Perfect layering piece!

This was the first time I made anything by Papercut patterns and I will definitely make more. The instructions are clear and the pattern is beautiful. I love the pocket detail, which is the same as on their Palisade pants. I did my best to pattern match the pockets. The result is that you don’t see the the pockets very well, so i’ll just have to make another version in a plain fabric.

I used a quite light weight cotton sateen which makes the garment feel like a shirt. A fabric with a bit more weight and drape will make the garment feel more like a jacket or kimono. If the fabric is too flowy, I don’t think it will do the nice pocket details justice, since the pockets will hang out of shape a little bit. Something like a linen which has a little bit of structure will probably work well.

This pattern is listed as a jacket. For a jacket is a very easy and quick make. Not too many pattern pieces and no lining. It has a belt which goes into two little openings in the side seams, so the middle part of the belt doesn’t run outside of the back of the garment, but hugs your back on the inside. Probably not a very clear description, but I included some photos which show what I’m trying to explain here. If you prefer a belt that you tie around the whole garment, it would be easy to add beld loops in the side seams and omit the openings. Or do both for variation. Personally I like the belt openings since you can’t really see them if you wear the garment beltless, which I will probably do when (or if) warmer weather finally arrives.

I followed the instructions precisely this time and it worked fine, but there is one step I will probably do differently next time. The instructions tell you to sew the shoulder seams, and later attach the back neck facing by sewing it on exactly on the shoulder seams. I can’t see why you wouldn’t sew the shoulder seams and the facing in one go. It would save you two little seams and prevent you from punching an extra row of holes in your fabric. But perhaps there is a good reason, which I will only understand after making it the other way. Apart from this little extra step, the instructions are terrific. They even let you know when you’re half way (which wasn’t true for me because I spent more time pattern matching and cutting out my fabric pieces than actually sewing). The clear and beautifully layed out instructions make you feel like a good friend is holding your hand throughout the process.