Penguin Hoodie DIY

I got the idea for this hoodie from a shirt I saw, and decided to make a hoodie. I got the hoodie for $9 at hobby lobby and the fabric for $4 at Walmart. I would recommend washing the hoodie before you do the DIY part. Also, I would recommend trying on the hoodie in EVERY step before sewing anything down. Anyway, on to the tutorial.
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Things you'll need:
-A black hoodie
-white fabric of some sort (I used felt)
-orange felt
-black felt
-pink ribbon (optional, see step 4)
-a large safety pin
-needle&thread, scissors
(also,  having a carpet floor is pretty necessary for this project. like, really necessary.)
Step 1.lay your hoodie down on the floor and pin down. This is why having carpet is really helpful. When you pin down the bottom waistbandish-thingy, stretch it so it doesn't scrunch anymore. this will make everything easier. Lay your white fabric (mine is felt) out and pin in an approx. penguin shape. you can either guess the shape, or you can look at a picture.

Step 2.

Once you have the shape you like and you have it pinned, cut about a 1/2 inch bigger than the shape. This just gives you room to work with, and even though I ended up cutting another inch off, it's always better to start out bigger and get smaller than to not have enough. Then pin your shape down and sew. Then feel for where the pocket is, cut that fabric out and sew onto the pocket. this may sound confusing, but when you have your hoodie in front of you, it should make sense. 

here's a close-up of the hoodie pocket. Here you can really see the detail, and also what kind of stitch I used. I used this stitch on everything except the bow.

Step 3.

Cut out oval-ish eyes from the black felt and a triangle from the orange felt, used as eyes and a beak. Figure out where you want them on your hoodie, then pin them on and sew. 

                                        

Step 4. (optional, only of you want an adorable bow)

With your pink ribbon, fold, gather and sew to make a bow. I can't explain exactly how to do it, but if you don't know how, you can probably find instructions online somewhere. 

this next picture shows how to attach the safety pin. Sew it onto the bow on the side that DOESN"T open: this will leave the opening side free to pin to the hoodie.

 Step 5.
After you wash the hoodie again, pin the bow onto the penguin's head. I pinned the hood's drawstrings into the pin too, it keeps them out of the way and looks really cute. Then go wear it!

good luck making your own penguin hoodie!

IT'S DONE! (big grin)

What is, my precious? The mystery project? Yes precioussssss, yes. We're very smart, very witty, we knows it's done!
Da da da.....

IT'S THE FELLOWSHIP CLOAK!!!!!

So for the instructions, I used the amazing and wonderful and detailed instructions over at alleycatscratch.com (acs) and if you're making one too, I suggest using their website. It's probably the best you'll find. For the fabric, I used a $3 per yard stretch knit from walmart (of all places! but really, their sewing dept. rocks) which is a lovely silvery-grey color. It shimmers when it is moved or the wind blows it. For the clasp, I ordered a lg hook&eye closure from ward's 5&10 online store (the only place I could find the right kind of clasp mentioned at acs.)

I basically just followed their instructions, and it turned out wonderful. The only thing is, if you're using an old bed sheet to make a pattern with like they suggest, DON'T USE A FITTED SHEET. And yes, I speak from experience. The elastic gets in the way and sorta defeats the purpose of a pattern. Anywho, it turned out fine so that's what matters.

Another thing. I got the leaf clasp off eBay for $6 and it's really good quality. Don't buy the plastic ones, they look cheap and cost as much as mine, which is completely metal with shiny green enamel and silver metal veins. So ya, just look till you find a good-quality pin. The leaf just pins over the closure, so no stress is out on it.

So I'm totally wearing this for halloween. I have a whole Frodo costume put together, but I won't reveal that until the official dress-like-a-character-from-The Lord of the Rings-without-getting-weird-looks day......... Er, I mean halloween. But hey, basically the same thing, right?