DIY: Quilted Cropped Cotton Jacket

Since last year, I have been on the hunt for the perfect quilted cropped jacket and have yet to find one at an affordable price range. Yesterday, I scheduled an in-store appointment at a local fabric shop and made the hike over to Cambridge to pick out material for a sherpa vest. I could not tell you what came over me, but when I spied this Merchant & Mills fabric, my brain began concocting all these ideas for a quilted cotton vest which developed into a quilted cropped jacket. Honestly, I surprised myself with executing this project and I cannot wait to share.

You’ll need:

• 1 yard of quilted cotton (I used this one)

• 1 yard of a liner - to make this jacket extra cozy and warm, I used another quilted fabric

• a jacket that fits you well

• embroidery floss

• needle

Including in the pattern I created above, you’ll see how I divided the jacket into its individual pieces. Using a jacket that fits me well, I traced the back piece, two front panels, and sleeves onto a “tracer paper”, which was essentially white printer paper taped together. I cut those pieces out and traced them on to both the quilted cotton and liner. I sewed the liner to the quilted cotton inside out and then flipped it right side out so that the seams were hidden.

Honestly, the hardest part is creating the right shaped panels, and attaching each component is the easiest. I sewed all components together using my sewing machine and then hand sewed the thicker pieces of fabric together where my machine could not complete it. This occurred along the sides of the jacket and the seam that attaches the front and back.

For the pockets, I took scrap liner fabric and another scrap checkered fabric that I had and sewed ~5x5 inch square together and flipped inside out for a smooth pocket. I picked an accent embroidery floss (bright yellow) to stitch the pocket on.

If you choose, you can also add big buttons to the front to close the jacket, but I love mine as is! This jacket is warm enough for a 50-degree day and looks like a cozy blanket hug. I cannot wait to wear mine with a pair of wide-legged corduroy pants or mom jeans. Enjoy!

After cutting out all your panels, sewing them to their liners and flipped inside out, you can start aligning the pieces. Or you can stop at this point and make a vest!

Pro tip: check your sleeves to make sure they fit your arms. My choice of liner material was puffier so I ended up removing the liner from the sleeve for a roomier arm fit.

I left the bottom of the back panel open so that I could still flip inside out. Then, I tucked the raw hem bottom inward for a clean finish.

Fun accent embroidery to attach the pockets!