Antwerp pullover: an homage to Gatineau Park.

 Well, this was a detour!

On my active list:

• 

  map of park on pocket

  McCall's utility skirt - muslined, ready to cut out of Japan olive green cotton twill.
• Atenas Jean jacket using recycled denim offcuts (from my jeans project) and offcuts from the houdnstooth linen; it is mostly cut out.

And then Pattern Review announced its 'Surprise Sprint' challenge: seven days to make a pullover hoodie inspired by your favourite national park or protected natural area (near you.)

Now I don't actually like hoods, except on winter coats.

I actually had purchased a pattern (The Liesel & Co Antwerp) which is a pullover with button plackets and buttons up the sides (I am a sucker for that detail; ref: Santorini Tank!), and either collar or hood. My intention was to make the collared version. I even had the fabric: a minty-green ramie linen from Makers Lodge.

The Surprise Sprint is a modified Sewing Bee, with two rounds. Last time I did it (2023) it was great fun. I wanted to participate.

So I did some brainstorming, and ended up with an idea, after taking a detour to a 'bug shirt'. I knew I would not wear the latter, and did not have suitable fabric for it, so I went back to this oddball idea.

Hood and collar

The resident entomologist and I enjoy hiking, and have done a fair bit. We often work vacations around camping and hiking. Always on these hikes is the bug net. And I think I can honestly say that it is because of that bug net that I have had so many interesting natural excusions...

So I landed on the idea of making the hood a nod to the bug net: making it with some diaphanous material. 

I also needed to link to a national park or protected area. I went with Gatineau Park. It is a gem at our doorstep! And that bug net is what brought us back to Ottawa.

I started with the hood, out of silk organza. I decided that if that did not work, I would not invest any more time or resources into the project. I did that on the Saturday, and it turned out a bit too realistic! But it worked. The silk organza is shifty, and as I sewed it I worried that it was out of shape, but somehow it fit into the neck line!

Sunday morning I was still not sure - did I want to use that nice ramie linen for what could be a gimmick?

So I looked around and wondered what other fabric do I have that I could use? This earthy coloured cotton/linen blend worn out bedsheet in my 'to be used for muslins' stash was perfect. It was a better match with the park, especially at its most lovely in the Fall... those reds and organges and yellows. The fabric was unevenly worn, and very supple. And wrinkly...

Canadian shield buttons

I needed more than the bug net hood.

I found some suitable buttons in the button stash next door - colour of Canadian shield granite.

Decided on an appliqué of a map of the park, made of green upcycled pants. Sewed it to the pocket.

And embroidered the names of some of my favourtie places on the collar. That ended up working okay, but I am not convinced anyone would independenlty be able to decipher the words! 

• King Mountain
• Lac Philippe
• Pink Lake
• Champlain lookout

The pattern is well made, except for one detail: the sleeve hem end shoudl have a flare-out allowing for the hem foldover. I added that.

the hood really is attached!

I printed this on letter size paper to tape at home, as I did not have time to print at the print shop on plotter paper (no cutting and taping required). Even that went well - they indicate where to cut between pieces, so that the pattern is not unmanageable in size!

About half of the entrants will be invited to speed-sew a second garment. I will update this when I find out whether or not I made it!

A bonus is that the hood can be worn to keep insects from biting the back of my neck and head! And Ottawa daughter declared it 'kind of cute'.

map of the park

button close up