Simple Sew, Cocoon Jacket

I had read a few reviews of the Simple Sew Cocoon Jacket and everyone seemed to be in agreement that the pattern is rather spacious. With this and my small shoulders in mind I went straight to the smallest size and cut a 6.

I had ordered some lovely fleece ready for winter from the super cool Remnant Kings - black for the main body and cream as a contrast for the facings, just to add a bit of a visual pop to the jacket. The fleece is super soft and warm, aaaaand there is the added bonus that is doesn't need to be overlocked!! I know it's sort of cheating, but I quite like that crisp, cut edge that I have left on my seam allowances and cuffs.

The pattern is really fun because all these big chunky pieces suddenly come together and create sleeves! I can see how you could easily lose yourself in this jacket though. I was very glad I cut the smallest size.

I love the big roomy pockets. I added a 4cm strip of interfacing to the top before I folded it over to add a little more stability. In hindsight, I could have done this to all the edges just to add sharpness before attaching.
The pattern doesn't actually state how much to fold under to make the pockets, but I turned in 1.5cm around the sides and bottom and 2cm across the top, and this fit perfectly between the dots on the front pieces.

Once the darts are in place (two at the back neck and bottom back, plus some clever ones at the elbow that help absorb some of that excess fabric) and the pockets are in place, the really fun bit starts and you start to see how the construction of the jacket really works. Susan Young pointed out in her blog that the image in the instrutions for sewing the front to the back is actually incorrect. If you check out Susan't blog, she has done a spot-on image of how they should fit together.

Once the front and back are stitched, the centre back seam is sewn and then the underarms. The pattern doesn't state it, but I clipped into the curves at the underarms to help the fabric sit happily. It looks like a jacket now! Time for a try on!

The roominess of the jacket adds to the snuggliness, but I just found it way too long for me. Without any real shape in the waist I felt like I was drowning a bit- though I'm sure this length would look brill on others. I turned up the bottom and pinned. I found it more flattering on me at a sort of donkey jacket length, finishing just below the pockets.

I cut the full length facing in cream, just to check that I wasn't any more keen on the length once there was a flash of colour in there to break it up. The pattern doesn't suggest interfacing anything but I did all of the facing to add some stability.

I attached the facing around the neck and front opening- right sides together, then turned to the inside and understitched close to the seam. I'd been tempted to sew the facing flush- wrong side to wrong side as I had liked the crisp cut edges, but decided against it as it was a bit lumpy at the back neck where the darts and seam allowances sat.

Once you've attached the facing you are almost there! I decided to cut 13.5cm from the bottom and allow for a 2cm hem. For this I unpicked the bottom back darts before I cut, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to turn up the hem.

A quick try-on after cutting suggested the back may be a little too roomy still, so I cheated (again!!!) and took a wedge out of the centre back seam, starting somewhere around the middle and taking out a few cm at the bottom. I know it's frowned upon to take the centre back off of the straight grain, but after pinning to start with I found it added just the little tuck I needed.

I hand stitched a blind hem, turning up 2cm around the bottom. The sleeves were a little too short to add a hem, so I left these crisply cut! ;) Next time I will add a couple of cm to the sleeve length so I can turn them up, or alternatively use some contrasting fabric for cuffs.

The Cocoon Jacket pattern is fun! It only took me a day to cut and sew together. It would be pretty simple to line as well, just by cutting out the same pattern pieces in your lining fabric and inserting, before hand sewing the hem. I probably would have done this is I'd have had enough cream fleece. I'm really excited to play around with some different fabrics for facings/linings. How cool would tartan look?! I played around with some leopard print that looked pretty ace but was sadly a little too stretchy to use with fleece.

Has anyone else changed up the length of the Cocoon Jacket? The pattern is sooo simple there's loads of potential for playing around with it... Thank you Simple Sew!

x

Location: Sheffield Christmas Market
Currently listening to: Let It Snow, Chris Isaak