When One Size Doesn't Fit All - Hack It

Hoodie with a hood that doesn't fit. Photo Janice Gill

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter bought her nearly three-year-old a new hoodie. Knowing that he's on the tall side for his age, she bought a 5-6 year old size. He'll grow into it!

He adored it and wanted to wear it straight away. Unfortunately, it wouldn't go over his head. He was so disappointed and almost inconsolable.

Of course, we could always have taken the item back, but he liked it so much,

Instead, it was decided that the neck could be altered. Here's how it was done.

1. Undo the stitching on the overlap

Undo stitching on overlap

2. Cut a straight line down for 2-3 inches

Cut a straight line down

3. Place a piece of fabric behind the V, turning under the edges and stitch in place.

Fabric inserted in V shape.

4. Turn inside out and use an overlock stitch to join the edges of the hood to the new fabric piece.

Edges of hood overlocked to added fabric piece.

This hoodie now goes over my grandson's head without a problem, and he's delighted to have his space hoodie back.

The finished piece.

This kind of hack can be used to improve the fit of many garments. Armholes can be widened with a diamond insert, and jumpsuits can have extra crotch room added in the same way.

Which reminds me, my grandson has a Buzz Lightyear onesie that is too short in the body, even though that is also age 5-6 years on the label. Time to get busy :)