It’s Time to Tailgate!

New Release from Love Notions for Men (and the Sideline for Boys too!)

The Tailgate Sweatshirt and Hoodie has just been released along with the Sideline Sweatshirt for Boys. I wasn’t an official tester for this pattern, but as a Love Notions Ambassador I did get an advanced copy of the pattern. So I decided to quickly sew up a Tailgate for my husband (who sadly doesn’t get many me-mades). I was promptly “”informed” at I need to sew a few more of these. I guess that means I “need” to go fabric shopping!!

The Tailgate and Sideline will both be on release pricing until Monday, 10/23/2023. The Tailgate is just $9.50 and the Sideline is just $7.50. Remember to use my code LOVEMARY10 for an additional 10% off.

My husband is a New Englander through and through. He honestly doesn’t wear sweatshirts very often, usually just to rake leaves or shovel snow. Typically he wears quarter zip fleece or sweaters and button-down shirts. (He does love his LN North Star!)

I realized that if I was going to make him a sweatshirt, it had to be either a “Boston Bruins” sweatshirt or something so comfy he wouldn’t be able to resist wearing it! Hence, my pairing of the new Tailgate Sweatshirt and Raspberry Creek Fabrics Oatmeal French terry. (More on that later).

The Details

The Tailgate and Sideline is a great basic for the big and little men in your family (and all those in-between). Both have a casual look and fit can will look great all weekend long!

• Crew neck or Hoodie options
• Cuffs
• Optional Kangaroo pocket
• Drop Shoulder
• Great for color blocking
• Drawstring and grommet options
• Designed for men and boys

Sizing and Fit

The Tailgate is available in sizes XS-5X. The Sideline is available in sizes 2T- 16. Pattern size should be selected using the chest measurement. If in between sizes, you should choose the smaller size. Both sweatshirts are loose fitting with room for a layer underneath. If an oversized fit is preferred, just size up to create the coziest sweatshirt or hoodie!

Bill’s Sizing and Modifications

My husband has a 44″ chest and a 38″ waist. Using his chest measurement I cut a size Large for him. To accommodate for his smaller waist, I graded to a medium from the waist down. Grading really isn’t necessary due to the casual style of this sweatshirt, but I knew he would prefer in smaller. Since his waist is only 38″ (in-between a small and medium) I used the bottom band for the small. This fit him perfectly!

We did find the cuffs a tad tight on him, so much so that I made new cuffs and added 3/4″ to the width of them. This worked out well. I highly recommend checking the cuff on your guy before sewing them on. As you can see from many of the tester and listing photos, the sleeves are quite long. My husband is 5′ 8″ which is the height the pattern is drafted for. He does not have “short” arms, but I did take off 2 1/2″ off the length of the sleeve. A few testers also removed some of the sleeve length. This might just be a style preference of our guys, but I suggest trying it on before sewing on the cuffs.

Fabrics and Notions

The Tailgate and Sideline are designed for knit fabrics. The body of the sweatshirt only requires 20% stretch, so this is a great pattern to use for some of those sweatshirt fleeces that don’t have a ton of stretch. Other fabrics that would work well are: French Terry, cotton lycra, and fleece. The cuffs and bottom band require fabric with at least 40% stretch and good recovery. Ribbing, French Terry and cotton spandex would all work.

Bill’s Tailgate is made in the “infamous” oatmeal French Terry from Raspberry Creek Fabrics. IYKYK~ it’s milled especially for RCF once a year. There is a current preorder for it right now. Once it’s gone it’s gone until next year! It’s available in this solid and also some really great prints.

You can find the Oatmeal French Terry HERE.

Notions

• Thread
• Optional drawstring and grommets for the Hoodie version

Other Modifications

When constructing anything with a neckband, I prefer to sew the neckband on before attaching the sleeves and sewing the side seams. Keep reading for some neckband pointers. I simply find it much easier to work with this way.

The Tailgate is designed to have a bottom band in 2 sections. When I make this again, I will be cutting the bottom band on the fold. This way there will only be one seam which I will place at the center back when attaching it to the body. As designed and constructed, there are 2 seams in the bottom band and they are placed at the side seams when attaching to the body. I find that this can be a tad bulky depending on your fabric choice

Sew Mary Mac’s Tips for Sewing Neckbands

• First and foremost– achieving the perfect neckband takes practice! Take your time!
• For perfect neckbands make sure you mark the 1/4 points on the neckband and neckline. Match up the center fronts, center backs and 1/4 points.  Remember that the shoulder seams are not the 1/4 point!!
• BASTE FIRST! I still baste my neckbands on first. It’s much easier to take out basting stitches. 
• Press neckbands to remove any puckering. Remember pressing and ironing are not the same thing! Use steam and a press cloth.
• Remember that the pattern piece may not be the exact size you need for your fabric. Knits without good recovery may need to be made slightly shorter. I have found this the case with sweater knits and waffle knits.
• Even the most experienced sewists put a neckband on backwards from time to time. Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish the front from the back. I always label the back with a small piece of tape to try to avoid this. Sometimes I’m in a hurry- and I skip this step- then I’m always glad that I basted my neckband on!
• For those of you who are more visual learners- check out this video on the Love Notions Blog on sewing neckbands.

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Thanks for stopping by! I truly appreciate all of you that visit!  If you enjoyed this blog post, consider subscribing to my blog to stay up to date with all my posts!  

Mary Anne 🙂

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You can grab the Tailgate Sweatshirt pattern HERE.

You can grab the kids version, the Sideline Sweatshirt HERE.

These are affiliate links. It costs you nothing to purchase from these links, it just helps fund my fabric addiction which allows me to test and review more patterns.

To receive an additional 10% off the pattern price, use this coupon code 10MARYMAC. This coupon code can be used at anytime on any pattern….even a $5 Feature Friday pattern. My code does change quarterly, so please always check the newest blog post for an update if you find a code isn’t working.