Hip Huggie Tutorial

Last week I was sitting at my computer freezing my butt off when inspiration hit: I need a Snuggie for my hips!

And that lead to my *invention* of the Hip Huggie™! Bun Warmer, Heinie Heater, Hip Cozy...whatever you call it, it works like a charm. This is a fast and easy way to repurpose an old sweater and stay warm this winter. I designed it to be worn over jeans, low-rise or otherwise, plus I added a kangaroo pocket in the front for easy hand warming!

What follows is my quick and dirty tutorial documented with sub-par photography, thanks to the chilly, gloomy day that it was.

Materials:
1 felted wool sweater*, preferably a Men's large pullover
1/2 - 3/4" waistband elastic
Thread

Tools:
Fabric shears
Straight pins
Bodkin or large safety pin
Sewing Machine
Fabric Shears

* for How to Felt a Sweater, visit one of my very first blog posts from 2006!

1) Cut the sleeves off of your felted wool sweater and put them aside. Next cut open the shoulder seams and turn the sweater body inside-out. Try on the sweater body by stepping into it and holding it so that the bottom ribbing is placed where you would the "hem" of your huggie to be. Mark the top of the sweater body at your waistline with a pin. Step out of the sweater and lay it flat on your work surface. Cut off the excess sweater about 1" above your waistline pin. (Save the top scraps for the pocket!)

2) After you've trimmed off the top portion, try on the sweater body again, this time pinning the excess at what are now the side seams. Be sure it's still inside-out. The width of this sweater was good for me around the lower part but I needed to bring it in a bit at the waist. Pin, take it off and then sew along the lines that you pinned (shown above in pink). Trim away the excess with fabric shears leaving a 1/4" seam allowance.

3) Still inside-out, fold down 1" for the waistband casing and pin. Topstitch around the casing, 1/4" from the edge, leaving 2" unstitched. Put one end of the waistband elastic onto a bodkin or large safety pin and thread it into the unstitched opening and around the casing. Try the sweater on again and pin the ends of elastic together at a comfortable length. Remove the sweater and trim the excess elastic off and sew the ends together. Close the opening of the casing by continuing the row of topstitching.



4) Now for the kangaroo pocket! Pull out those extra scraps from the top of the sweater. (If you don't have big enough scraps, you can use the sleeves.) Shown above are two options. 1: the back of the sweater neckline that can be cut into a trapezoid shape (see photo below), or 2: The front neckline of the sweater. Mine had a V-neck with ribbing. Perfect for pockets trimmed with rib! I simply cut straight up the center and then sewed the arm hole openings (A and B) together.

Top: Trapezoid shaped pocket made from back sweater yoke (or a sleeve). Bottom: Sewn pocket made from V-neck yoke.

5) Almost done! Place your pocket piece on the center front of the hip huggie (right side out!) and pin. You can try it on one more time to be sure you like the placement. There's no need to turn under the edges, the felted wool will not fray. Top stitch around the pocket, 1/8"across the bottom, top and side edges up to the openings.

Is it flattering? No. Is it bulky? Yes, but it is warm. Butt is very warm. :)

Hope you have fun with this!