A sweater and a very pink fleece

Here is the first of my SWAP items.  This sweater will count as my pre-made item.  Made from a ColourMart Scrap set.  Its double knitting weight 95% merino, 5% cashmere and really, really soft and lovely.  I had some of the yarn left over which is in the box ready to be knitted into my Hexaghan blanket. (of course). 

Then below we have a very pink fleece.  This is my Marfy hoodie without the hood and I'm really pleased with how it came out.  The hoodie as drafted has a slight vee neck and I just put tissue under the pattern piece, drew a line up from the centre front, and then compared the depth of the neckline on a much loved sleeveless M&S fleece with the neckline on the hoodie, found it needed raising one and a half inches, and then drew in a neckline that met on the original neckline in what appeared to be a suitable curve.  It took a couple of attempts to get a neckline that was the right size, the first attempt was too wide and too low.  To see if the neckline would work I just measured its length, looped the tape measure into a circle and held the tape around my neck to ensure it sat more or less OK, then went for it.  Because I am both lazy and keen on interchangeable pattern pieces, I've just cut the tissue into a rough square, drawn placement lines on it, and pinned the extra to the main tissue.  So now I just need to pin the extra bit to the front pattern piece whenever I fancy a collar rather than a hood.  Thus avoiding the need to trace an entirely new front.  I do the same with fly fronts.  I have one that works and just pin it onto whatever I think requires it.

The collar is just a rectangle, 2.5 inches deep plus seam allowances.  I angled the top of the collar inward by half an inch on each end, again based on measuring my RTW sleeveless fleece which hugs my neck beautifully and repels drafts very effectively.

I think it turned out really well.  The collar depth could be shortened by about  a quarter inch if necessary, I shall see how it wears in practice. However, I like a high collar to keep out drafts so unless it is so high that it annoys me, it will stay as it is.  The fleece itself is stretchy and learning from the lessons of the navy one, I used stabilising tape on the areas where the pockets were set in so that I could sew them accurately without distortion.  This seems to have worked quite well. 
I made the bias tape myself, from animal print quilting cotton and I really love how it looks with the pink fleece.  I've bound all the edges, as well as the neckline seam inside the garment to make it look neat. I've also sewn the tape down over the zipper tape on the inside to neaten that, just as I did with the previous versions.  Finally, the zipper.... is a double ended, pale pink twill tape zipper with brass teeth which came out of a Ralph Lauren garment and has RL on the pull.  I knew that zipper, which I pulled out of a worn out pink knit cardigan some years ago, would come in handy someday. 
Finally, I've trimmed the pockets with the same bias tape, and to keep it in the right place whilst I constructed the pockets, I stuck it down with Steam A Seam.  This trim was then sewn by hand, as was the wrong side of all the rest of the trim elements.  My bias was a bit narrow for the purpose it was used for, so it needed very careful sewing down, and I am so much more accurate sewing such things by hand (and its rather relaxing).