Gabriela of Chalk and Notch and I decided to collaborate and each make our own versions of the Page Hoodie and Hudson pants for a matching sweatsuit to lounge around in this holiday season.
I used the high rise tutorial for my Hudson pattern that you can find here. For the Page Hoodie, I used the cropped view and her free crew neckband tutorial and pattern piece that you can find here. I love how the high rise Hudsons go with the cropped Page sweatshirt. Perfect combo.
For my sweatsuit I decided to try a bleaching technique that I had been wanting to try. I love how it turned out. Very easy and fun to do. I definitely want to try it again on some nicer fabric for another project. Here is how you can do it yourself.
You will need fabric. I used black french terry from Raspberry Creek Fabrics and some ribbing from Etsy. You also will need bleach (100%, not diluted) a spray bottle, a ground covering so you don't kill your grass, and you may also want some plastic gloves, an apron, and a plastic bin to transport the fabric once it's been bleached.
Fill your spray bottle with bleach. Turn the nozzle so it is on stream, not spritz. You want the drops to be thicker. I recommend practicing on a scrap of fabric first. Here is my trial. I sprayed the front side of one (right) and the back side of the other (left). I like the way it looks better when you spray the back side. The bleach sinks through but leaves softer edges that way.
Here is my spraying setup. I ended up using the garage since there was so much snow on the ground, but you could do it outside as well.
I put my fabric right side down on the plastic sheeting and just started spraying (remember it should be on stream). I walked around the fabric so the sprays came from all angles.
After spraying I let it sit for about 15 minutes and the color quickly started to appear. Now, check the front of the fabric and see if you like the look. You can always spray some more and check again.
I found that the ribbing needed to be sprayed right side up so I turned the ribbing over and sprayed it again.
Once you are happy with the look, wash immediately. This stops the bleach from doing any more damage to the fabric.
Here is how it looked washed and dried.
And now that it is all sewn up, I love it. Pretty sure I will be wearing this for the next two weeks straight. I ordered a couple of fun colors to make some plain colored sweatsuits as well.
Make sure you check out Chalk and Notch to see Gabriela's Page and Hudson combo too.