Twin Tie Dye Sweatshirts
03.12.21

Twin Tie Dye Sweatshirts

Oh my word, the amount of time it has taken me to get around to this post is perfectly representative of trying to be a working mom and creative human during the pandemic. As I’m sure is the case for practically everyone out there, this past year has worn on me. I find so much joy in all of my creative hobbies but it isn’t always easy or possible to find time for them, let alone to then share them here with you. This sewing project is one I could not wait to share with you all LAST FALL! And here it is, nearly halfway into March. Better late than never? We’ll go with that.

I draw inspiration for handmade clothes from all over the place. Primarily it comes from sewists and makers that I follow on social media, but certainly also from people I see out in the world, colors, lines and textures incorporated into interior or graphic design, and in this case, from a Peloton instructor! It may sound funny but it’s the truth! Last fall I was taking a meditation class and the instructor had on a tie dyed sweatshirt. I loved that there was plenty of the white fabric still showing through, and that the colors were slightly muted compared to what I usually end up with when I do tie dye.

I simply couldn’t get the idea of a cozy tie dyed sweatshirt out of my mind, so I decided to make a pair of them for Caroline and I to enjoy during the colder months. All of the project details are below. I absolutely adore the Cedar sweatshirt pattern that I used for mine and it is incredibly quick to sew up. I think I had the entire thing cut out and sewn in under two hours. I haven’t gotten around to taking pictures of us both in our cozies together because we are always too busy enjoying them and being cozy to worry about pictures, but just know they have been heavily enjoyed and will be for years to come.

Project Planning and Execution

Pattern Selection

For myself, I knew I wanted a simple raglan sweatshirt which is always my favorite cut. My friend Anna had made the Cedar sweater before and loved the pattern, so I know I wanted to try it.

Anna has also made the Mini Jarrah sweater pattern for her daughters and it sounded like a good fit for us. Also, I love a tie accent on tops and one of the views of this pattern has a tie front so it was a perfect choice for us.

Fabric Selection

Since I was making these at the beginning of fall when the cooler weather was setting in, I knew I wanted something super cozy and warm. I decided to try out 100% organic cotton sweatshirt fleece. I was a bit nervous about this – since it has no spandex or other stretch fiber content, I knew the recovery would not be the same as a stretch blend fabric. However, I really love this fabric for these patterns and hope to use the combination again in the future. They are just great together. I also LOVED the addition of the coordinating ribbing and I think it adds a nice professional touch. I will definitely try to source coordinating ribbing for future projects whenever possible.

Project Prep + Assembly

Both of these projects were super fast to cut and to sew on my serger. I made them in under a few hours in a single sewing session. This would also make them wonderful handmade gifts since they are so quick to turn out! Below you can see the Cedar sweater pre-tie dye.

I usually try to keep a multi-colored tie dye kit around my house for days when the kids are bored in the warmer months. Whenever we do tie dye, I typically let them use a handful of colors to extend the life of the kit. I knew I wanted our color scheme for these sweatshirts to be a palette of oranges and pinks, and it just so happened that of the few bottles of tie dye I had left in our closet, they included multiple shades of pink and orange. I did a simple spiral pattern by pinching the center of each garment to twist it up completely, and then secured with a bunch of criss-crossing rubber bands. Since it was already cold outside when I got around to doing the tie dye, I just did it in my kitchen on a cookie sheet covered with a trash bag and it worked great! Caroline’s sweatshirt ended up with a weird blank spot on one shoulder which I’m sure was just because of the particular way I twisted it, but she said she liked it and didn’t want me to add anymore color so I left it alone! As you can see in the picture, I made sure to leave some white space as between colors and this gave exactly the effect I was hoping for in the finished pieces.

Fabric Sources

Pattern Sources