Karen’s Sew Over It Amelia jacket.

One thing I’ve noticed about my sewing journey, is that I seem to make inappropriate choices when it comes to sewing garments suitable for the season we’re in.  So today I have changed that cycle by making something ready for our upcoming Spring and Summer months.

A garment that was missing from my wardrobe was a little jacket to wear over my summer dresses. I always seem to reach for my lightweight raincoat, which is not always the prettiest cover up to wear. The Sew Over It Amelia jacket caught my eye awhile ago, but promptly jumped the queue due to the community sew-along ran by the Northern Soul Sisters – Jacket January. I really like the cropped style of this jacket and thought it would work well with dresses, as it falls on your natural waist.

This jacket can be made from numerous types of woven fabric and for my version I have chosen this beautiful light pink baby needlecord. It is quite a lightweight fabric, but since this jacket is fully lined, I knew it would work well as a light cover up to wear in the warmer months. The fabric has some pretty seedheads scattered on it and is super soft to the touch and as the composition of this fabric is cotton, it is a dream to wash, sew, press and wear.

For the lining I used some slippery fabric that a friend gave me and I think it is the perfect combination in both colour and weight. It is light enough for a summer style jacket and the slippery nature ensures a comfortable wear over the top of various garments.

This pattern is aimed at intermediate sewers, which I would agree with, as there are quite a few steps to sew this up. There isn’t anything majorly tricky about the sew itself, however, you have to shorten the metal zip. This wasn’t something I’d done before, but luckily, I found a tutorial on YouTube which helped me out.

There is also a large amount of hand-sewing involved, whereby, you hand-sew the lining to the cuffs and to the bottom of the hem-band.  There is no bagging out with this jacket! I was a little bit worried about this, but the fabrics worked together well and slip-stitching it together went really smoothly and looks really neat.

I find the style of this bomber jacket a bit smarter than the usual casual style due to the fact it has a collar. I think this is a nice feature that dresses it up a bit. 

I learnt a lot whilst making this jacket and would like to make another that would be suitable for wearing in the winter months with warmer dresses, perhaps in a plain navy fabric so it could be worn with lots of things.

I hope I’ve inspired you to have a go at making this jacket. I think this is going to get a lot of wear over the next coming months.

Happy sewing!