Karen’s Autumnal Pona jacket at dreams.
What more can you ask for, than a snuggly warm layer of autumnal loveliness in the form of a brushed cotton jacket!
Sometimes a fabric tells you what to make and this was the case with this gorgeously soft brushed cotton, flannel fabric from Felicity Fabrics and the colours are just perfect for the Autumn season. Although, I think it will be quite fitting for Springtime too.
As soon as I saw this fabric, I knew it needed to become the Helens Closet Pona Jacket. The weight of this fabric is just perfect for it – as a little cover up whilst there is a chill in the air and I could not be more pleased with how it turned out. I have literally not taken it off since making it.
The brushed cotton was so pleasant to sew with and the pattern was super easy to sew too – a match made in heaven. The fabric does have a reverse side, whereby the feel of it is a little rougher than the brushed side and I chose to have this as the outside of my garment. I felt the colours were slightly stronger on this side and I thought it would be extra warm to have the brushed side against my skin.
The Pona Jacket is an oversized open style jacket with no fastenings, meaning that it is perfect for either a quick sew or for an advanced beginner to tackle. It isn’t lined either, but there is an option to line it if you follow the instructions on the Helens Closet website on how to draft your own. I didn’t think I needed that with my version and I just overlocked the internal seams. To make those less visible, I used 4 different coloured threads on my overlocker to mimic the colours in the fabric itself and I think this worked out well.
The jacket has a deep facing which enables the collar and lapel to flop open nicely. It isn’t supposed to overlap at the front, but my version turned out a little big (I made the size 10), so I had to take it in down the underarm and sides seams and next time I will size down to the 8.
There are two length options for this jacket and I have made the shorter version but with the longer sleeve length. I know this will get lots of wear with my dresses and high waisted jeans. I am 100% positive this jacket is going to become a workhorse in my wardrobe.
To give the jacket a bit more of a professional finish I added a loop for hanging the jacket up and a label on the neck facing. I also added a canvas label from The Specky Seamstress onto the inside of the jacket and I like how these small touches look.
I also decided not to add any patch pockets, as I preferred how the jacket looked without them.
Thank you to Felicity Fabrics for providing me with this gorgeous fabric, I love it so much.
I hope I have inspired you to try out this pattern and to use this gorgeous fabric to make something warm to wear.
Happy sewing, Karen x
