I can’t even tell you how excited I am to introduce you to the Hovea quilt coat and jacket sewing pattern! I first began dreaming of this pattern many years ago, and we started working on it almost two years ago. We’ve put so much love and hard work into this pattern, in fact, I don’t think we have ever put more into a pattern than this! My vision for Hovea was to create a beginner friendly pattern which makers can use to express their creativity and celebrate all the diverse and varied handcrafts they love. Whether it be garment sewing, patchwork, quilting, hand sewing or embroidery I want this pattern to be a celebration of the joy of making things by hand!
Design Details
Hovea is a loose fit drop shoulder jacket & coat. The pattern features three different lengths for cropped jackets, mid length jackets or coats. A different jacket for every occasion! You know how much I love pockets (pockets are everything!) and this pattern includes some pretty special deep angled feature pockets. We’ve had a lot of fun with those pockets and each view has a slightly different take on the same concept. This pattern started out as a quilted jacket/coat but if quilting isn’t really your thing, or you want a more minimalist jacket, the pattern also includes unlined and fully lined options. When it comes to closures there are two included options for a belt or tie closures. Don’t let this hold you back though! You can easily add a zipper or toggles to the centre front of the quilted views, and adding buttons or snaps to the band collar of the unlined/lined views adds a really fun twist! You’ll be surprised by how different this pattern looks depending on your chosen fabric and stitching style – can you tell I’m excited to show you?!
Be Inspired by our Guest Makers!
Quilting has such a rich history worldwide – styles of quilting and hand stitching are so varied and with this pattern I really wanted to celebrate and introduce you to as many as I could! I knew from the beginning I wanted to collaborate with makers of different creative disciplines and backgrounds to share their knowledge of quilting and unique perspectives. Every single one of these makers is someone I admire immensely and I’m so grateful to be able to collaborate with them on this pattern. I am honestly so incredibly excited to introduce you to these amazing makers over the next few weeks, and for them to share their wealth of knowledge and hopefully introduce you to some handcrafts and quilting techniques you might not be familiar with.
Until then I highly recommend you follow these incredible makers on Instagram!
Youngmin Lee @youngminlee_bojagi | Introduction to Korean textiles and hand sewing techniques
Wendy Chow @the.weekendquilter | Introduction to quilting concepts
Mari Yamada @nokebility | Introduction to Japanese textiles and hand sewing techniques
Shannon Fraser @shannonfraserdesigns | Tips from a modern quilters first journey into me-made clothing
Manjari Singh @bubblesforpoppet | Introduction to Kantha embroidery and Indian textiles
Amanda Carye @broadclothstudio | Create a quilt block without a pattern
Jodie Tang @scribblygumquiltco | Easy Log Cabin patchwork tutorial
Porfiria Gomez @mrsporfiria | Modern quilting
Natalie Ebaugh @natalie_ebaugh | Whole piece free motion quilting
We’ll hold your hand ;)
You might be thinking, hey Meg this is cool but I’m a garment sewer and i’ve never quilted a thing in my life. Or perhaps you are a quilter and have never tried garment making before. Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered! We’ve put together the most comprehensive sewalong EVER (and I really mean that). We’ll be spending the next few weeks sharing a wealth of information with you and holding your hand through every stage of making your own special quilted coat or jacket. No detail will be left uncovered!
Choosing Fabric
Believe me when I say you can use almost any woven fabric you want with this pattern. You can use prequilted fabric with any view. You can use your lovely linings you’ve been saving. Boiled wool, linen, quilting cotton, flannel – you can use them all to different effect. I tried really hard to show you as many options as possible with our samples! We used prequilted cotton; double gauze; light weight, medium weight and heavy weight linens; random scraps from previous samples; boiled wool; wool suiting; and of course quilting cotton!
This pattern looks remarkably different based on your fabric choice, which is something I really love about it! If you’ve got a special fabric you want to use there is a view in this pattern for you. The quilted views of this pattern work really well with light to medium weight fabrics – and of course your fabric scraps are a great choice for a patchwork option! The lined and unlined versions of this pattern work with light, medium and heavy weight fabrics.
Oh and did I mention that with a little care you can make your quilted jacket or coat reversible?! Four of our quilted jacket samples are reversible! It’s like sewing one jacket and getting two ;)
Way Too Many Variations
I admit it. I went overboard with this pattern. I tried to hold myself back… but I couldn’t! Sorry not sorry! I love including as much value in my patterns for you as possible and I’m so excited that I could include six variations for you – all of which end up looking so different.
This pattern includes three quilted variations in cropped, mid length and coat length. There is so much room for creativity with how you quilt this jacket! For our samples we did simple horizontal quilting in different widths, chevrons, diamonds, geometric free motion, hand sewn Sashiko and even triangular. We had a lot of fun and so can you! If you’re not really into quilting, or you want to go for a more minimalist look it also includes three lined and unlined variations for cropped, mid length and coat length.
Let’s have a closer look at all those views!
View A Mid length jacket with optional full lining
This view of the pattern can be made lined or unlined and the instructions include both options. This is a great choice if you’re wanting a minimalist jacket and can be made really warm for winter by choosing wool and a lining, or is a wonderful spring/summer light layer if you choose a light weight fabric. We’ve included ties to close this jacket but you can also sew buttons or snaps for a more cardigan look.
View B Mid length quilted jacket
This view of Hovea is fully quilted and all edges are finished with bias binding. We decided to make our samples reversible to get the most use out of them. If you choose this option you basically end up with two jackets! The pockets are deep and roomy and honestly I quite often go without a bag now ;). You can have so much fun with quilt patterns, patchworking and contrast binding for this view. For one of our samples I used all my favourite scraps from past makes to make a patchwork scrap jacket and I just love how it turned out! I can’t wait to make more scrappy patchwork jackets.
View C Coat with full lining and belt
If you are looking to make a classic winter coat that’s warm, snuggly and chic – this is the view for you! It’s fully lined, hits mid thigh and includes a belt and belt loops. You could easily add more closures to keep it more closed if desired. The pockets for this view are also wonderfully roomy and can be topstitched in place, or clean finished without visible stitching as we have done in our samples!
View D Quilted coat with ties
If you’re wanting to jump on the quilt coat trend – here it is! This coat is like wrapping yourself in a warm quilt which lets be honest, is something we all want right now ;). Like all quilted views this is a blank canvas for adding your own creative flair! You can go with one solid fabric and have fun with your quilting pattern, use up all those pretty scraps I know you have been hoarding to create a scrap jacket, or you can use a beautiful quilt block you love and incorporate it into your jacket. We love using contrast binding on this view to really highlight those pocket edges and hems.
View E Cropped jacket with mini pockets
This view of the pattern is cropped and and can be sewn lined or unlined. I know I keep saying that this pattern looks completely different depending of fabric choice and what details you decide to focus on – and I think these samples really show it! For one sample we used pre-quilted fabric added the mini pockets and ties, and fully lined the jacket with a fun contrast lining. One of the details I love in the mini pockets is sewing little divisions in them for your phone or anything else small you want to carry! For our Curve sample we used a double gauze cotton, left off the pockets and sewed buttons to the collar for more of a cardigan feel.
View F Cropped quilted jacket
If you want to try a quilted jacket and aren’t ready to commit to a long coat or jacket this might be a good view for you! This view also comes with cute mini pockets which you sew into divisions for storage. For our Curve sample we went for a puffer jacket feel and used really fluffy batting and wide quilting pattern. This would be a really fun one to add an exposed zip to, but as we made this jacket reversible we chose to leave it open. Like any of the other views you can leave the pockets off for a minimal look. I did this for the Sashiko cropped jacket to really let all that handstitching shine! It’s also able to be made fully reversible which we did for our Sashiko sample. Again contrast binding is a really fun detail to add – but you can also go more minimal with a matching binding like we did for our puffer jacket.
How Does it Fit?
This pattern has been drafted with an intentionally oversized fit. Quilted Views B, D and F include enough ease to compensate for potential shrinkage that may occur during the quilting process and as a result of quilt batting shrinking in the wash. Lined and Unlined Views A, C and E include enough ease to be worn with a sweater underneath for cold weather. Sleeve lengths are generous to allow for cuffing when worn (we love a cuffed sleeve!).
All the sizes – plus two more!
As with all our patterns Hovea is available in sizes 0-20 and Curve sizes 14-34. Did we mention that our Curve range has been extended and now includes two more sizes? Hovea is one of our first patterns to go up to size 34 and I’m so excited!
Choosing Your Size Range
If you find yourself in the crossover 14-20 sizes and are struggling to choose between the Hovea and Hovea Curve patterns we will have a comprehensive post coming detailing how to choose the pattern that’s best for you.
I really hope you enjoy making Hovea and I can’t wait to see all your unique and individual quilt jackets and coats! We’ve worked so incredibly hard on this pattern – I’m tired but I’ve put my whole heart into it; I love it, and I really hope you do too!
If you have any questions about this pattern please let me know in the comments or send us an email at hello@megannielsen.com. We’ve got a long list of inspiration posts and a huge sewalong to share over the coming weeks and I really hope you enjoy them.
We can’t wait to see what you create with the Hovea quilt jacket and coat pattern! Don’t forget to tag your makes #MNhovea and @megannielsenpatterns because we love seeing what you make!
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