Paprika Jasper Sweater in Striped Bamboo and Organic Cotton French Terry

Sometimes one just needs to do some selfish, satisfying sewing. You know the feeling, I'm sure.

This is the Jasper Sweater from Paprika Patterns. I've been wanting to make this for well over a year. The design appealed to me immediately... casual, but not sloppy, with nice details. 

I found the perfect fabrics for it at Marcy Tilton's online fabric shop. The striped fabric is a bamboo/cotton french terry, and the solid black is an organic cotton french terry. I don't see either of these in her shop right now, but she does have some lovely bamboo blend fleeces.

The pattern calls for a fabric with some weight and structure, especially for the collar area. I used the cotton french terry for this area because the bamboo terry was a bit drapey. 

The welt pocket was surprisingly un-fussy. I didn't even break out the interfacing, although I was tempted. There is a tutorial on the Paprika Patterns website that guides you through the process. I've never done a welt like that... good to know for all those times when you want to make a single welt kangaroo pocket ;). 

I cut the cuffs and bottom band on the cross grain to play with the stripe direction. The bamboo french terry had plenty of stretch, so I wasn't too worried about it. 

The fitting of a sweatshirt isn't too complicated, but I'm pretty fussy... and this one fits my body perfectly, with no alterations whatsoever. She provides two separate patterns for sizes 1-6 and 6-10, and with a 39 bust and a 40inch hip, I'm the size 6 that could go either way. Apparently the difference is that the 6-10 is drafted for a C cup, so I went with that.

My fabrics are a bit on the light weight side for this pattern, and the 6 fits me pretty closely. I could wear it over another shirt since it has plenty of stretch, but it works rather well as a standalone piece, and the terry is luxurious against the skin. 

From taping together the PDF to digging to power serging the cuffs took about 5 hours. Probably not such a good idea, since it means I didn't get much sleep. I did get my sewing fix though!

I'm already thinking about fabrics to make another version!