This is from an article from Threads Magazine from about 25 years ago and it showed this fun Scrap origami rectangle cocoon jacket you can sew in 30 minutes. The basics of this jacket is it’s made from 2 3/4 yards of fabric (or twice that if you are lining it) and it works great for using scraps which is what I did. Here’s how I did it! The Threads Magazine article is linked below.
I grabbed five scraps in various lengths and sizes. I had one piece of a cream herringbone fabric that was the 2 1/2 yards roughly (84 inches) and I had some other smaller scraps of other fabrics. I also had some 1/2 yard cuts of a darker fabric with the same colors in it (taupe, rose, gold, brown, gray) to make a lining. I pieced the fabric mostly by just laying it on my living room floor til I got a pleasing arrangement.
I first sewed all the smaller pieces together to make a long skinny rectangle for the outside (light side). Then I sewed that to the long piece of the cream herringbone to make the outside. I pieced two sections of the lining (gold) fabric with the grid linen in the middle to get to the 2 1/2 yards long. I did have to add a strip along the bottom of the gold fabric to get the 24″ needed for the height (length on the body) of the jacket.
The long width is the sleeve length of your jacket, the height of the rectangle is the length of the jacket on your body. You can go longer for sleeve length (this is not quite full length on me) and shorter in the body (I went shorter by 1″ but mostly because of a fabric requirement, not because I wanted it shorter.)
I then took my two pieced-fabric rectangles, pinned them together and left an opening along the bottom edge for turning. I stitched all the way around the rectangle and turned the edges through the opening.
The instructions were a little unclear (I have the original print article I scanned so I may be missing things, the link below is to the project). So I lapped the shoulder seams – marking and pinning as per the instructions. I lapped them 1/2″ and stitched it down, using the color of the gold thread on one side and the cream thread on the light color side. The online instructions are even LESS clear on this so let me break it down for you with a graphic:
I also stitched the bottom opening closed. You could leave the opening along the top and finish it at the same time as you sew the lapped edges.
Done! This super cute jacket is cozy and it’s my first fall make of 2026.
The video shows how the jacket is reversible. The colors in the lining coordinate with the colors in the fabrics I chose for the light (main) side.
Here’s the link to the Threads Magazine instructions for the cocoon jacket
https://www.threadsmagazine.com/project-guides/sewing-with-knits/30-minute-cardigan-jacket
I am styling this with wide leg cargo pants and a gray tank top. The college girls around town are wearing oversized hoodies with tank tops and wide leg pants. Or wearing a tube top under the oversized jacket. This is that same vibe, elevated.
You can find the Cake Pop Tube Top by Sew Bake Make, or you can get my free August Bandeau Blouson Tube Top here (for a middle-fluff friendly tube top.) These look great under this cocoon jacket, and I can confidently say on the first 50 degree morning of the fall season, that it’s perfectly cozy. You might also consider the Helen’s Closet Luna tank for a tank top option. Wide leg pants abound here at Sew Paradise, pick your fave pattern and sew!
I have also made this in a novelty wool/poly knit (single layer) and it’s equally as cozy. I wore it on the plane both directions to London and back a few weeks ago (and many many more times since I first made it over 20 years ago.)