Laura’s Hovea Jacket
Laura used her geometric cotton from Octobers Classic Box to make a Megan Nielsen quilted Hovea jacket.
It seems that someone has flipped the switch on summer, and we’re suddenly in Autumn. Weather is a lot crisper and there’s a chill in the air. Makes you just want to wrap yourself in a duvet.
And how do you make a wearable duvet? A quilted jacket!
The fabric this month is the perfect weight for making a garment like this. I’m in love with the print too! It immediately gave me witchy vibes as it reminded me of spider’s webs. It’s graphic and bold, but simple so it slots seamlessly into my wardrobe and pairs with lots of things.
The rich jewel-toned teal is also one of my favourite colours for wearing in autumn and winter.
For the lining fabric, I selected this quilting cotton which at first glance is a sweet floral pattern, but look closer you can see that it has little spiders hanging from the flowers and moons. I thought it was very in-keeping with the spider’s web theme on the outside.
I decided to sew up the popular Hovea jacket from Megan Nielsen. The pattern includes two distinct versions (each of varying lengths), one lined and one unlined. I went for view B which is the mid-length quilted variation with binding and tie closures. It is loose fit, so perfect for snuggling on the sofa in!
I have made a few quilted things before – a couple of baby quilts for gifts, a table runner, bags – so I wasn’t coming into this a complete novice.
The pattern advises you to quilt your pieces first which was a little surprising as it was my expectation to do the quilting first on larger pieces and then cut out the pattern piece.
It instead instructs you to cut out each piece of the lining fabric, main fabric and wadding layer. You then quilt each piece separately before attaching together into the garment. Thankfully the pattern itself is very simple, comprising of only 7 pieces altogether: the back, two fronts, sleeves, and pockets.
I decided to do a basic quilting pattern, stitching regular diagonal lines at 1.5”. For ease, I chalked guidelines on the fabric (the fabric was a little too dark to use my beloved frixion pen).
Once I got in a rhythm, I managed to get all the pieces quilted relatively quickly. My biggest challenge was keeping the pieces aligned. Even with a walking foot, I found it tricky. Once done, I just trimmed around the edges where the discrepancy was bigger than a cm. As the jacket is quite oversized, I could afford to lose a little bit on the sides.
Piecing the pattern together was very straightforward. All the inside seams and entire outside edges are neatly bound in double-fold bias tape. You can make your own, but I went for this ready-made dark forest green for a little bit of contrast.
I can tell you; it was hard work wrangling those pattern pieces. They’re quite heavy and didn’t bend like regular fabric. My shoulders were on fire by the end!
But, absolutely worth it. I am so in love with the finished garment, I’ve worn it pretty much non-stop.
If you’re thinking about making a quilted garment, but not into the patchwork look, try using just the one fabric like this. I think it gives a modern twist on the traditional quilted jacket which I think is really, rather chic!