A couple of months ago my children picked out some fun apparel fabrics. They both chose a dinosaur fabric (luckily not the same one!) for dinosaur hoodies with bunny ears. This is a pattern from “Made by Me Patterns” and the moment I showed a picture of this hoodie to my oldest daughter she was sold on those ears.

Basic construction

Sewing this pattern was pretty straightforward. The pattern pieces match up and the instructions are clear. I used the A0 file for printing and could immediately trace the sizes I needed. For the youngest (grey sweater) who is 3.5y and quite small for her age, I made size 3/4 years. For the oldest (green sweater), who is nearly 6y and average height, I made size 6/7 years. I expect both can still wear their sweater this autumn.

The main sweaters are made from sweater knit fabrics, the grey fabric is a bit thicker and warmer than the green one. For the hem band and cuffs I used ribbing. For the green sweater the ears are lined with ribbing so they match the cuffs. The hoods and the ears of the grey sweater are lined in t-shirt knit fabrics. The bottom of the main front pattern piece and the front pocket line which made it pretty easy to pattern match the pocket. I love that detail!

Construction changes

I changed a couple of things. In the pattern the hem band and sleeve cuffs are made from the same fabric as the main sweater. I used ribbing instead, because ribbing is stretchier and has a better recovery. The ribbing colours were also handpicked by my daughters.

I bar tacked the top corners of the front pocket to reinforce this spot because this area can get a lot of stress from stuffing things in the pocket. I feared that a single line of topstitching may not be sufficient to prevent the pocket from tearing. The ears were topstitched after turning them right side out. I think this helps the ears to keep their shape when washing. Lastly, I also topstitched the back neck to keep the seam allowance of the hood down. After finishing the first hoodie I found that this seam allowance is sometimes visible when the hood is down and topstitching helps. If I were to make this pattern again, I may even add some binding or facing to this spot to hide the seam even better.

My daughters are absolutely delighted with their dinosaur hoodies and want to wear them again the moment they are dry after washing. I call that a sewing win.

Paper snowflake templates

On a completely different topic, I prepared eight printable paper snowflake templates to make it easier for my children to cut snowflakes. I’ve assembled these in a PDF that you can now download for free from my pattern store. So, if you want to use these for a winter activity for your (grand)children or classroom you can find them here.