Fleece Jacket with Fabric Wholesale Direct
Well hello! It felt like it was time to dust off the ol’ blog after being away from it for quite a while—so long in fact, I’ve since moved, had a baby (who is now almost 2!), and moved again!
To kick off the blog reboot, I’m sharing a fleece jacket I made recently in partnership with Fabric Wholesale Direct.
I had actually purchased some ripstop fabric from them before when I was making bike basket bags for my husband’s bike shop, Slow and Steady Bikes and Goods. Happy with the quality of the fabrics, I was glad to partner with them on a new project.
I had been eyeing the Felicity Fleece jacket pattern for a while and decided this was the perfect opportunity to sew up the pattern and try out the polar fleece from Fabric Wholesale direct. The Felicity Fleece by Lucia Bisalti Design is a boxy, relaxed fit jacket with raglan sleeves and welt zippers, with a sporty feel thanks to some fabric accents, chest zipper pocket, and snap closure. It also has a pullover option and there’s even a blog post about how to turn the pattern into a vest.
The Felicity Fleece does not have a body measurements size chart and instead opts for only a finished measurements chart with the assumption that the maker can pick a size based on the amount of ease they would like. I don’t mind this, however I think it would be helpful to list the intended ease with which the pattern was designed. I ended up going with 10” of ease (based on hip measurement) to guarantee an oversized fit and cut a size E. Its important to note that this pattern is not size inclusive as the largest hip measurement is 56.8”, and that’s the finished measurement. Hopefully Lucia Bisalti Design expands their size range, but in the meantime, if you know of a similar jacket design that is size inclusive, do let me know in the comments! I otherwise am happy with the fit of the jacket.
Now let’s talk fabric. I chose the polar fleece from FWD which is available in over a dozen solid colors and a handful of prints (mostly US sports teams) as well. I went with the off-white color hoping it would be a little more cream than the true white polar fleece. Friends, this jacket is very much white. Which is totally fine! However if you’re hoping for a more cream colored jacket, I definitely recommend ordering a fabric sample so you know exactly what your fabric pick will look like. the degree of whiteness of course has no bearing on the quality however, and I was once again pleased with the fabric I received. The polar fleece has been very warm on my winter morning walks to the kids’ bus stop, and the fabric still looks great after a handful of washes (because, white). My one recommendation for sewing a fleece jacket, particularly one like the Felicity that has accents in a woven fabric, is to use a walking foot, and take care not to stretch the polar fleece, which has a bit of give since it is actually a knit fabric.
Speaking of accent fabric, the Felicity has some great details like a chest pocket, bias binding finish, and big lined pockets. I really wanted to go for the outdoorsy feel and decided to use FWD’s ripstop for my woven fabric accents. Fabric Wholesale Direct has a few different ripstop fabrics but for this project I went with the Ottertex® Water-Repellent 200D (6.6oz) DWR Polyester Ripstop. While the 70D ripstop was great for bag linings, the 200D is a much better fit for apparel or outer bag fabric. I picked two colors, Natural and Khaki, with the natural being used on the collar and placket accents as well as the pockets, and the khaki for the bias binding. One thing that really sold me on FWD ripstop is the variety of colors—while looking for utility fabrics I often could only find black, navy, brown, and camo ripstop. It was so exciting to come across a rainbow of options (even more so for the 70D ripstop)! While I used neutrals in my jacket, I can vouch for the other beautiful, joyful colors available.
And if you’re in need of other types of waterproof or water resistant fabrics, FWD has lots of other options like canvas, vinyl, and patterned ripstop which you can check out here.
A word of caution! Doing bias binding out of ripstop is not for the faint of heart. It’s shifty, difficult to press, and stretches easily along the bias. If you’re a beginner sewist or still perfecting your bias binding technique, DO NOT DO THIS. You will want to rip your hair out in frustration. I’ve been sewing for a long time and am a bit stubborn so I persevered with the ripstop binding, but in hindsight even I’d probably opt for fold over elastic to finish the jacket next time, while still keeping the ripstop accents.
To finish my jacket I used zipper tape and pulls from Maddy Bee’s Bags & More and metal-look KAM snaps—two of my favorite resources for zippers and snaps.
I’m very pleased with how this jacket turned out, in large part due to the quality fabrics I received from Fabric Wholesale Direct. Another sewing pal, Carly of sewnly_fans, posted about some athletic knits she received from FWD and I’m hoping to buy some of those to try next too.
If you have any questions about the fabrics from Fabric Wholesale Direct make sure to let me know in the comments and as always, thanks for reading!
