It’s a cold spring again – and it’s always a cold spring. Here’s my roundup of cozy cardigan and jacket sewing patterns for a cold spring. We have at least four weeks of unseasonably cold weather coming, for much of the northern and central USA, so let’s get sewing!
Cardigan sewing patterns I love
I love a good knit cardi – my pro tip for cardigans is to interface with knit interfacing all your neckbands and front bands, pocket top edges. They will lie flat, be stable for buttonholes and you will be happy! You can get knit interfacing almost everywhere (usually called tricot interfacing) at your local indie fabric store or online.
Swing Jacket / Cardi: The Christine Jonson Swing Jacket is a great lower-thigh swing jacket/cardi that has sideseam pockets. It has no bands, so it’s super easy for a beginner. I’ve sewn this in maxi length too. Christine shows this in a regular and long length on the site (and I’ve shown that image here.)
Jalie does knits well and they have several: The Tania Coatigan, and Helene Cardigan are both ones that I own. The Karine is a great raglan sleeve boxy cardi (I don’t own this). The Charlotte Cardi is a great “chanel” style cardigan – and I think making one of these in a boucle knit with front pockets would be a perfect chic spring layer with jeans and a tee. I also own the Grandpa Cardi from Patterns 4 Pirates and several waterfall cardi patterns from Angela Wolf, Christine Jonson, BurdaStyle and more.
One of my favorites is the Mighty Morphin Cardi from HotPatterns. From an anorak jacket to a long cardi, to a zip front hoodie jacket, and even a bomber jacket, this one is super versatile! It has drop sleeves, a roomy silhouette and so many options to sew. The Metropolitan Slouchy Coatigan is similar but with more “Chanel” style vibes if you want to make that in a knit boucle fabric. It’s specifically designed to be that “chanel” style, so if you’re going for that, choose this one! But it is also a great basic long cardi/coatigan
Style Arc’s Salma wrap is a coocon cardi / wrap that’s still in the “cardi” category, and I own this too. It’s more of a wrap than a cardi, but it would be great for changeable spring weather.
Coatigans and casual loose jacket sewing patterns I love:
As you move more in to casual jackets, I love the arty Tremont jacket (ignore the drawing, go see some examples), the Hovea quilted (or not) jacket comes in three lengths from cropped to long and can be lined or unlined, quilted or not. I got these at my local fabric store and it’s a great way to use up any lightweight wools you have in stash from a long time ago. They make great casual jackets! Hovea has an extended size range too.
I am also a fan of kimono style and while I own the Unfolding from Wiksten, this is discontinued. Sew News has a Ginger jacket that is very similar to this with a the big foldover collar and two lengths. I’ve sewn this in a twist dyed Kona cotton fabric and it’s one of my favorites.
Whatever you choose for jackets, you can wear any pant shape with these – don’t be afraid to go big and slouchy, as it’s all in fashion right now. Choose a fitted top underneath an oversized look to balance it out.
