A review of the Didi pullover sewing pattern by Fibre Mood – including some tips on sewing with Sherpa fleece fabric!

The Fibre Mood Didi pullover is very on trend at the moment, with its oversized fit, dropped shoulder and zipped collar detail.  I was initially put off trying this sewing pattern as I was nervous about sewing a zip into stretch fabric due to a bad experience on another pattern.  But eventually I decided to take the plunge and I’m really glad I did!

In this blog post I talk all about how I found the Didi pullover sewing pattern: sizing, adjustments, tips for inserting a zip into stretch fabrics and more….  I will also share some tips for sewing with sherpa fleece too!

The pattern

The Didi pullover is a sewing pattern by Fibre Mood.  It was originally released in Fibre Mood Magazine Edition number 17 and it is also available to buy individually as a pdf pattern.

The Didi pullover is an oversized sweatshirt with dropped shoulders, cuffs, a hem band and a trendy zipped collar detail. 

I have sewn a few Fibre Mood sewing patterns before and they are great but it is worth mentioning that if you buy the magazine version, the seam allowances aren’t included on the paper pattern pieces and you will need to add them manually.  If you buy the pdf pattern, the pattern does come with seam allowances included.  Fibre Mood pdf patterns also have the layers function, so you can just print the size/s you need. 

The fabric

Fibre Mood suggest a chunky knit fabric as a great, trendy option for the Didi pullover.  They also mention that other kind of knits will work well too, including French terry, sweatshirt fabric, ribbed knit, knit jacquard and more.  They recommend that the wrist trim and hem bands should be cut from ribbed trim fabric.

In recent months I’ve admired lots of cosy sweatshirts in the shops with a similar vibe to the Didi pullover that have been made out of sherpa fleece fabric.  So when I saw the Fabric Godmother Rory Sherpa fleece fabric I thought it would be a perfect match with the Didi pattern.

Fabric Godmother describe the Rory Sherpa fleece fabric as a faux fur Sherpa fleece made of 58% polyester and 42% acrylic, with approximately 50% widthways stretch and a weight of 440gsm.

It’s a bulkier fabric than I usually sew with and I’ll share some tips on sewing with it below. 

I just loved the leopard print in black and ecru on the Rory Sherpa fleece and I thought it would make a fabulous cosy faux fur pullover.

Sizing

The Didi pullover is available in a size XS to XXXL (approximately a UK6-28/30), from bust 30 ½ inches up to bust 58 inches.

My measurements are bust 32 waist 26 hips 36 inches.  Based on the Fibre Mood sizing chart this would put me at the top end of the XS size.

For my Didi pullover I decided to size up to a size S.  The pattern does state that the Didi is designed to have an oversized fit, so you may wish to size down if you are not keen on oversized items.  However I wanted my Didi to be oversized and as the sherpa fleece fabric is quite bulky, I though best add a little extra room.

I am really happy with how the Didi pullover fits and I am glad I did opt for the larger size. 

I did make a few sizing adjustments as follows:

Sleeve length – I lengthened the sleeve pattern piece by 1 ¼ inches (I have long arms and I like nice cosy long sleeves!)

Main body length – I lengthened the main body pattern pieces by ½ inch

Sleeve trim/cuff – I widened the sleeve cuff pattern piece by 1 inch.  This is because I wanted to make my cuffs in the Sherpa fleece fabric instead of ribbed fabric.  Sherpa fleece is more bulky and less stretchy than rib fabric, so I thought it best to widen the pattern piece a little to account for this difference.

Hem band – I also widened the hem band pattern piece by 1 inch.  The hem band is cut as two pieces so the overall increase in width I made to the full hem band was 2 inches. 

Sewing process

Fibre Mood rate the Didi pullover as 3/5 difficulty i.e., an intermediate level sewing pattern. 

I think this rating seems very appropriate.  The fiddliest parts of the sewing process are (1) inserting the zip into the collar and (2) inserting the collar into the sweatshirt.  Other than these two bits, the rest of the pullover is pretty straightforward to sew.

I find Fibre Mood sewing pattern instructions are clear and easy to follow with helpful diagrams included for each step in the sewing process.  It is worth noting that the instructions in the magazine are more limited and comprise mainly of pictures with less wording. However, if you buy the magazine version of the pattern, you can still access more detailed instructions on the Fibre Mood website.

I do have a few extra tips for a couple of stages of the sewing process as follows:

Tips for inserting the zip into the collar

Interfacing – Sometimes inserting a zip into stretch fabrics can be challenging, as the fabric can stretch out whereas the zip doesn’t stretch at all.  To combat this, I would recommend adding a strip of non-stretch interfacing along each edge of the collar piece where the zip is to be inserted.  I cut two pieces of fusible, non-stretch interfacing, each strip 1 inch wide and applied on the wrong side along each long edge of the collar piece before inserting the zip.

Hand basting – I would recommend hand basting the zip to the collar before sewing it in place using the sewing machine.   It is possible to pin the zip in place (instead of hand basting) and this is what the instructions suggest.  However, I think hand basting will ensure less movement when sewing the zip to the collar and result in a more accurate and easier zip insertion.

Tips for inserting the collar into the neckline of the sweatshirt

Inserting the collar into the neckline of the sweatshirt is quite a fiddly part of sewing the Didi pullover.  To make it go a little more smoothly, I would recommend the following:

Baste the raw edges of the collar together before sewing the collar to the neckline – I used a long straight stitch on my sewing machine to baste the raw edges of the inside and outside layers of the collar together before I then sewed the collar into the neckline. This helped to ensure that the raw edges of both layers of the collar were caught in the seamline when I did attach the collar to the neckline.

Hand baste the collar to the neckline before maching sewing – As the neckline and collar are quite a tricky shape to fit together (with corners and curves to navigate) I decided to hand baste the collar piece to the neckline before machine sewing.  It helped to make the insertion a lot smoother and more accurate. Hand basting did add a little bit of time to the sewing process but I think it was worth it.

Tips on sewing with Sherpa fleece fabric

As well as my tips above for sewing the Fibre Mood Didi pullover, I also have a few tips for sewing with Sherpa fleece fabric specifically.

Consider sizing up – As sherpa fleece is quite a bulky fabric, you may wish to size up from the pattern size that your measurements would put you at, as the bulkier fabric will leave less room in the finished garment.

Be aware of the nap! –Just like corduroy and velvet, Sherpa fleece has a nap, which means that this faux fur fabric feels smooth when you stroke it in one direction and rough when you stroke it in the opposite direction.  You can cut the Sherpa fleece fabric with the nap going up or down -whichever you prefer (they will give slightly different looks depending on which way you choose).  But it is important to ensure that all pattern pieces are cut the same way up! 

Overlocker settings – I found that for the bulky fleece fabric, it helped a lot to adjust my overlocker settings as follows:

• Increase overlocker stitch length to its longest setting
• Increase overlocker stitch width to its widest setting
• Increase differential feed ratio to 1.5

Basting raw edges before sewing when sewing multiple layers together – As Sherpa fleece is very fluffy it can be hard to see the raw edges of the fabric when sewing multiple layers of the fabric together.  For the cuffs and the hem band, it is worth considering to first baste the two layers of the cuffs/hem band together before attaching to the sleeves/body.  Then when you come to attaching the cuffs/hem band, you essentially only have two separate layers to sew together and it is easier to make sure both edges are caught in the seamline.

Summary

The Didi pullover is a great pullover pattern with a lovely zipped collar detail that is very much on trend.  The pullover is stylish and comfortable to wear.  It also sews up nicely, although the zip and collar section is a little bit fiddly.

I love how my Didi pullover has turned out.  The Sherpa fleece was a little challenging to work with but it was worth persevering as it has turned out to be such a cosy sweatshirt!  I’d love to make another Didi in a different fabric – I am definitely not finished with this pattern yet!