Octopus Christa sweater (Schnittmusterlounge)

This Christa sweatshirt is the 2nd piece in my ‘Octopus’ series (after the Johnny Hoodie) made from this incredible French Terry found in a German shop.

Its cut-outs lend themselves particularly well to the use of several fabrics, and you could even say that it enhances them. So it was the perfect union of fabric and pattern.

That said, even though I cut the pieces last November, I didn’t manage to get back to it until April this year… the memories associated with this project being difficult.

Hop, le 6e projet cousu dans ma liste de projet couture 2023 !

The Christa sweatshirt pattern

I fell in love with this sweatshirt pattern with its original cut-outs last year and bought it during a €2 sale on Makerist.

Whenever possible, I prefer to buy direct from the designer, but the French patterns from this German brand are only available on the French Makerist site.

Incidentally, the designer has adopted a name for France (probably for fear that we wouldn’t be able to pronounce the German version) that made me doubt her seriousness – Jacky-L – whereas her German name isn’t so unpronounceable: Schnittmuster Lounge.

The Christa sweatshirt is an original hoodie with princess-style cut-outs on the front.

The killer detail is the large hood, which can be placed in the cut-out or at the neckline. There’s a zip pocket on the upper arm… described as practical by the designer but I beg to differ*.

It’s also possible to omit the hood and the sleeve pocket for a simpler version.

The pattern is available in 2 heights for women (over and under 163 cm) from 34 to 50. The seam allowances are included, so you don’t have to print them all: you can choose the size to print and the corresponding seam allowance.

The Christa sweatshirt is also available for children and men, for a family look with everyone matching… ugh, not creepy at all XD

The explanations are clear, detailed and perfectly translated into French. The step-by-step instructions are illustrated with a mix of photos and diagrams, so you won’t have any trouble understanding them.

Sewing the Christa sweater

Funnily enough, I was watching Sandrine from @sbcreationcouture’s video on – among other things – the Christa sweater, when I was sewing the Crista skirt.

In any case, Sandrine’s video was very interesting in preparing me to sew this sweater.

I sewed this sweater in a size 38 (TT = 72 cm and TH = 94 cm) and it’s quite snug for a sweater. It’s true that I tend to wear oversized sweatshirts in general… but if I do it again, I’ll probably go up a size.

Here, I can wear it with a light teeshirt underneath and that’s it.

I didn’t have any major problems with the sewing, particularly with the thicknesses Sandrine mentioned.

Sometimes you have up to 6 layers to sew… It’s better a serger that have a good grip!

But perhaps it’s also a question of fabrics: my French Terry are thin (and very stretchy), summer fabric (‘Sommersweat’) as the Germans say.

And indeed, I got a light sweater for summer and cool but not cold days or evenings.

With the little hood that goes well for impromptu showers.

Despite its original appearance, the hood isn’t particularly complicated to sew.

All you have to do is mark your marks, read the instructions calmly, don’t rush and zip-zip, it’s sewn.

Even if you have a serger, some of the assembly seams and topstitching have to be done on the sewing machine.

I was a bit reluctant to sew this pocket on the arm, which would look too cooool but would NEVER do me any good.

And it would have added a f… stupid pocket bag that I’d have to put back on properly every time I put the thing on.

In the end, I ended up doing a bit of improvisation with a design that was 100% my own. So the pattern isn’t responsible for the final look.

I started with a pocket without a pocket bag. The idea was to be able to scratch my arm without having to roll up the sleeve.

No.

I just wanted the look without the pocket.

Here’s a list of steps to sew this pocket opening with a zip:

• stabilising the boucle sweater with fusible interfacing (the hairy, non-stretchy kind)
• assemble the visible facing on the wrong side and turn inside out (? inside out? well, you get the idea) on the right side
• create an inset around the edge of the facing and topstitch around the edge to hold it in place
• place the recycled zip and basting
• topstitch from the right side around the opening to hold the zip in place

To finish, I made a matching zip slider counterpart… only to find that the slider was a bit broken. A tap of glue later, the slider holds but will never-never open.

Hey. Whatever.

It was just there for show anyway.

Conclusion

A German pattern requires a German shooting scene… in Baden-Baden where I spent a few days (and I recommend it!!).

Unfortunately, while I was loving my little sweater and its crazy print, I spotted a stain near the neckline on my return. I don’t know how I managed it. Goulash? The cacaoccino? I’m so disgusted. Boo-hoo.

Maybe it’ll have to end like my nephew’s Johnny hoodie and a Cricut flex tentacle?

And at the end of my series, I’ll take a photo with my nephews in our matching outfits… creeeepyyyyy XD