How to Sew a Lightweight Summer Jacket
If you need a stylish yet cool top to wear this summer, then you may like this free Jacket Pattern. I stitched this one up last summer and already have plans to make a few more. If you like this project, you may also enjoy our Summer T-Shirt Sewing Pattern.
If you’re looking for an easy, breezy sewing project for summer, this top is a great choice. It’s simple in design and perfect for hot days when you want to look put-together without overheating.
If you live in the Southeastern US, you know that the air conditioning in shops and restaurants can be pretty intense during the summer.
This jacket is just what you need to keep the chill off your arms when you’re indoors, yet it’s lightweight enough to wear outdoors as well.
This top is easy to make; the most challenging part will be hemming the lightweight fabric, but I’ll provide you with a few tips for doing so.
I wore the top last summer on our trip to Charleston. It was a million degrees outside, and I wanted to look stylish (because Charleston is one of the most fashionable cities I’ve ever been to), but I wanted to stay cool at the same time.
Since it’s such a large project, I really couldn’t get great photos of the process, so I’ve illustrated over my photos to give you a good idea of how the top is constructed.
How to Sew a Lightweight Summer Jacket
Equipment
- Chalk and a Ruler
- Rolled Hem foot for your machine if you have one.
supplies
- 2 yards of 45″ wide lightweight fabric. Such as voile or light rayon. If you buy 60″ wide fabric, you will just need to cut it down.
- An old t-shirt that fits you well not a fitted tee, a boxy one
Instructions
Step One: Create your Custom Pattern Piece
- Don’t let this step scare you. All you are doing is making a giant rectangle with some cutouts. It’s not a complicated step!
- Measure from your neckline to the point on your body that you’d like the jacket to hit. For me, it was 30 inches (I’m 5’9″ for reference). Cut your fabric to DOUBLE that length – so my fabric was 60″ by 45″ (the fabric comes 45″ wide)
- Fold the fabric in half lengthwise. It will be 45″ long by 30″ tall (cause it’s folded) with a fold at the top, and the selvage edges on each end.
- Find the center of the fabric and mark it with a piece of chalk. Fold your t-shirt in half, placing the fold on the center mark of the fabric. The neckline of the t-shirt should be even with the fold on top of the fabric.
- Using a ruler and chalk, measure 5″ from the edge of your folded t-shirt. Draw a line. Then, measure down 3 inches from the bottom of the t-shirt sleeve. Draw another line.
Step Two: Cut your Fabric
- Cut the fabric away. Take the cut-away piece and use it to cut a piece the same size on the other side of the fabric.
- Your piece will roughly resemble this (note that the illustration is not to scale).
- Next, with a sharp pair of scissors, cut ONE layer of the fabric along the center line up to the fold. DO NOT cut both layers of fabric—just the top.
Step 3: Sew the Top
- With the right sides of the fabric facing each other, stitch the underarm seams. Press seams open.
Step Four: Hem your Fabric
- Now, all you need to do is hem all of the raw edges of the fabric. I like to use a rolled hem foot for this step. If you don’t have one, then fold the fabric over 1/8 inch and fold it again 1/8 inch, and stitch along the folded edge.
Tip:
- If you’re having trouble hemming the lightweight fabric, try using a Microtex needle. It’s super sharp and will help the machine “punch” through the lightweight fabric more easily.
- You may also need to hold your strings from your machine when you start your stitches to help prevent the fabric from bunching up under the presser foot as you begin sewing
This post was originally published in 2015. It has recently been updated and renamed. While I realize that another name is commonly used to describe the style of jacket, I felt it was the correct name to represent the tutorial.
More things to Sew that you can Wear:
How to make a Dress from Two T-Shirts
Girls Maxi Dress Sewing Pattern (easy! Uses a t-shirts for the top).
