Make Of The Month

January’s Make Of The Month came from Sam (@sams_sewing74) who used her fat quarters from previous boxes to make an incredible quilted Megan Nielsen Hovea Jacket.

Hi, I’m Sam and I live in Banbury, Oxfordshire with my husband and two sons. I’ve been sewing properly for almost 2 years since the start of the covid pandemic. I’ve been a SewHayleyJane subscriber for about 18 months and whilst I use the larger fabric for dressmaking I have accumulated quite a few of the fat quarters and am usually stuck for ideas with what to make with them.

I recently treated myself to the Megan Nielsen Hovea jacket pattern after seeing loads of lovely versions on Instagram. There are a choice of 6 jackets patterns of various lengths which can be made into unlined, lined or quilted fabric. I decided that my first Hovea would be a bed jacket for my 86 year old Gran for Christmas!

I chose view F which is a quilted cropped jacket with binding. I chose to make it in size 16. I didn’t know her size but my mum told me she was a dress size 16. I checked out the measurements and the bust was 42’, waist 34’ and hips 44’.

I washed all my fat quarters and cut them into large squares which I sewed together. Once I had a large piece of continuous fabric, I cut the pattern out. I needed one back piece, two front pieces, two arms, and two pockets. I cut the same pieces out of wading and lining fabric. The jacket would be finished with homemade bias binding (my first time making this!) Using a bias binding tool and an iron. I also made two front ties and a loop.

I then placed the quilted pieces with a wadding piece and a lining piece as backing and pinned them all together. Once all pieces were pinned, I drew chalk lines in a diamond pattern across the pattern pieces. I then sewed with a machine along each line which created the quilted diamond pattern effect. Once all the pieces were done I sewed bias binding to the two pockets and added these to the two front pieces. These were joined to the back piece and I added the arms. I bound all the raw edges inside and outside of the jacket with bias binding and finished them with hand stitching. I added the roulette loop for the neck and ties to the front before finishing the bias to the front. I added a couple of labels including a pink coat club “contains Dog hair” – which it probably does because I have a needy Hungarian vizsla dog who requires my constant attention!!

The final stage was to wash the jacket to see if it held up in the washing machine and to take photos for Instagram!!

This is a really easy and enjoyable pattern to sew, I just made it harder by quilting the fabric first instead of ready quilted fabric. I’ve tried it on. It is very roomy (I’m a size 12) and very cosy. I hope my Gran likes it!!