Favourite pattern time: Lovenotions pullovers

One of my pleasures this Christmas was to discover and sew Lovenotions new pullover patterns, the Navigator for kids, the Constellation for women and the North Star for men. I have no affiliate relationship with this company but do note that there is currently a 20% off discount if you buy all three at the same time - something I wish I had done.

Before I go into the story of my own versions I should show you the pattern pictures from Lovenotions:

I have made a ton of fleece/hoodie/casual knit jackets in my time. I compared my experience with sewing those with this new pattern, so far I have made the women's and men's version and will be making some for the kids soon too, and have been really impressed.

I started off with the Constellation for women because I was on the hunt for nursing top options for my daughter-in-law. When I saw that this jacket was "nursing friendly" because of the unusually long zipper opening for a pullover, it just jumped off the screen to me. I have already been sent pictures of Maddie nursing Anika in it and yup, it works pretty well.

I have also realized that the longer zipper places this jacket sort of between a pullover and a full zip jacket.Of course is easier to make than a full jacket because there is no zipper-ending-in-the-band situation to deal with (although of course you could use this pattern for a jacket too by just bringing the zipper right down the front if you wanted). This longer zipper makes these tops is so much easier than a pullover that you have to haul over your head to wear.

I can see that this would make it a good top for kids or even older people because it would be so easy to put on and off.

I was also impressed by the design details that all give a professional look but in fact represent easy techniques that make the garment very beginner friendly.

For example:

• The bottom pockets are really one big kangaroo patch pocket basted to the lower body piece. The edges of the pocket are just strips of knit or ribbing. Really about the easiest outerwear pocket I have ever seen.
• The under collar is finished with a turned and stitched binding before it is attached to the outer collar - once the under collar is stitched to the outer collar around the edges the finished neck edge is just hand or machine stitched down over the neck seam. I am going to think now of other places where I can use this technique. There is actually a live link to a Youtube video on how to do this in the instructions, which would be useful for a new sewer or just a visual learner.
• The zipper suggested is longer than necessary, you just trim the bottom off after it is all stitched in, so it is easier to hold on to and so there is a place to park the zipper tab while the zipper is being applied - there was a far bit of thinking ahead in this pattern. There is also a Youtube video link too for the zipper.

As far as style features all versions have collars or hoods and the woman's also has a sort of shirt tale view without a banded bottom. That's the one I made for Maddie and will make for myself.

I ended up making three men's versions and one women's for Christmas. Here is my youngest son Ben in his:

 Really a winner of a pattern. Today I actually cut out three more by popular demand, those will be ready to share soon.