Anyone make a quilted jacket? Any tips you willing to pass on?
 

With the weather beginning to turn a little. I thought I would make a little quilted jacket for the fall. I love browns, so it will be in that colorway. Now, let me explain something. I want it to be a monochromatic jacket. So, I am hoping I can find all the trims I need to match my fabric. I will quilt the fabric myself and hopefully I can make it the way my mind's eye sees it. LOL!
Here is a pic of the jacket pattern I found on EBay and bought. Hold on I have to re-size it. In the meantime, any suggestions or tips to make it go smoother?

I've only made one quilted jacket, and that was in a class. We learned a lot of different techniques in that class, not necessarily related to the jacket itself, but to other quilting designs.

Anyway, when I lined my jacket I used a slippery fabric, because that was what I had used to line skirts and tops back when I sewed my own clothing. What a mistake! The jacket slips around on my shoulders.

Do you plan to quilt the fabric before or after you cut the jacket pieces?
The quilting process effectively shrinks the fabric, so if you’re cutting first, be careful to cut generously and be prepared to spend extra time fitting as you go.

I made a potato chip quilt top, but have yet to quilt it and want to make a jacket out of it. Will be following this thread.

Well Many years ago I bought all these lovely expensive fabrics and took a class to make a Bog Jacket, using a muslin as the stitched in “batting” and then lined it….. I looked like a wrestler in it 🤪. But I was determined to save it…so I bought a dressy jacket pattern and cut the pieces and made up the jacket, and even appliquéd a vine and some 3 D Foxgloves on the front (took a course on them earlier) and lined it with a satiny type fabric….. wore it a few times, but really never “bonded” with it. So this piece is about all that remains of it, as it lives with the blue scraps now and used in lots of quilts! Just thought I’d share a little humour with you. I have made and enjoyed a few different sweatshirt jackets over the years.

So far I plan on washing all of the fabrics and trims and the batting too. I have to get the pattern onto my dress form to make any adjustments to the pattern before cutting it out Honestly, I probably will have to make adjustments on the dress form too! LOL. I haven't sewn for myself in a long time. I have to pick up some fabric, trims, threads and heavy quilting needles. I need to get the pattern and read the instructions to know what other notions. I do have some barrel closures last I looked. That saves me from fiddley buttonholes.
I am reading all of your tips and taking notes. Thanks ever so much for your input. I already have a bee in my bonnet about a couple of the tips.

I made one using flannel as the batting. It looked great, but the sleeves were very stiff. If I made another I think I wouldn't use batting/flannel in the sleeves. I ended up turning it into a vest which I wear all the time in winter. It's very cozy.

I have also made jackets out of sweatshirts, making sure to use a sweatshirt larger than the size I normally wear. I cut the sweatshirts apart and down the center front, then decorated them with patchwork.

I'm going to be watching this thread because my 6'4" 230 pound son-in-law has asked me to make him a quilted jacket. I googled it and yes, young guys are wearing them.
I got a book from the library, "Reclaimed Quilts " by Kathleen McVeigh and Dale Donaldson. They talk specifically about using vintage quilts to make garments but have instructions for construction, including for their "Jules Chore Coat" with a scannable link to download the pattern for free.
I've seen a couple of YouTube videos with tips on constructing quilted coats too so you might find some help there

I've made a lot of wearable art type jackets over the years. The technique that works best for me is to not use any batting or flannel. I use a bottom weight twill fabric or fabric that I've interfaced with fusi knit type interfacing for the base. I place this with the fabric (or right side of fabric) down and build the piecing directly on this so that I don't have to do a lot of piecing and then cut it all off at the edges. The result is a jacket that isn't bulky and doesn't add 20 lbs to your weight. I often use the stitch and flip technique so everything is solid and won't move around on you. At this point quilting is mostly for decoration. I quilt mine because I like the look. Also, you don't have to add a lining as the base fabric becomes your lining. I usually serge the seams but if you don't have a serger, you can use a hong kong finish or any other seam finish on your seams. I've done this method probably 10 times and it works great.

I have made one starting with a very large sweatshirt. It was made crazy quilt style with large raw edge patches and zig zagging around the pieces. In the end I remember cutting the center front and altering the sleeves from the inside. There was a video on youtube. Probably the only thing I would change is I put the fuzzy inside to the inside of the jacket. If I do another one, I would put the outside of the sweatshirt (the smooth side) to the inside of the jacket. If that makes sense.