I made this Hovea jacket for myself over five years ago and i can’t believe how long it’s taken me to share it here! This is the Hovea that I wear the most and i have absolutely worn it to death that’s how much i love it.
Since I made this jacket while I was developing the pattern, there are a few small differences you might notice from the final Hovea pattern.
The most obvious to me is that the pockets are not as deep as the final pattern. That’s because I was still testing out pocket depth and jacket length. The jacket is a little shorter than the final pattern as well, but not enough to be noticeable. It’s the pocket that is the biggest difference. That being said, i still use these pockets constantly. This is where i was testing out dividing the pockets with topstitching, and i still put my phone in every day. The narrow edge pockets are a bit too small and usually just hold lip balm or a tissue, nothing exciting going on there.
The other subtle difference is the sleeve length – this sleeve is significantly shorter than the final pattern. I decided to lengthen the pattern sleeves after this when I realised it was really cute to be able to cuff the sleeves and see the lining peeking out. I can’t remember exactly the difference but I think it was about 5cm different.
My absolute favourite thing about this jacket is the ties. They were a pain to sew because the jacquard is so thick and frays easily, but they are like thick noodles and i just adore them.
For the fabric i used a Merchant Mills jacquard and it is so lovely and soft and absolutely worth the money if you ask me. This was really interesting fabric to work with as the back side has a lot of loose threads and it frays quite easily. I found I needed to be careful when sewing so that it didn’t fray too much. The fabric is also incredibly narrow, so I needed to buy much more than usual to make my jacket. If you use one of these jacquards i definitely recommend doing a fully lined version like this one or the green sample on my website, so that you protect the wrong side of the fabric.
For the lining I actually used the rest of this gorgeous cotton voile that I had been hoarding for years. But i must admit i regret it. It’s delightfully soft and absolutely beautiful, but the inside of the sleeves are shredded from almost 6 years of wear. It definitely was not a strong enough fabric to use as a lining and i’m going to have to take this jacket apart before next winter and re-line it. Which is a pain.
I’m wearing it hear with my favourite striped Durban jumpsuit, and this has been one of those favourite outfits i have repeated way too often over the years and probably won’t stop. In fact if you head over to my Instagram saved stories I’m pretty sure this is the outfit i was wearing when i launched the pattern!
Well I hoped you enjoyed reading about my favourite Hovea jacket! Now I just need to psych myself up to take it apart and line it again, wish me luck!
