Hazy Shade of Winter.

Is there anything quite like the comfort of a sweatshirt on a cold winter's day? There was a point in my life when I basically lived in over-sized sweatpants and hooded sweatshirts (with flip flops, of course). There was also a point when this became completely inappropriate attire for my day-to-day situation. Now, with the rise of fashionable active wear companies, there are lots of 'elevated' ways to wear sweats without looking like you just rolled out of bed. 

Pattern companies spotted this trend early on, and there are SO MANY different pattern options available for those of us who would rather sew our own than shop! The first sweatshirt pattern to catch my eye is the Jasper Sweater by Paprika Patterns. I especially LOVE the striped version shown on the pattern page. (If anyone can tell me where I can get my hands on some striped sweatshirt fleece, I'll be forever indebted!).  In particular, the things that drew me to this pattern are the deep cowl neck with button tab, the single welt kangaroo pocket , and the side panels that help provide some fit/shape to a traditionally shapeless sort of garment. 

Knowing that I wanted to push my sweatshirt into that spectrum of elevated active wear, I decided to up my fabric game and used a boiled wool knit fabric instead of sweatshirt fleece.  I'm so pleased I did! The resulting garment is a fusion of two of the coziest things a girl could wear in the winter rolled into one. It was exactly what I wanted to be wearing after a day on the slopes! 

I've sewn a few of these too. I couldn't resist! I feel no shame in admitting that I already have another sweatshirt pattern on my radar; SewingLikeMad 's two versions of the Halifax Hoodie made it easy to rationalize additional sweatshirt sewing. Past, sweatpants wearing Michelle would be so proud.