5 essential supplies for sewing your first quilted jacket this fall

Before we know it, it gets cooler and we’ll need jackets! Fall was always an exciting time for me when I was younger – I looked forward to wearing comfy jackets. Well, fall is still an exciting time for me, and I still love a new jacket.

This time, I’m making the jacket, and I’m excited to get started. Today, I’m gathering the supplies.

The first step is to choose a pattern. I chose Burda Easy 5941 Jacket & Coat.

Here are some tips on choosing a pattern for a quilted jacket.

Look for a simple pattern. This Burda pattern is marked as Super Easy, which is a great choice, especially if you’re new to making a quilted garment.

What makes a pattern super easy? A minimal number of pieces – as a minimum, you’ll have a back and two fronts. That will give you a vest. If you’re making a jacket, you’ll be adding two sleeves and likely a collar.

You also want to look at whether the pattern has multiple pieces for each section. Are the main pieces made with color blocking techniques (pieced), and the front made with two pieces? Are there darts?

The sleeves, fronts, and back of this jacket are made with two pieces, but we can cut them as one piece, which is what I’ll do to eliminate some seams. And notice there are no darts. It’s more complicated to eliminate than just putting two pattern pieces together. There are large patch pockets on the front, but I think I’ll eliminate them too. I’ll wait until later to decide.

One other thing I like about this pattern is the diagrams on the back with the measurements. This will help pick the version I want. The finishing items (buttons/snaps) are also listed on the back.

And there are the fabric requirements, which are always important. If your pattern has a print that you want to match, you’ll likely need more fabric. It’s much harder to work with a print that requires matching, so if this is your first time, I strongly advise against using a directional print or one that needs matching.

I like bright colors, so I’ve chosen two beautiful prints. They are from different fabric collections, but they seem to work very well together.

The red will be the outside fabric, and the blue will be the lining. Yes – I know the red is directional! The pieces are few, so I should have no issues!

Then I need some batting. I’m using a lightweight polyester batting, FAIRFIELD Low-Loft® Quilt Batting – Double – 206 x 244cm (81″ x 96″). I want a low loft, as I’m not making a puffy jacket! But a good weight jacket for a fall day. This one by Fairfield is lightweight and breathable, which will be perfect. I have the large size, as it takes a lot of fabric to quilt up for a jacket, and in particular, since I have that directional print to watch for.

I’m not sure if I need interfacing for the collar, but if I do, I’ll use HeatnBond Non-Woven Medium Weight Fusible Interfacing – 50cm x .9m (20″ x 1 yd).

Next on the list is some thread, and I found the perfect match for both fabrics using the Gütermann MCT Sew-all Thread 500m. I plan to quilt my pieces on the long arm, and I’ve never used this thread before. Fingers crossed!

I wasn’t sure what kind of closure I wanted on the jacket, so I got several options: ELAN Snap Fasteners Silver – size 25mm (1″) – 1 set, UNIQUE SEWING Buttons to Cover – Nylon – size 36 – 22mm (⁷⁄₈″) – 5 sets, and UNIQUE SEWING Heavy Duty Snaps Silver – 15mm (⁵⁄₈″) – 6 sets. There are pros and cons to each, which I’ll discuss below.

I love these decorative snaps. They are gorgeous, but they are more expensive. If I don’t put pockets on the jacket or eliminate the snaps from the pockets, that will reduce the cost. Hmm – I can’t wait to audition these when it’s time.

Then I have the covered buttons. These are fabulous because I can use a matching or contrasting fabric on them. I could do something with a bit of hand or machine embroidery on the fabric, and fussy cut the fabric—loads of options that can be made with covered buttons.

The third option is to use the heavy-duty snaps. They are not as pretty as the other two options, but they will hold up well with lots of use. The others will as well, but there is less fuss in putting these on. Which option will I choose?

There’s one other supply that I’ll need, but I don’t have a picture, and that is paper to trace the pattern on. Gone are the days when we had every size of pattern in the envelope. You have a master, you check your size and then trace. This is one option I can use for pattern tracing paper.

Below is the material list.

• Burda Easy 5941 Jacket & Coat
• FAIRFIELD Low-Loft® Quilt Batting – Double – 206 x 244cm (81″ x 96″)
• HeatnBond Non-Woven Medium Weight Fusible Interfacing – 50cm x .9m (20″ x 1 yd)
• Gütermann MCT Sew-all Thread 500m
• ELAN Snap Fasteners Silver – size 25mm (1″) – 1 set
• UNIQUE SEWING Buttons to Cover – Nylon – size 36 – 22mm (⁷⁄₈″) – 5 sets
• UNIQUE SEWING Heavy Duty Snaps Silver – 15mm (⁵⁄₈″) – 6 sets

Now that we have our supplies lined up, it’s time to get started on the prep work. That’s a job for tomorrow.

Have a great day!!

Ciao!!

This is part 1 of 5 in this series