Ragamuffin's Unisex Kaboom Hoodie

Ragamuffin's Unisex Kaboom Hoodie

I recently had the pleasure of sewing up the kids and adult unisex Kaboom hoodies through Little Ragamuffin Patterns. This pattern was designed for medium to heavy weight knit fabric with four way stretch (minimum 25% either way with good recovery); although, I sewed my version of the Kaboom using light sweater knit (170 grams per square meter). I love the variety offered within this single pattern from the fact you can choose whether you want to add a hood or leave it with a basic t-shirt style neckline to the shirt length, sleeve length, hood options, pockets, sleeve color blocking, and finishing using a banded shirt, sleeve cuffs, or a basic hem for either. I ended up using this to make my kids their Halloween tops and then their Christmas hoodies. I created a comfy slouchy hoodie for myself and love how cozy it feels.

Pinterest image showing a mix of images of the Kaboom hoodies I sewed up. All images are also shown below.

I first had access to this pattern right before Halloween and used the opportunity to sew up some Halloween cotton lycra fabric I bought a while back from Whimsy Baby Customs making the kids a pumpkin-themed top two days before Halloween. I chose to leave the hood off and used the neckband option instead. For both tops I went with the longest sleeve length, hemmed, along with a kangaroo pocket and hemmed the shirt instead of using a band. I cut the neckband and front bodice piece out of the Halloween fabric and then grabbed a thinner black knit I bought earlier that month from Fabric.com for the back of the shirt and kangaroo pocket. I measured the kids and Ada had a straight 5T size while Zoey fit into a 12 month size, but, like the Firecracker dresses before, I used the 3T neckline on the top so it fit over Zoey’s head properly.

I loved how these shirts turned out. The lighter knit on the back of the sleeves and bodice draped nicely and complemented the more structured fabric on the front. The kids absolutely adored the pocket on the front when they discovered it. Zoey was pumpkin-crazy this year and adores her pumpkin shirt while both girls giggled when I told them the spider says “eek” because he’s afraid of the pumpkins.

Close view of the front of the pumpkin shirt on Zoey.
Back view of the pumpkin shirt. Zoey's hands are on her hip and you mostly see the black fabric.
The kids loved discovering their pockets. Front view with both girls hands in their pockets.
Ada is slightly closer to the camera facing Zoey so Ada's back is to you and Zoey's front is facing you. You can see the back of Ada's top showing the pumpkins on the back of her neckband. Zoey's hair is obscuring the top of her top.
Back of both tops.
Side view of the shirts while the girls hug each other.

The next time I sewed Ada and Zoey a Lil’ Kaboom hoodie I decided to use the Christmas panels I bought from Whimsy Baby Customs so I left the pocket off so the panel wouldn’t be covered up. I also had to extend the panels so they fit the width of the pattern pieces. I saw that the Kaboom pattern came with sleeve color blocking lines but my panels were too skinny to reach them. I instead grabbed the coordinate I had and sewed it to either side of the panel before cutting the front pattern piece making the fabric, as a whole, wide enough to cover the length of both sleeves. This time around I wanted to take advantage of one of the many hood options offered in the pattern and chose to use the snapped crossover hood for both girls. If you choose to use the snap crossover hood don’t forget to interface the snap locations before finishing off the hood. The interfacing isn’t listed in the pattern and for some reason, after I sewed the outer hood and lining together, I twigged that I had to interface the flap and so I stopped to add the interfacing before turning the hood right side out. I, however, forgot to interface the snaps on the main part of the hood. I ended up finishing the hoodie and was so proud. I laid down the tops for a flat lay photo and snapped the one hood closed for the photo. Afterwards, when trying to unsnap the hood both snaps easily pulled out of the stretched knit while the snaps on the flap held strong. I ended up pulling out the snaps on the other hoodie’s main hood and then interfaced both spots. If I had interfaced these spots earlier I would’ve been done. I then had to attach four more snaps making my stockpile a bit uneven.

Image shows the interfaced flaps of both kids. On the left is the horizontal laying flap showing two smaller squares of interfacing. The right side shows a vertical laying flap with a large rectangular-ish piece of interfacing. You can also see the underside of the grommet near the top of the image.
After sewing the hood outer and liner together I realized I needed to add interfacing. I added it to both sides of the flap (lining and outer fabric) but completely forgot to add it to where the snaps were to placed on the main part of the hood. Image shows both kids’ flaps to give you two views of how I did the interfacing. Grommet was added in case I ever want to add a drawstring to the hood.
Both hoods are shown with the new KAMsnaps showing. The hood to the left shows the interfacing trimmed around the snap so there's only a little border of white. The hood on the right shows the square or rectangular patches of interfacing before it was trimmed smaller.
After realizing I forgot to add interfacing to the other set of snaps I pulled them out and interfaced the outer hood and hood lining. I then attached the new KAMsnaps and trimmed the excess interfacing so it wasn’t be as obvious that there was interfacing showing. I do wish I had interfaced this before turning the hood right side out.

Overall, I love how the Christmas tops turned out. Ada loved the hood and didn’t realize it was missing a pocket right away. I discovered Zoey didn’t like the flap covering her mouth when it was snapped closed but she was fine with the lower snap closed if the top was folded down. I do know they’d prefer the hoodie with pockets next time and maybe switch Zoey to a crossover hood instead. Both girls have already worn their sweaters many times.

Closeup of Zoey's shirt with her arms outstretched.
Front view of both Ada and Zoey's shirts. Zoey's is a Tree Rex while Ada's is a NinjaBread Man.
Closeup of Ada's Ninjabread Man top. At the top of the photo you can see the hood flap snapped to the main hood keeping Ada's mouth easily covered.
Side view of Zoey's top with the hood on but unfastened so the flap is hanging.
Back view of the hoodie with the hood up.
Closeup view of the KAMsnaps with the interfacing showing around the snap.
Closeup of the grommet details. I added the grommets so I could add a drawstring later on but chose not to for now.
Closeup of the front of Zoey's hoodie with her arms up in front of the "Tree Rex" showing her sleeves and with the flap showing over her arm from the lowered hood hanging behind her.
Closeup of Zoey's half fastened hood. The bottom snap is snapped but the top isn't letting her chin stick out over the top of the flap so her mouth isn't covered.

In addition to the kids’ Lil’ Kaboom there’s also a matching adults’ unisex Kaboom that I couldn’t resist sewing up for myself. I chose to use a lightweight sweater knit (stretch 75% horizontal and 40% vertical) paired with a double brushed poly solid (stretch of 100% horizontal and 50% vertical) that I originally bought, from Sly Fox Fabrics, for the kids’ Kaboom but chose to steal for myself. I chose to make the cuffed long sleeved hoodie with a hemmed bottom, kangaroo pocket, and a cowl hoodie. My measurements put me into a large (40) and medium (38) so I ended up sewing a large in my torso and then followed the line from the medium for my sleeves, neckline, and hood. Like the kids Christmas hoodie I chose to add grommets for a drawstring in the hood but didn’t add the drawstring itself yet.

I ended up making a mistake and rotated the cuffs wrong before sewing them up so they ended up tighter and longer than the pattern called for. When I first realized I debated seam ripping them off and reattaching but, after talking it over, decided to keep it as it is for now. Overall, it makes an incredibly cozy sweater that’s perfect for lounging around on a slightly chilly day.

Side view of the adults Kaboom from the side. The left edge of the photo is a bit cut off but you can see the hood poking out and the side of the sleeve.
Front view of the Kaboom hoodie with my hands in the kangaroo pocket. The hood is down and you can see the solid double brushed poly liner inside of it.
Front view of the hoodie with the hood on over my head. My arms are upright holding onto the hood which better shows off the cuff at the end of the sleeves.
This image is a bit further away showing the back of the hoodie with the hood on.

I’m so glad I came across Little Ragamuffin Patterns’ Kaboom hoodie. It’s a quick sew that can be as simple or complicated as you want. I love how one pattern can take you from a shirt to hoodie, from crop top to shirt, from short sleeves to long, and to so many in between choices. Ada absolutely adored the snap crossover hood, I loved the cowl hood, and I can see Zoey enjoying the lowered front crossover hood when I next sew this up for them. You can grab the kids’ Lil’ Kaboom pattern, the adults’ unisex Kaboom, or save some money by grabbing a bundle containing both patterns. This is perfect if you or your child wants to match someone else.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, on my Facebook page, or through Instagram. I hope you have a great day.




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