DIY Quilted Jacket

Today I am going to discuss a topic mentioned in my Welcome post, sewing apparel with quilting cotton. My DIY quilted jacket is probably my most successful venture sewing with quilting cotton. Coletterie has a great post about cotton in her fabric series where she talks about sewing with quilting cotton. Tilly and the Buttons also has very good tips on using quilting cotton in apparel.

I was first inspired by this DIY quilted jacket post from Mimi G. I finished this jacket in 2013 so I also used quilted jackets sold at the time at J.Crew, Anthropologie, and Zara for my inspiration.

My DIY version

Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures as I sewed this jacket because it was before I started this blog. I will mention a few things I learned if you want to attempt your own DIY version.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

Tools

• The walking foot with a quilt guide like the one I bought from Amazon was invaluable when quilting evenly spaced lines to form the quilted pattern on my jacket.

• The 1″ bias tape maker like this one was a must to create the binding I used to sew around the jacket seams around the collar, sleeve, and hem. This tutorial shows how to make continous bias tape to make the most of my fabric. If you find it too tedious to cut along the lines like me consider trying this method that uses a rotary cutter to create continuous bias tape.

• Here are my handy sewing supplies. One item I’d like to mention is my Pilot Frixion Pen. The ink will disappear when exposed to heat like an iron or the dryer. Make sure to test it on your fabric first because it does leave a white line sometimes on your fabric. I use it to mark lines on my batting like I showed in my Liberty scrap quilted pouch tutorial. This ink is way easier to see than the disappearing fabric markers out there.

Pattern and Materials

• I used Warm and Natural Cotton Batting which may have been a little too dense for the jacket. I would suggest looking for a softer quilt batting.  Also note the shrinkage after washing. Mine said 3% shrinkage so take that into account when deciding on the pattern size to use for your jacket.

• The sewing pattern I used was Simplicity 1699 view C but you can choose any pattern you prefer. Mine did not have princess seams because I wasn’t sure how to sew the quilted pieces together without it looking very bulky. I extended the front pieces of my jacket to include a zipper because the Simplicity pattern didn’t have any closures but I wanted to be able to zip my jacket for warmth.

• Make a muslin first of your pattern because you do not want to spend so much time quilting and have it not fit. I remember countless hours spent with my walking foot quilting lines on the fabric pieces alone!

• Use spray adhesive or a simple glue stick to tack down your batting and fabric pieces to keep them from shifting when you quilt.

• Keep the jacket length short. Otherwise the stiffness of the jacket will cause it to look boxy.

• I combined several prints of quilting cotton in the same color family because I wanted to create visual interest with the jacket. If you prefer to use one overall print or several prints I suggest using muted or neutral colors and prints so it can easily pair with other clothing in your wardrobe.

I hope these tips are helpful if you decide to sew your own DIY quilted jacket. I have another Liberty fabric scrap project in the works so keep a look out in upcoming posts. Happy “mad” sewing!
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Related posts:

Liberty Scrap Quilted Pouch Tutorial