Skip to main content

Paprika Patterns' Jasper Sweater

Hey guys, I think I found a new favorite sweater!


I've been slightly intimidated by stretch knits for a while though. While I almost always have great successes with stretch knits, I shy away from them still for some reason. When I saw Lisa of Paprika Patterns post about her Jasper Sweater design long ago, I knew I had to have one!


While this pattern is designed for heavier-weight stretch knits, I purchased my fabric online and apparently can't read because it mentioned that it was lighter weight in the description when I bought it. Initially, I wasn't as excited about the grey fabric when I received it (fearing it looked too much like a subdued leopard print) but it grew on me and now I want to wear this hoodie every day!

Let's take a closer look:


 This pattern came together really, really easily. If you're fearful of stretch knits, please do buy this pattern! The notches led the way the entire time and even though I wasn't sure at times how things would go together during construction, I didn't have any problems. The grey fabric actually now reminds me of sea coral!
 Believe it or not, I chopped off 3" of the sleeve to make the cuff hit mid-hand. I guess being 5 feet tall, I have short arms!


 Close up of the single-welt pockets. Lisa had a slightly different way of sewing them than I have done before so I did have to pull it out a few times before getting it right, but I actually like her process better. Maybe, sometimes I simply just can't read and that's why I was temporarily confused. I get too excited and sometimes my own knowledge gets in the way.
The way that the hood is constructed is really inventive. Looking at the patterns I was like, "How in the world will this go together?!" but I love what she designed.

I can't say enough great things about Lisa - not only is she super nice and helpful, I am super-impressed that she is entirely self-taught. A few years ago, she was just experimenting with clothing construction and design and now she's got her own PDF patterns out! In my opinion, she completely surpasses anything I have ever designed, proving that schooling means very little when it comes to natural ability.

In my opinion, being self-taught allows her to be more creative when designing patterns. So often in design school, people are hounding you for not doing things "the right way" and allowing little room for expanding on an idea. I'm assuming she has none of those roadblocks like I do which is awesome. We need more designers out there like her!


Also, let me nerd out for a quick moment about the beautiful serged insides!


I don't know what it is - maybe I am a snob in many ways, but so often I see people all over the place using their sergers incorrectly. I see them using it to finish off an exposed edge on a knit and that's it. No faux coverstitch, not using it on insides, just a raw, serged edge flapping around in the breeze. It's like if I did a hem and just did the hem only with a serger and left it like that. It just looks unfinished to me. That's fine if it's an intentional design detail but as a whole on everything you make? No.

I have found for me with stretch knits, I prefer sewing them with a zigzag stitch on my machine, then going through and chopping off the excess on the seam through my serger, sealing both edges of the fabric at once. The zigzag stitch allows me more room for error as I can pull out mistakes far easier than starting with just a serged edge. Ideally, you would sew entirely on your serger with a stretch knit, but I am also one who likes to "break rules" if you come up with something that works better for you.

When I pulled this sweater off of my machines, I went "Look how clean and professional this all looks!" But then I realized... I actually am a professional. Whoops. I tend to forget since it seemingly was such a struggle to get to this point (and I know I always have more to learn). You always know what you started off like but sometimes don't take the time to give yourself credit for how far you've come.

Anyway..... Lisa is a fantastic designer and I highly encourage you to pick up one (or all) of her patterns! I also had the privilege of testing out her Jade Skirt pattern almost 2 years ago now (has it actually been that long?!) and that's a great pattern too! Her directions are clear with nice illustrations and she's always posting additional how-tos on her blog about her patterns. I love that her designs are clean and simple but also unique. They are edgy designs that definitely stand out and you can always make them have your own flair to them.

I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Latch Hook Rug Update

A little under a month ago I received all of my supplies to take on one of the biggest long-term projects I have ever taken on - a self-designed latch hook rug. I don't know why, but I am clearly nuts. So beginning today I am posting photos each month, (preferably on the 1st of each month) progress of this gigantic shag rug. See how I started it here (scroll down past posting of my $10 dress).  This is a photo of it today:  Yes, I used the candelabra for scale. Haha.   This rug is really soft and is fun to run your fingers through.  It doesn't look like much was accomplished, but though the number of packages we have gone through of pre-cut latch hook rug yarn already I have calculated that  we've used over 2500 strands for this ie.) 8 packages. I also just ordered 10 more packages of lime green since that's what I ran out of first and 6 more packages of straw yellow. There is still quite a bit to go, but you see the blue row squares? Each of th

DIY Trapeze Dress

I'm a pretty big fan of tent dresses (or trapeze dresses - call it what you want). They're simple, easy-to-make and you can have many variations of them. These are a fun style to wear for spring and summer!  See this DIY from a Good Housekeeping Crafts book from 1971 - photos at the end of my own trapeze top from a while ago! (Bear with me on the photos here - this book is quite cumbersome and hard to scan.)  Applique patterns, in case you wanted the dress to look EXACTLY like the photo. (But why?)  How to cut the fabric efficiently. (This is actually pretty important cost-wise for you - especially with something this big.)  Using pattern instructions from my patternmaking book from college, I created this swingy trapeze top a bit ago. I used sweater fabric from a thrift store find for the collar of this top.   I also opened up the back on the pattern to have a diamond shape.   It can easily be belted like in this photo fo

Shingo Sato and the Art of Transformational Reconstruction

So I got really excited on my break at work today when I got an email from Burda about a webinar they're doing on a pattern technique called "Transformational Reconstruction" developed by Japanese designer Shingo Sato. I hadn't even heard of Shingo Sato until today let alone his design technique but oddly, it's sort of the path I'm going down with my designs anyway as seen with the Sunrise Panel dress as well as the Petra Dress and the pattern making involved in those designs. What I did there is perhaps a "light" version of Sato's where the darts and shaping are hidden in the seam lines. If you've been reading this blog long enough, you know that my design aesthetic focuses largely on color blocking, unusual seam lines, and a love of anything psychedelic. Note: All photos stolen from the internet. Sorry! I'm super-excited. Let me know if it's yours and I'll take it down.  Shingo Sato teaching.  More designs using