Neku Hoodie
Two years ago I made my second hoodie and designed it based on Neku Sakuraba from the DS Game The World Ends with You. I wore it often, but was never fully happy with it. Since the fit was a little too big, I wanted to give it another try.
This has been one of my favorite projects as it mixes cosplay and street fashion into something that's wearable everyday.
Design
This time I took a litte time and tried to do some planning ahead of time. I know, my drawing skills are pretty amazing.
Neku's shirt is sleeveless and I spent a bit of time going back and forth if I wanted to make the hoodie sleeveless or not. Since I couldn't decide, I figured why not have both? So for this version I wanted to make the sleeves detachable.
Testing
On the first version I made, I had the zipper down the middle of the purple stripe and used some piping for the yellow stripes. It worked, but the proportions of the stripes weren't right.
I started making a test piece, playing with how fabrics would attach. I didn't want any seams to show.
The other thing I need to work out was the placement of the zipper. I could go the pullover route, but I prefer a zip-up.
For version two, I thought I would try using yellow zippers and place them on either side of the center stripe. It would definatly make this hoodie unique.
I used one of my hoodies that had the fit that I was going after and traced out patterns for the back, front pieces and the hood.
Of course, this being patterned after Neku's shirt, it would need a much bigger collar.
Started working on the center stripe. The top and bottom ends are folded in so the edges are clean. The top fold comes down to the neckline.
Hood
The first version of the hoodie, the hood was way too big, so for this one I wanted it to be more fitted.
I went with gray with a purple liner.
The curved edges are serged then the liner is attached to the hood and those edge are serged. The double needle creates a nice finish around the perimeter of the hood and makes the channel that the pull strings will fit in.
Collar
The big collar is of course necessary. I attached it in-between the body and the hood pieces, serging everything in place. Thankfully, our serger handled all the layers without an issue.
Next up, zippers!
It actually took me several attempts getting both sides of the purple piece lined up evenly. The fabric I used was slightly strechy and would bunch up with the zipper foot.
Here's the bulk of the body done, hood attached, with the front stripe panel finished. The bottom edge still needs to be finished. The first version I finished with purple ribbing. For this version, since I'm making it more fitted I felt I could get away without the ribbing. I'm glad I did and am happy witht the results.
Next up, pockets and the sleeves.
Pockets
Neku's shirt doesn't have pockets, but they're kind of required for a hoodie.
Welt pockets are always kind of magical to me. You have to follow the directions precisely, even when they seem crazy. Then you get that moment of awe when you turn everything right side out and everything tucks in and lines up perfectly.
I went with single welts for the side pockets and positioned them at an angle. Don't forget to attach the top part of the pocket at the opposite angle from how the pocket will lay, so when you tuck it inside it lays straight.
Using purple for the inside pocket provides a nice accent.
nicka
An original digi-destined trapped in the real world. Likes to poke things to try and figure out how they work. Thinks everyone should run their own email server out of their basement.