I’m so excited to share with you another of my Hovea jackets today! Today’s post is basically the journey of me trying to figure out which view of Hovea works best with a much loved Nani Iro print. This unlined Nani Iro Hovea jacket is a fit sample which our sample maker Krystal made during our internal testing phase. For this one we were testing out the changes from our first sample and different internal finishes, after that it mysteriously disappeared into my wardrobe ;) As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve really been needling a lightweight jacket – and now I have two! I like that this one is lighter and more neutral than my blue linen Hovea, and as a result it just magically goes with everything. It turns out a nice light neutral is exactly what my wardrobe was needing!
The fabric is the Nani Iro Mountain Views Double Gauze and as soon as it arrived in the studio Naomi and I were drooling all over it. I love this fabric so much, and it’s even more beautiful in person – with silver foil highlights all the way through the design. When we were planning out this fit sample i was kind of hoping that we would use this as the final View A sample if it worked out well. But as you can see, it didn’t really work out that way! I believe really strongly in choosing the right fabric for the right make and sometimes the most gorgeous fabric ever won’t shine if used in the wrong project. That’s a kind of my feeling with this jacket. Don’t get me wrong, I love it so much and I wear it alllll the time, but I don’t think the fabric shines in this make as much as it does in our quilt coat sample. After Krystal made this jacket I decided to try using this fabric in the quilted coat sample instead – and i’m so happy with that decision. This fabric is gorgeous and I’m so thrilled with how well it goes with that quilt coat.
For this sample we wanted to test out finishes, so the internal seams are all french seamed, which makes it so beautiful on the inside and out. The addition of ties are so nice in this view as i really enjoy being able to close up my jacket a bit when the wind picks up. As you can see these sleeves are longer like the final pattern, which makes them really great for cuffing and the collar band was brought into the narrower width of the final pattern.
I love how well this jacket coordinates with the rest of my handmade wardrobe. My handmade basket weave mules, plus my Ash jeans with step hem and favourite grey Floreat tee together is probably my favourite outfit combo – but it really goes with everything. Though technically this should be a summer jacket, I actually found I pulled it out in winter more than expected. Turns out light neutral tones are really useful in a jacket. As someone who normally goes for black jackets, i’ve been pleasantly surprised by how useful this jacket has been!
So what do you think? Do you think the Nani Iro Mountains work in this make, or do you prefer them in our quilted coat sample?
