Sew Along: Track Jacket

A few weeks ago, one of our suppliers came in with some fleece samples. I have to admit, fleece does not excite me but when I saw this fleece-backed knit, I fell. in. love. I never thought I would fall in love with fleece, of all things, but this was such nice quality and I loved the knit/fleece combo. I was so excited about starting this project that I went home that night and I searched through my pattern stash and many pattern websites until I found the perfect pattern for this fleece. I came across Jalie Pattern #2795, a zip-front jacket and hoodie. I loved the ready-to-wear look of the pattern. I find that jackets like this tend to be really oversized by other pattern companies, and I did not want that. Since this was my first Jalie Pattern, I glanced through Pattern Review to see if anyone else used it. It got good reviews and everyone seemed to looked great in their jacket! I didn't have any local sources for purchasing the pattern, so I ordered it from an eBay store.

Since Jalie Patterns is new to me, I thought it probably is for others as well! I'm going to do a mini Sew-Along featuring some information about Jalie Patterns and my process in working with this pattern and the fabric itself.

When the fabric arrived, I cut about 2 1/2 yards off the roll, just like the pattern called for. I selected UUC0419 - Purple Fleece Knit. This type of fleece knit comes in other colors, you can check them out here.

When I opened up the pattern, I was surprised to see that every single size came in one pattern. This pattern is for girls through women's sizes, so there were tiny pattern pieces! It was hard to imagine something so small! (I don't have kids yet, and have not made anything for children before!) 

I cut out size 12, so I cut on the Y line. The directions are also printed on the same page as the pattern paper, so I cut those out and hung them on my pattern clips. In a Jalie Pattern, the written directions are separate from the visual directions. The written directions refer you to which picture to follow. Jalie Patterns also want you to use a 1/4" seam allowance, which is included in the pattern measurements.

I bought this hanger at Ikea. It is perfect to hang pattern directions and pattern pieces!

Now comes laying out the pattern on the fabric! I was surprised to see how they wanted you to lay out your pattern pieces. They actually had you laying them out right next to the pattern piece you would be sewing them to. I actually really liked that. You would do something like this when using fabric with a plaid, stripe, etc. But because this fleece is basically solid, there was not a need to do this. I did it anyway, it was nice to be able to visualize which pattern pieces go together.

Stay tuned, I'm on to cutting out the pattern pieces, then on to sewing! Until next time...happy sewing!