Losing my sew-jo with the Megan Nielsen Hovea jacket

 

Watch my most recent makes video on YouTube, where I talk about this jacket.

I bought the Megan Nielsen Hovea jacket pattern during their Black Friday sale. I also purchased some pre-quilted Mind the Maker fabric (affiliate link) from Minerva. I was eager to pair the two together, so I cut out the project in mid-December...and I didn't finish it until January.

My difficulties weren't about the pattern. I think it's a well-written and drafted pattern with lots of options. I want to sew it again at some point once the stain of this one has disappeared from my mind. I made a size 0 in the mid-length jacket with collar band and belt.

My jacket is unlined, which is the source of most of my frustration. I did flat-felled seams on the shoulders and sleeve seams. It was really difficult finishing the seams this way with the pre-quilted fabric and I kept accidentally snipping the fabric of the coat when I was attempting to trim away the batting and backing. The nylon is also really slippery and didn't want to stay turned under in the seam allowance. I could not iron this fabric at all due to its synthetic content, which presented another challenge.

Because I had such a hard time doing the flat-felled seams, I enclosed the side/underarm seams with homemade bias tape. That created a new problem, which is that the seams were extremely bulky. I had to switch from a size 70 microtex needle to a size 100 topstitching need to get through all the layers. I ended up hand-stitching the collar band instead of machine stitching because I lacked confidence that my machine could handle the bulk.

Finally I had to skip the belt loops because they were too thick to turn. I stitched the belt onto the center back of the jacket but I think I might go back and unpick that seam so that I can wear the coat with a purchased belt instead.

I do like the way this jacket looks and the unusual color is one of the primary things that drew me to the fabric. I think that it will be a good transitional season jacket as a top layer when I need a little bit of warmth but not a full-on winter coat.

Next time I will use a fabric that is less slippery to sew and I will line the jacket to eliminate all the frustration of having to finish the seams. Although this one was a pain and it put me off sewing for a little while, I still like the results and would sew the pattern again.