thread. A dark embroidery thread is also optional.
EITHER quilt backing and batting sufficient for two 36"x60" panels OR a fleecy fabric big enough to use as backing for two 36"x60" panels.
Bias binding for the neckline (which could be cut from the scraps of the above fabrics) or a couple of inches of ribbing/a pre-made stretch collar.
Sewing thread.
Piecing the front of the sweater:
This is what your pieced front will end up looking like.
Start by making the container blocks. There are 112 of them, and they are cut to 4” by 2”, and finish at 3 ½” by 1 ½”. Arranged horizontally, they are 8 blocks tall and 14 blocks wide, and measure 49” wide and 12” tall. They are made from the 5 dark colours, arranged randomly, as well as some of the red of the waterline if you would like.
Add a 4” wide, 12 ½” high strip of sand colour to either end of the container blocks. If you would like to add some length to the sleeves, you can make these wider. The remainder of the sand-coloured fabric will be cut into two 16” long rectangles for the wrist cuffs later on.
The green of the boat is 56 inches long and 8 ½ inches tall. This can be made by cutting two 8 ½” strips and using a vertical seam in the centre, or by using 56 inches of fabric (1 ⅝ yards), cutting the 8 ½ inch strip from the edge, and using the rest for the back of the sweater.
Attach the letters before piecing the green of the boat to the other parts. They should measure about 2 ¼" tall, and about 20 inches wide, and be in the exact centre of the green of the boat. Use your preferred method of applique or iron-on transfer, or fabric paint. A PDF of the letters is available at bit.ly/EGLetters.
The red strip at the waterline of the boat and the teal green for the canal water can be cut from the width of the fabric, as this part of the pattern is narrower than the pieced containers and the green of the boat. From the red, cut a 1½" strip, and from the teal blue, cut a 10" strip (wider if you would like the sweater to be longer), the full width of the fabric. Line the middle of these two strips up with the middle of the green of the boat and attach.
Baste and quilt the front piecing. Do the same for a back piece, the same size as the front piecing.
Embroider the name of the Ever Given where shown on the pattern.
You can also embroider a little excavator on the sand coloured fabric at the wrist in a darker thread, but this is optional.
Cutting the Pattern:
***If you are using the printed panel, the instructions start here***
This pattern has two pieces - a front and a back - as well as some rectangles for the wrist cuffs. You don't even really need to print them out - you can use either the design on the panel or the seams of the quilted top as a guide for where to cut the shapes, as they are fairly simple and forgiving of variations.
If you would like a printable version, it can be found at bit.ly/EGPrintable, and prints on both A4 and US letter sizes from the same file.
The main lines of the pattern make a sweater with a finished maximum waist measurement of 56” and a finished lower arm measurement of 14”. If you need more room, you can shift some of the seams outwards to the limits of the pieced or printed design - the image above shows some potential lines, each of which adds 8” to the total hip measurement. Alternatively, if you prefer you can also make the waist and hips smaller.
The sleeve length is constrained by the maximum possible width of the fabric to about 59” wrist-to-wrist, but it is possible to add an extra inch to each of the cuffs using the fabric of the panel. If you would like more room in the arms, it is possible to move the shoulder seams up to level with the top of the panel for an extra couple of inches of room. The finished length of the sweater is 26 inches from the shoulder alongside the collar to the hem, but there is enough extra in the panel to cut it longer. Alternatively, you can make it a cropped sweater by cutting it down to a few inches below the red line.
Cut the front piece (the smaller of the two, with the deeper collar curve) from the panel or the pieced design. If you are using the panel, the offcuts from this piece will be used for the wrist cuffs (the sand coloured rectangles in the lower corners) and the collar (the excess from the shoulders or the bottom). Put these aside for after.
Cut the back piece from the plain fabric piece you have. The underarm shapes are the same but the sleeves are a little taller and the curve of the neckline is shallower.
Sewing the Sweater:
All seams are sewn at ½” allowance.
With right-sides together, sew the shoulder seams. For a neater finish, these can be top-stitched before you sew the side seams, otherwise, finish your seams however you prefer.
Next, sew the underarm seams. These are more difficult to flat stitch, so I just finished them with a zigzag.
If you are using the panel, turn the bottom hem towards the wrong side of the fabric about a quarter inch, and then again about 1 ¼”, to make a casing for the elastic. Stitch along the edge of this, leaving a couple of inches unsewn as a gap to insert the elastic. Cut your elastic to your preferred length and feed through the tube. Join the two ends of the elastic together and sew the gap closed. A youtube tutorial for this method can be found here.
If you have quilted the sweater and are worried that this will be too bulky, there should be enough of the teal blue fabric left to add a waistband with the elastic in it to the bottom hem rather than folding over the thicker quilting. Cut two strips 3 ½” wide and trim to the same length measurement as your hem. You might want to trim an inch or so from the bottom of the quilted piece to compensate for the extra length. Attach using the same method as for the wrist cuffs in the next step.
To make the wrist cuffs, cut rectangles measuring 5” wide from the remaining sand-coloured fabric, or up to 7” wide if you would like the extra sleeve length. These rectangles should be 16” long. If you added height to the sleeve, you will need to gather the sleeves slightly to fit the wrist cuffs.
Sew together the ends of each cuff into a loop, right-sides together. Cut lengths of elastic to your preferred size for your wrists and sew into loops. Fold the cuff loops lengthwise right sides out, sandwiching the elastic between the two halves. Sew the raw edges of the cuffs to the right sides of the ends of the sleeves. Turn the cuffs outwards and topstitch the seams. A youtube tutorial for this method can be found here.
Check that you are able to get your head through the collar, especially if you quilted it or are using a non-stretch fabric from Spoonflower such as the performance piqué. Because there is no stretch, you may need to cut it a little deeper to fit your head. Once you are sure it will fit over your head, either bind the raw edge using bias binding or scraps from the offcuts, or, for a tighter fit, cut a strip of ribbing or a pre-made stretch sweater collar to a couple of inches shorter than the length of the neckline edge. Sew the raw edges to the right side of the neckline, and then fold outward and topstitch the edges.
If you are using a Spoonflower panel in a fabric with stretch, cut a 1+1/2" strip from the offcuts of the top of the panel so that it measures an inch less than the collar - you may need to join two pieces together. Sew this into a loop and fold lengthwise with the right sides out. Sew the raw edges to the right side of the neckline using a quarter inch seam, and then fold the collar the right way and topstitch the edges. A youtube tutorial for this method can be found here.
It’s all done!
Now you get to spend Halloween (and really, any time you feel like being annoying) arms outstretched blocking every doorway yelling “I’m stuck!”
Have fun with it.
As always, this pattern is free to use and share and there are no restrictions on what you can do with the items you make.
I do not control your right to profit from your work. All art is derivative, and you making your own version transforms this pattern. Don’t let assertions of intellectual property rights be another way you are alienated from your labour. If you decide to sell your work, demand fair remuneration for your time and skills. Someone offering to pay for the materials is not enough. If you have decided to take an activity you love and turn it into work, make it worthwhile.
On the flip side, please don’t try to sell this bit of writing or the PDF of the pattern. They are free for you and for everyone else. Resist society’s message that you should try to profit from your every action, and especially resist the notion that true success is achieved by profiting from anyone else’s labour.
I love seeing what people make from my patterns! Please tag me in your posts or use the hashtag #EverGivenSweater on Instagram.
Okay so I came across this marvelous (free) tutorial and pattern by @mctreeleth
I added my own little touches, like the bows.
Also I neeeded a project I could de-stress over for finals and so this mess happened. On a side note, I had no idea how many random scraps of pattered fabric I had in my stash but I sure didn’t think it was enough to do this. Also yeah... this is what that doodle from yesterday was all about. If you see someone dressed like that at dragon con (assuming it’s still happening this year) that’s me.
Purchases of this PDF koala pattern are $10 and the proceeds go to a nonprofit that helps wildlife in Australia. WIRES Austrailian Wildlife Rescue
During the month of January 2020, the proceeds from all sales of my Koalas pdf pattern will be donated to WIRES Australian Wildlife Rescue,
The charity looks highly regarded and Im sure they could use all the help they can get.
7 votes and 8 comments so far on Reddit
Not my pattern, so no personal interest on my part, but I appreciate everyone sharing this. A nice little pdf download to help some species facing a fragile future is worth it! Thank you all!
