February 24, 2015JamieDSC

Jasper Sweater Review + A Giveaway!

Paprika Jasper Sweater - CollageThis is the recently released Jasper Sweater by Paprika Patterns. (Full disclosure: I received a copy for free in exchange for an honest review.) I made it up in a rayon double knit from JoAnn’s. The pattern calls for a stable heavy weight knit (sweatshirt fabric, basically) but this is a little bit stretchier than recommended because of the high rayon content. I made View A – the pattern also has versions for a longer dress version and a turtleneck instead of the hood.

Paprika Jasper Sweater - Line Drawing

The double knit I used is also double sided with a polka dot on one side and a stripe on the other. I thought it would look cool to have the striped side exposed in the hood like this:

Paprika Jasper Sweater - Back view

To prevent the seam allowances from showing the polka dot side inside the hood, I had to flat fell all of the seams within the hood. (See the picture below for what it would like without the flat felling.) To flat fell, I just trimmed one of the seam allowances down by half, folded the other seam allowance over it, and then topstitched.

Paprika Jasper Sweater - Hood inside without flat felling

There were a lot of things I liked about this pattern:

  • The princess seams are much more flattering than a traditional boxy sweatshirt.
  • The welt pockets class it up a little bit.
  • The hood shape is a little different and fun with the added buttons.

The sizing was spot-on. I used the size 7 for the bust and then graded out to the size 8 at the hip. (I’m pear shaped.) The only other alteration I made was to shorten the sleeves by 3 inches, but that’s standard for me. Another thing to like about this pattern: the sizes 7-10 (41″ to 49″ bust) are graded for a C cup. (Sizes 1-6 are graded for the standard B cup.) I hate how Big 4 patterns are graded for a B cup in every size. Almost nobody my size wears a B cup!

Paprika Jasper Sweater - Front View

The only thing I disliked about the pattern was the width of the sleeves at the wrist. It’s really just a style preference, but I like my sweatshirts to have a cuff that’s tight on the wrist so they don’t feel drafty.

The instructions for the pattern were fairly thorough. The sections on sewing the welt pockets and the hood don’t have quite enough drawings to be crystal clear, but the pattern has a nifty little feature where each of the more complicated sections contains a tiny URL that links to a page on the Paprika website with detailed instructions and actual photographs of each step. If you don’t have a tablet or a smartphone beside you when you’re sewing, I recommending looking up the extra instructions and printing them out ahead of time.

Paprika Jasper Sweater - Topstitching Closeup

Above you can see all the topstitching I added using a triple stretch stitch. The pattern had several recommendations for finishing your seams on a knit, but I chose to topstitch the seam allowances down and then trim them on the inside with an applique scissors. Knits don’t unravel, so that makes things easy! By the way, have you ever topstitched a sleeve seam? It starts out seemingly sane, but the farther you go down the sleeve, the bigger this doughnut of fabric around the needle gets until you start panicking and thinking… why the heck am I doing this?

Paprika Jasper Sweater - Topstitching sleeve

Here’s a shot of the sweatshirt inside out so you can see the seam finishing. Some of the seams I pressed to one side and others I pressed open and topstitched twice, which is why you can see the polka dots in some places but not others.

Paprika Jasper Sweater - Inside

Making welt pockets in a knit was the trickiest part of this pattern, but that was mostly my fault for choosing to make the welt strip with the striped side of the fabric showing. If you’ve made this type of pocket before, you’d know that when you’re sewing, the welt strip is sandwiched between two layers of fabric (the sweater front and the pocket) so I couldn’t actually see the stripes to make my stitching parallel. I was just watching the episode of the Great British Sewing Bee where they were making boy’s vests with welt pockets and I have a sudden appreciation for the contestants that pattern matched their welts! I had to re-stitch these THREE times to get the stitching parallel to the stripes.

Paprika Jasper Sweater - Welt pocket

If you’re ever staring at a not-quite-perfect piece of sewing and debating whether to get out your seam ripper and do it over, I’ll let you in on my new sew-jo boosting secret… just imagine Patrick Grant looking over your shoulder. Would that wonky welt be good enough for Patrick? Or would he tell you to try again?

What would Patrick do

And now for the giveaway… Lisa of Paprika Patterns graciously offered a free copy of the Jasper Sweater/Dress pattern for one lucky winner – click the Rafflecopter link below to enter! The giveaway will be open for one week (midnight on March 2nd).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There’s also a 15% off sale on all Paprika Patterns ending today (Tuesday Feb 23rd) if you can’t wait. Check out their store here.

36 comments

  7. Another beautifully made and “looks great on you” garment from Jamie! I love the “class it up” details, they take this hoodie to a whole other level. I have to get this pattern, I love a hoodie, and the princess seams make it so flattering! But even though I’ve done them a couple of times, I am a little scared about the welt pockets!

    Like

    Reply

  9. I’m digging the seam hugged by stitch lines, on the shoulder. Never tried a welt pocket and never plan to try one with stripes! 😛 A technical question…aren’t you supposed to use zig-zag stitch with knits? I have some _heavy_ ponte so understand where that might be overlooked, but sweatshirts are pretty stretchy. I can see blowing seams left and right. (learnt that lesson on the waist of clingy stretch yoga-like pants, derp!)

    Like

    Reply

    • You definitely want to use a stretch stitch. All the stitching on this is a “triple stretch stitch” – it looks like 3 parallel lines on the my sewing machine options. It has about a 25% stretch and is pretty resistant to breakage, but a pain in the butt if you have to do any unpicking! Most newer machines have some different stretch stitch options besides the traditional zig zag stitch.

      Like

      Reply

  11. Very nice pattern! I agree, the princess seams and welt pockets make it look more polished than a regular sweatshirt. I am sitting here freezing and thinking I could really use a good sweatshirt in my wardrobe…love the neckline variations too.

    Like

    Reply

  19. I agree, the princess seams on this pattern are like a breath of fresh air with all the boxier sweatshirts (very cute on other people, do not work for me AT ALL) floating around the sewing blogosphere right now. I’ve been eyeing this fabric at Joann’s, too. I would have never thought to use it for this pattern, but you made it look awesome!

    Like

    Reply

  21. Very pretty and you’ve produced another great garment! Thank you for the thorough review.

    It would be really hard to decide which view to sew first but can see this pattern as a staple.

    Cheers,
    Marie

    Like

    Reply

  22. This is a beautiful sweater. I’m not into making anything else with a hood, but I really like the cowl neck dress on this pattern. You’ve made another nice fitting garment.

    Like

    Reply

  30. Love it! And I love the seams. I think Patrick and I were separated at birth. Great fabric choice. And I agree about the cuffs, I prefer snug, non-drafty cuffs.

    Like

    Reply

  31. That’s so well made and you’ve written a very detailed review with helpful, clear photos.

    With Patrick though, it’s be quick or be dead: you wouldn’t have time to seam rip!.

    Like

    Reply

We love to hear from you!