To satisfy that sudden itch for a pikachu hoodie, I decided to sew one but with a different silhouette.

I wanted to try a new shape so I decided to made Pikachu: a Flying Squirrel(sort of).

I apologize for the neck cramps that will be caused by looking at some of the sideways pictures.

What you will need:

2 yds of yellow fabric sweater
1/4 yd of brown fabric sweater
Sewing Machine or very sturdy sewing hands
Fabric scissors
Yellow & Brown threads
1 26" yellow zipper
a bit of polyfill or anything that can be used as stuffing
Tracing paper

Good Luck!

Step 1: The Body

For the sweater, there is 2 fronts and 1 back piece. I wanted to try a more interesting silhouette with the bat wing/flying squirrel style.

I took an hoodie that I already owned and traced that onto a large sheet of paper. I then altered the shape to suit my original design by drawing an arc that gave the sides a more rounded shape.

Taking the paper pattern, I then marked the pattern onto fabric with fabric chalk and cut out the 3 pieces.

Pin the front to back together by pinning the right sides of the fabric together.

Sew the pinned fabrics together.

Step 2: Time to Put the Hood in Hoodie

Using a hoodie as a reference, trace an outline of the hood.

To make sure the hood fits, measure the neckline of the hood to make sure it matches the neckline of the body.

Trace and cut out four pieces for the outside and the inside lining.

First pin the two left and two right pieces together and sew to create 2 separate hood pieces. Then pin the 2 hoods right sides together. Sew to create a hood w/lining.

Pin and sew the outside hood to the neckline of the garment. Now you have the hood connected onto the garment with the hood lining still not sewn. Take the lining and fold in the unsewn edge in about 1/4 inch. Pin the folded edges to the neckline of the garment, covering the raw edges of the neckline.

Step 3: Pockets Anyone?

Pocket time! For a lazy bum like me, I basically just traced an outline of the desired shape of the pocket on tracing paper that i had placed on top of the garment.

Cut out 2 pockets and fold in about 1/4" around the outside where the pocket opening is. Mark where the pocket opening will go.

Take the pieces and match them up with the edges of each of the garments. Pin and sew around the edges so that the pocket is connected with the garment.

Then sew the outer areas of the garment but remember to not sew the part where the pocket opening is.

Now we have pockets for our Pokeballs!

Step 4: Wristbands and Hems

Almost there! So to finish the garments, I put the classic bands on the sleeves and the hems.

Most of the time, try to find knit ribs in the same color as your fabric but in my case I couldn't. So I ended up just using more of my main fabric as the ribbing.

First measure the length around the sleeve ends and each part of the hems.

Then measure out and create a rough pattern for each of the bands. Then take that pattern to trace then cut out the pieces needed.

Sleeves:
For the sleeves, first place the right sides together on each of the wristbands. Sew them down to create a band shape. Now you will have 2 wristbands in the making. Take the bands and fold both of them hot dog style.

Pin them to the edges of the sleeves, putting right sides together. Sew around. If the band does not fit, you may need to stretch it a bit to fit it.

Hems:
For the hems, it's quintessentially the same but first sew all of the bands together first. Then sew up the shorter ends and fold to create the hem.

Sew it to the garment in the same fashion as you sewed the sleeves.

Step 5: Zipper Time!

Alllmmost done!

First pin the zipper facing down on one side of the garment and then sew it down. You may have to, at one point, move the zipper out of the way when sewing.

Do the same with the other end of the zipper.

Afterwards, sew close to the edges of each part of the garments to hold the zipper down.

Step 6: I'm All Ears!

Now for the final touch! Ears!

For the ears, I recommend using 2 different colors to match each of the fabrics for a more cohesive look. So you may need to use a brown thread on the brown parts and yellow on yellow.

For the ears, I just drew out what I though a pikachu ear would look like. I decided to make it only with one seam so I cut only 4 pieces in total.

First I pinned the top and bottom part together and sewed. Then I placed the right sides together and sewed the ear together.

Turn the ears inside out.

Now I wanted the ears to be a bit stuffed so I used polyfil to fill the ears in a bit. Stuff to your heart's content!

To attach the ears, I basically marked where I wanted it to go and then hand-stitched it on with a blind hem stitch on either side of the hood.

Step 7: Time to Earn Your Stripes!

As for the stripes, basically just cut out 2 fisheye pieces that vaguely resembled the stripes on the back of a pikachu.

Mark where you want them to go.

Then fold the edges in(about 1/4") and sew the two pieces onto the back.

Step 8: Done!

Yay, now you have your very own pikachu jacket!

You can add red cheeks, nose, and eyes if you wish to have a more exact pikachu look.

Great job! Now onto the other 600+ pokemons!