Sizing up a hoodie or sweatshirt
I had an old hoodie I wanted to wear more often, but it's always been a little snug (the price you pay when the merch table at a show has limited sizes remaining but you HAVE TO GET A SOUVENIR - and also support the band). I realized I had another hoodie I didn't wear very much, and decided to sacrifice it to size up the other!
The black stripe is the sacrificial hoodie bit, which overall made the original hoodie about 6 in larger all around (3 in strip added under each arm). Keep in mind, this method makes the torso larger, but also the sleeve size. I bet that's helpful to most people, but if you wanted to not size up the sleeve so much, you could probably cut your strip so it's narrower as it goes down the sleeve. But not to a fine point! Just a little narrower on one end than the other. You still need to have room to use your serger on both seams.
I looked up tips for adding a gusset under the arm. It was not an ideal solution; I ran into a pet peeve in my searching. When folks yadda-yadda over the fiddliest bit of the process. No! Please tell me how exactly you pivot around a point with a stretch stitch and then serge the rest of a seam!! I was not about to try to figure that out with no clear tips.
So, I decided to approach it with the skills and tools I was most confident using (not confident in my ability to use the right kind of stretch stitch around a corner at an armpit seam. I knew it would fall apart!).
NOTE: I used a serger for the entire process. I opt to use an embroidery needle or similar to pull the tail back up into a few stitches rather than try to sew over the tail ends. It's not as quick but I know it works and I have more control. I'm not going to cut into something by accident either!
ANOTHER NOTE: You HAVE TO use 2 sweatshirts or hoodies that are the same length from the pit to the BOTTOM HEM. If the length from the pit to the arm cuff hem is somewhat off, that's okay. When you're done, you could always cut off the cuffs and serge on a new one. But you can't so easily do that on the bottom hem on a hoodie with a zipper.
See how the cuff is misaligned here. I could cut off the cuff just above the grey seam and serge on a new strip of ribbed knit if I wanted it to look cleaner. But this was close enough, and also who wants to chop off its character? Someone who's probably no fun at parties, but probably better than me at filing their taxes, that's who.
HOW I DID IT
I essentially added a strip from one hoodie into the under arm/side of the other. If you're wanting to be precise, you can measure how much extra room you want to add, divide by 2 and that's how much you'll harvest from your sacrificial hoodie. The serging will eat some from each seam; consider how much you are comfortable serging off and add that math in for yourself. This one was about 3" wide on each side, as I feel comfortable to serge with taking off just a whisper.
I used a marking tool and a ruler to mark a consistent 3" wide cutting line from hem to cuff on the black hoodie. You'll be cutting a straight strip so don't eyeball it! If you're making it a little smaller at one end than the other, an even better reason not to eyeball it!
You can only remove up to where you come in contact with a pocket, zipper, or other component. Pick up a hoodie and look under the arms and you'll see what I mean! Here's as far as I cut due to the location of the pocket on the black hoodie:
Here's what that black hoodie looked like after I cut out the strips. Daniel was quite amused by it looking like a pelt and/or some kind of punk wizard's cape:
Mark which strip is meant for which side before you move on, so you don't get frustrated later! THIS IS IMPORTANT!
Next, you have to cut open the hoodie that will be gaining these strips. At first, I was carefully seam ripping the side seams but that is SILLY! Don't do that. Just cut it, your serger will be removing any old seam bits.
Right sides together, pin your strips in place. IMPORTANT! Make sure you're using the correct side of the old hoodie to the new one! R with R, L with L.
IMPORTANT ALSO!! Make sure the underarm pit seam intersection is aligned! Start pinning from there, and work your pinning out. AGAIN! the length from this pit junction to the bottom hem should be almost exactly the same or this will give you a headache.
(Pay attention to your pits, to avoid getting down in the dumps.)
Time to serge! You can squinch and fudge the seams a little as you serge to make them line up a little better. Just don't pull or yank on them much, or your knits will be forever wonky.
Here's what it looks like on the inside:
I hope this is helpful to others and you get more wears from things you love! If you need to find a hoodie or sweatshirt to sacrifice, hit up a thrift store. Just be sure to bring your hoodie with you as you shop, so you get one that is almost exactly the same length from hem to hem.
