Women's Cropped Sweatshirt Pattern - Free!

I’m extra excited to share today’s sewing pattern with you because it’s something that I’ve personally been wearing non-stop! I love to wear cozy sweatshirts all fall and winter long, and, let’s be honest, all year long whenever it’s chilly enough. So if you’re like me, you’ll love the Casey Crop, this free women’s cropped sweatshirt pattern, and have a closet full of them before you know it!

I’m also sharing both a photo and full video tutorial to guide you from start to finish. I’d be thrilled if you shared your finished makes with me on Instagram by tagging me @sewmuchado and using the hashtag #caseycrop.

While we often offer our free clothing patterns in one size only, I really wanted as many of you as possible to be able to enjoy this cropped sweatshirt pattern, so am offering the Casey Crop Sweatshirt in multiple sizes, XS-XXL! The size charts below will help you choose your perfect size.

Skill Level

This is a beginner friendly project, and is a quick sew! The trickiest aspect for a beginner is working with knit fabrics if that’s new to you, but if you’re in that boat, this is a great project to get your feet wet. Read on below for my tips for sewing with knit fabrics. Whether you’re using a regular sewing machine or serger, I’ve got you covered.

Fit

The Casey Crop Sweatshirt pattern is designed with an oversized fit and meant to be roomy around the bust, with a cropped length. Of course, you can size up or down depending on your preferred fit. I’ve made and worn sizes S, M, and L, and love them all depending on the fabric, desired fit, and my current mood!

Want something cozy and extra-oversized?? Try our Blanket Hoodie Free Pattern for the ultimate in both!

Recommended Fabric for Cropped Sweatshirt

This free women’s sewing pattern is designed for apparel stretch knits. If you want to use the same fabric for the bands and cuffs as the rest of the sweatshirt, choose a fabric with about 50% stretch, such as french terry. My very favorite online fabric shop, Raspberry Creek Fabrics (affiliate link), is known for their soft and cozy french terry fabrics, including all three sweatshirt versions I’m sharing here.

The camo and leopard french terry is printed on their “oatmeal” base, which is a fav of any RCF fans. I’ve used the oatmeal french terry for many sewing projects over the years, including these baby pants, this cowl neck hoodie (another free pattern!), and jogger sets for my girls. I might kinda like the camo print ;)…

If you’d like to use a stretch knit fabric with less stretch (aim for at least 20%), such as sweatshirt fleece, it’s best to use a coordinating ribbing for the bands and cuffs.

In general, if your fabric doesn’t have great stretch recovery (think of it springing back into it’s original shape after you stretch it), consider using ribbing. Also, if your fabric has a good amount of stretch but poor recovery, you will likely need to shorten the bands to accommodate that.

For a dressier cropped sweatshirt, try a sweater knit, but just keep in mind the notes above about stretch.

Tips for Sewing with Knits:

You can make this cropped sweatshirt pattern with a regular sewing machine or a serger. Here are some tips to keep in mind when sewing with knits:

Always use a ballpoint or stretch needle. Unlike a regular needle, the tip is rounded rather than sharp, and will go between the fabric fibers without cutting through them.
Use either a serger OR a stretch stitch or a long (2.5-3mm) and narrow (0.7-1mm) zig zag stitch to allow the seams to stretch with the finished garment.
Do not stretch or pull the fabric as you sew. Allow the feed dogs to guide the fabric through.
Always press seam allowances with steam after stitching. Test on scrap fabric to find the ideal heat setting for your iron and fabric.
If the knit fabric looks stretched out of shape after stitching, press with steam and the fabric will spring back into place.
A walking foot is not necessary, but is helpful to feed both layers of fabric evenly, and prevent unnecessary stretching.
Finishing seam allowances is not necessary, as raw edges will not fray or unravel.
To reduce stretched seams, you can also reduce the tension of your machine’s presser foot.

Size Chart and Finished Measurements:

The Casey Crop Sweatshirt pattern is designed to have an oversized fit. Choose your size based on the finished measurements below and feel free to size up or down for a more or less oversized fit.

Supplies:

(affiliate links below)

1.5yd (XS-M) / 1.75yd (L-XXL) apparel stretch knit fabric with 50% stretch recommended such as french terry
- can use stretch knit fabric with less stretch (at least 20% recommended) such as sweatshirt fleece if using ribbing for neck, wrist, and waist bands
ball point needle
Access free pattern download HERE. Complete checkout process and pattern download link will be email to you, and can also be found in your account on our site after completing the checkout process. If you don’t see the pattern in your inbox, please check your junk folder.
- The download contains 3 files – one for printing on your at-home printer, one for projector sewing, and one for sending to a copy-shop for large format printing. All files are for personal use only.
- Note: subscribing to our newsletter is great (we’d love to have you!) but is not how you access this free pattern. To get the free pattern, follow the link to the pattern order page above, which is different than inputting your email address into our newsletter signup form.

The pattern file has layers, so before printing you can select only the size you’d like to sew to print by clicking the layers icon on the left toolbar and deselecting any sizes you don’t need.

How to Sew a Women’s Cropped Sweatshirt

Ready to get sewing? Follow the video tutorial or photo instructions below! You can also watch the video tutorial on our YouTube channel, where we have lots more sewing videos and fun!

*All seam allowance are 1/2″ unless otherwise noted.*

Print the pattern pieces at 100% and assemble the pages together along the borders. I prefer to just see-through the pages and not cut around the borders but a less lazy person may prefer to trim them before assembling ;).

Cut the fabric pieces out as instructed on the pattern pieces.

Right sides together (RST), pin and stitch front and back pieces together at shoulders. Press seams toward back. As mentioned in the tips for sewing with knits above, pressing with steam will help to bounce any wavy seams back into shape and keep your handmade sweatshirt looking professional, so don’t underestimate it’s power!

WRONG sides together, press neckband in half, matching long raw edges.

Note about bands: depending on the stretch recovery of your fabric, you may need to adjust the length of your neck/wrist/waistbands. For example, if your fabric has not great stretch recovery and you’re not using ribbing for the bands, it may be necessary to shorten the bands, so adjust the lengths accordingly as needed. You can always baste the bands on before permanently stitching them if you’re unsure.

Open neckband fold at short ends and RST, stitch short ends together. Fold neckband back in half along pressed line and press seam.

Divide and mark neckband into quarters. RST, pin neckband evenly to neckline, matching neckband seam with center back and quarter marks with center front of neckline and quarter points of neckline.

Stitch neckband to neckline (all seam allowances are 1/2″ unless otherwise noted), gently stretching neckband to fit. Press seam allowance away from neckband.

RST, pin one sleeve to one armscye, matching notches.

Stitch along pinned edge and press seam allowance toward sleeve.

Repeat steps above with opposite sleeve and armscye.

RST, pin each sleeve and body side seam together and stitch along pinned edge, from bottom of sleeve to bottom of sweatshirt. Press seams toward back.

WRONG sides together, press wristband in half, matching long edges (the greatest direction of stretch should be along the length of the bands).

Open wristbands folds at short ends and RST, stitch short ends together. Fold wristbands back in half along pressed line and press seams.

Tip: To reduce bulk at the sleeve/cuff seam, I like to place the cuff seam allowances in opposite directions at the raw edges. It will result in the seam allowance switching directions somewhere along the way inside the cuff (as you can see in the top cuff below), but I keep that side on the inside of the finished cuff. I prefer to have that tiny extra bit of bulk there rather than along the seam where the cuff attaches to the sleeve.

RST, place cuff over sleeve opening, matching seams and raw edges. Evenly pin cuff raw edges to sleeve opening. You can mark quarter marks to help with this or just eyeball it, whatever is easiest for you.

Stitch along pinned edges, attaching cuffs to sleeves. Press seam allowances toward sleeves.

WRONG sides together, press waistband in half, matching long raw edges.

Open waistband fold at short ends and RST, stitch short ends together. Fold waistband back in half along pressed line and press seam.

Divide and mark waistband into quarters. RST, pin waistband evenly to bottom of sweatshirt, matching waistband seam with one side seam and waistband quarter marks with center front/back of sweatshirt and other side seam.

Stitch waistband to sweatshirt, gently stretching waistband to fit. Press seam allowance away from waistband.

Great job! Now that you’ve sewn this cropped sweatshirt free pattern, be sure to tag us (@sewmuchado) on Instagram and use the hashtag #caseycrop so we can see your finished makes!