Mood DIY: How to Sew a Reversible Bomber Jacket

 As summer slowly fades into fall, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I have very few jackets at the moment. Which is a shame, because I love jackets. They’re a requirement for the fall in NYC, plus they ‘re an extra layer of style for that perfect autumn outfit.

Because of this thought process, I concluded that I needed a reversible jacket. Because why not have a bright, vibrant side for those otherwise monochromatic ensembles, as well as a minimalist chic side for everyday wear.

To create a pattern, I simply traced a hoodie I had lying around, to make sure I had my sizing right, and then altered it just a bit. The main change was the collar. The front needed a more drastic angle at the neckline, almost like a v-neck, since I’d be adding a rib knit collar. Other than that, I added a dart at the bust, and widened the bottom a bit, since my hoodie was knit and I’d be using non-stretch fabrics for my jacket.

Update: We now have a free pattern for this! Please check out The Avelia Bomber Jacket for your free download and updated instructions.

Fabric and materials used:

• 1 yard Digitally Printed Flowers and Stripes on a Premium Mikado/Twill
• 1 yard Blue Coral Acetate-Viscose Lining
• 1.5 yards Black Lining
• 6.5″ Black Striped Acrylic Rib Knit Trim
• Reversible Separating Zipper

There are plenty of bomber jacket patterns that you could easily alter; McCalls M7100 and Burda 7142 for example. Essentially all it takes to make your jacket reversible is to disregard everything your pattern says about lining. We’ll the making two full jackets and attaching them at the collar, wrists, and waistband.

To start, I began constructing my jacket as I normally would – sewing the bust darts, attaching the shoulders and adding the sleeves. Right around here, I realized I needed pockets. What’s a jacket without pockets?

I decided to sew them into the side seams, since that’s the easiest and would create the least amount of bulk (remember: we’re making this twice, so we don’t want any crazy pockets that might bunch up). If you’re unfamiliar with adding pockets to patterns, check out my tutorial here.

This is where things start to change up. I made the jacket again, this time with basic black lining. To attach it to the floral lining, I first sewed on the collar. Mood’s striped rib knit only has stripes toward one side, so I kept that side toward the black lining. This created a cool sporty vibe that has been trending recently.

Next was connecting the sleeves and waistband. This is slightly different than the collar. Remember how I widened the bottoms of my pattern pieces? That was to give myself some room to gather my fabric when attaching it to the knit. This, paired with a small zigzag stitch, ensured that the rib knit would be able to stretch when/if it needs to.

Now the only openings in the jacket were where the zipper would be inserted, so I turned everything right-side out. You can see above that the knit was being a bit wonky; after a good ironing, it stayed crisp and perfect.

Lastly, I just needed to insert my zipper.  Really, I think making my jacket reversible was easier than making it normal. There were no extra facings or interlinings to worry about!

So tell me: will you be making your own reversible jacket? What fabrics and color palettes will you be choosing?