The sweatshirt is one of those pieces that you never you knew you always needed. Warm and roomy, it’s the height of comfort. I love to wear a sweatshirt dress over leggings. It’s the perfect weekend outfit. For this one, I used one of my own patterns, the Lou Box Dress 1. This dress is a cocoon-style oversized dress. I did a little mish-mash of the views and used the sleeves from View A and the patch pockets from View B.
The fabric is a loop back french terry that I bought at Michael Levine in downtown LA. I bought it in-store about a year ago but it looks a lot like this fabric. The fabric I bought has a little bit of stretch in it which is essential for a comfy fit. I once bought some sweatshirt fleece (from Joann’s) that for some reason didn’t have any stretch. This fabric fortunately had plenty of stretch and is perfect for a sweatshirt style garment.
This pattern has instructions for both woven and knit fabrics. For knit fabrics, I usually like to go down one size to an XS-S, which I did for this version. (The dress has the same sizing as the Lou Box Top and I like it in the M-L and the XS-S. It's really just personal preference how oversized you like your tops or dresses.) For the knit version of the dress, the pattern uses a hem band to finish the hem, which adds a couple inches to the length. I also added three inches to the overall length for a total of 5 extra inches. I’m 5’11” and the pattern is drafted for someone who is 5’6”.
I’m very pleased with the dress and I’m sure I’ll get a lot of wear out of it. I even wore it to bed one night. It was just too cozy to change! The big pockets, oversize fit and cozy fabric make the perfect recipe for a wear-all-weekend dress. You can find the pattern in my shop here. And don't forget to check out the Lou Box Dress sewalong for extra help. Happy sewing!
