Brunswick Pullover in Lyocell Fleece

I both love and hate when designers sneak peek their newest patterns before release. I'm sure it's a great marketing tool, because who better to convince me I need something than myself, staring at two inches of a photo on IG and obsessing about it? But in this case, it was all worth the wait.

This is the newest pattern from Hey June, the Brunswick Pullover. Poor Adrianna has been fielding my desperate IG DMs for weeks while I've been waiting for this pattern. Like I told her, I need a new sweatshirt like I need a hole in the head, but I'm a sucker for a dolman/drop sleeve.

The Brunswick features a cowl or hood, with or without side button plackets, with or without a kangaroo pocket, and with or without a zippered sleeve pocket. Recommended fabrics are heavier weight knits like fleece, French Terry, or or double knit. It's meant as an outwear piece such as a hoodie (in other words, it's not a shirt).

I had the pattern printed, assembled, traced (I know right), and fabric cut by the end of the day it released. I had the whole thing sewn and finished two days later, including 8 buttonholes and buttons.

Speaking of, the plackets look fancy but are only moderately difficult to sew. You do need to read the directions carefully and be precise in your sewing. I used scraps of olive stretch denim for the plackets. The pattern gives directions for interfacing, but I definitely skipped it because #rebel. I did attempt to interface the area behind the eyelets but it was extremely difficult to fuse to fleece. The interfacing just didn't want to stick. I'm a little scared to wash the hoodie because I'm afraid an eyelet might come loose. Fingers crossed. Drawstring is from Etsy and has been used 80 gazillion times on other projects.

The buttons are vintage and were found in a local alterations shop that also carries fabric and notions. The are 5/8" so a bit smaller than the 3/4" I would have liked, but they work fine. I don't plan on buttoning or unbuttoning them any differently than how they are now. Buttonholes were all sewn using my vintage Singer. My Brother machine would not cooperate with the thick fleece.

The hood is lined but I used the wrong side against my head. It's so snuggly I couldn't help myself!

As you may already know, sourcing high quality fleece, especially with stretch, is darn near impossible. I've never had much luck. But the week before the Brunswick launched, Raspberry Creek Fabrics made all my dreams come true and stocked three colors of Lyocell/organic cotton fleece. It has FOUR WAY stretch and is so soft I want to die. Lyocell is a name brand version of rayon that is supposedly a higher quality than the crappy, pilly rayons of the world. No complaints from me so far, but I've only washed the fabric once because I can't bear to take the hoodie off my body. It is pretty thick and I had much better success sewing with a walking foot, reducing presser foot pressure, or upping the differential feed on my serger.

The fabric was higher in price than I like to spend ($20/yard and you need 2 yards) so that's why I only got olive, and not also the heathered blue and pink. You know I wanted to, especially over Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales! Too bad so sad for you, it's sold out now in all three colors. I did see that Nature's Fabrics is also going to start carrying Lyocell fleece, so fingers crossed that it magically comes at a lower price point.

I sewed a size 4 which is technically down a size from the chart. It's plenty big enough and could possibly even go down one more size (in this particular fabric, which again has lots of stretch), although I need the room at the hips. I didn't grade out because I knew I could just leave the placket undone, but if I make one of the plain side seam versions I'll need to grade the hips out to a 6.

I have to show off this perfect cuff/sleeve matching!

The Brunswick is definitely my go-to for any fleece I find going forward. It may even replace my beloved Goodwill hoodie that I can't seem to quit. You won't regret scooping up this pattern!