DP Studio 504 sweatshirt

Ever since Sophie of @adaspragg changed our world on Instagram with a post about DP Studio, people have been pinning and tagging and generally lusting over these patterns.  French pattern companies have something that we all want these days.  These patterns are available directly from the studio and they have instructions in English.  I had some issues with my order and was in contact by email with the studio, who were friendly and helpful the whole way through.  I know that Stitch56 in Australia also has them in stock, but not sure of other stockists yet. 

Upon moving to New Zealand, as always, my luggage was a mess and most of my stuff was left behind.  Although this is tragic, it does give me a free canvas of things to sew because I actually need stuff!  That plus my new sewing machine plus overall overwhelm led me to choose this sweatshirt as my first sew.  To simplify the crazy options I picked a doublefaced merino blend from The Fabric Store.  I used the lighter pink face as the exterior and the bright side as all the details.

You can go really crazy with details for this - the sleeve stripes on the pattern are one contrast fabric, with a second contrast fabric/ribbon sewn over the top.  

Although I knew it would be roomy I went with the size 38 as my first pattern by this company.  The pattern pieces were all clear and I just cut it out.  Using the same fabric for the bindings meant I had to pull really hard to get the front waistpiece in, and that adds to the gathered look of the front.  This was overall a pretty easy sew.  However I got to the neck and had some thoughts - I decided first to skip the neck zip.  The neck is actually a tight high neck and so without the zip, I had to make it bigger.  I went through a few tries to get a size I liked and it did end up wonky because of all the cutting by eye.  If you use the neck as designed you really must have the zip in, no matter how stretchy your fabric.  Also I found the band would have been too short for the neck as designed, but again my merino doesn't have as much stretch as some knits.

Other changes & notes:

-The sleeves were ridiculously long.  I cut off 2" or more from each arm.
-There is a little facing for the corner where the bottom tie comes out.  I found it hard to understand exactly where and how I was supposed to sew this so I sewed it on the front edge which is genius, as it creates a clean hem for the drawstring but I left the top free since it didn't seem to matter.  It's not beautiful on the inside but my fabric doesn't unravel.

The front is actually pretty short.  It hits just below my belly button and I'm very short waisted.  The back is of course very long, it covers my butt, but once the drawstring is in I pulled it quite tight so it curls inward. 

I used a silk cord from The Fabric Store as my drawstring.  This stuff is beautiful, it's really strong and has an amazing sheen.  I'll be using more of it!  I went with grey to balance all the pinks as the pink would have been too much.  Also I only had one of those little clip things for the end of the drawstring so I stuck it on and tied a knot on the other side, but I will eventually get more clips, maybe even silver ones to match better.

I've been wearing my sweatshirt all the time since I made it.  I think if I made it again I would change the hem to go straight around the back rather than dropping down over my butt, and I would be more careful with how I changed the neck.  I doubt I'll ever do the high neck as designed.  It would be tempting to take some fabric out from under the arms for a more fitted look...but for now I'm really happy.