The new Cozi Jacket from Pattern Scout – plus a giveaway!

(Please see the note at the end of my post regarding the consideration received in relation to this pattern. The giveaway information is also at the end. Please note it is a PDF copy of the pattern as the prize, not a paper copy.)

Pattern Scout is a newer indie pattern company that I first came across last year – I cannot now recall if I first saw the Lulu cardigan via Karina from Pins and Needles or the Sew My Style challenge, but a big thank you to whoever it was!

As I mentioned in my last post, I love the style and aesthetic that Casey – the owner of Pattern Scout – creates. To me, Casey’s patterns are stylish, fun, modern but with a touch of the classic, bursting with clean lines, interesting details and sometimes with a slightly sporty-chic look .

The fact that most of the patterns come with cup sizes is my kind of brilliant and the design lines and wearability of Casey’s patterns are spot on. I always find the finishing methods suggested to be really clever and well worked through.

The patterns are actually designed for a height of 5’9” (I’m 5’5”) but other than that I find the block used is a pretty good one for my body. That’s not to say I don’t have to make adjustments, but just the same ones I would do for any pattern company (and not as many as I have to do for some) – I blend between three sizes, do a high round back adjustment, sway back adjustment, shorten the sleeve – then away I go!

(I haven’t made a trousers pattern yet although the Nellie joggers are planned for Spring, but I imagine a bit of length shortening may be on the cards for those.)

As I mentioned in my last post, I bought all of the PS pattern range over the course of two of their sales last year, after the great success I had with the Fern top and the Lulu cardigan.

I’ve made seven of the Luna bags since then, which I highly recommend as a small sized, cross body bag. Just to clarify, only one was for me, the other six have been presents. Even I don’t need that many bags…

Then just the other week I received an email from Casey at Pattern Scout with a call out for pattern testers for her new pattern, the Cozi Jacket. I have pattern tested for Nina Lee and Megan Nielsen before but not Pattern Scout. I love the line drawings of the pattern, so I immediately applied and was really pleased to be accepted.

Casey offered a $30 payment to her pattern testers as a contribution towards the costs of materials and notions used, which I think is really excellent and no doubt widens her testing pool.

The pattern testing experience was fun, as always. From my job background, I really enjoy reading through instructions and checking for sense, any typos, errors or improvements that could be made from a language front (or any sewing construction suggestions). It’s always so much easier to spot typos etc. in someone else’s work, harder when it’s your own!

Casey also set up an online collaboration group for all the pattern testers, which is a lovely way to connect with other sewing folk, get some great pointers and see other people’s amazing garments coming to life.

So onto the Cozi pattern itself. As you can see from the line art, it is a semi cropped, slightly boxy jacket with options for a hood or a collar. I chose view A as I love that sort of collar and wanted the more nipped in look with the elastic at the waist and cuffs. However, you could easily mix the hood of View B with the elastic options as well.

The Cozi comes in a wide size range from 0 – 30. Funnily enough, despite me raving about the cup options of Pattern Scout’s patterns, this one doesn’t actually have cup sizes due to the boxier shape and intended ease of the bodice, but the instructions note that the bust sizing covers sewing cup sizes B – D. (Just adding my usual note here to say bra cup sizes are not the same as sewing cup sizes).

Because of this I decided to sew one size up starting from the bottom of the armscye down to the hem on the front bodice compared to the back bodice. This gave me the exact ease I wanted for the circumference but is perhaps a touch short on the length I need to go over my bust. Next time I will lower the centre front by say 3/4” until in line with the side edge of where the pocket sits and then blend back to nothing at the side seam, which should do the trick.

Fabric recommendations are for either medium weight wovens or medium weight jersey – yes it is that rare bird of a pattern you can make in either 😊 .

I chose a medium weight viscose twill that has good body and drape, probably on the lightish side of medium and it worked perfectly.

I looked carefully at the body measurements and finished garment measurements given, as well as the excellent notes Casey includes within her patterns to describe the intended fit. I also did my, now usual, measuring of the flat pattern vs my body.

Based on all of the above plus the designed height of 5’9” vs my height of 5’5” I shortened the bodice by 2” and the sleeves by 1 1/4”. This gave me the perfect sleeve length and the bodice hits right just below my natural waist. The pattern notes state the hem will hit about 4” below natural waist but because of the shortening I did and my bust, mine hits just below it, which is perfect for my shape and proportions.

I also shortened the collar piece by 3/4” as when I folded the pattern piece as if sewn and held it to my neck, I could tell it would be too tall for my neck height.

I used my favourite Vlieseline 180 interfacing on the collar. I did wonder whether it would be firm enough for a stand up collar, but I’m glad I went with that in the end as I wouldn’t want it too stiff in comparison to the rest of the jacket.

The jacket came together really well. Casey suggests a few options for finishing your seams depending on your fabric choice and I went with flat felled seams for the shoulders, armscye and sides (having basted the sides first to check fit). I love the finish that has given the jacket when you see flashes of the inside.

Casey has also now added a section of how to sew flat fell seams into the instructions. On that note, I find Casey’s instructions to be excellent, full of tips and explanations of the processes, along with clear diagrams and well laid out steps.

The zipper was a bit of a pain to insert only because my zipper was a tad longer than the pattern called for. Shortening an open ended zip is frankly a pain, as you end up having to catch the (metal, in my case) zipper teeth into the top of the collar seam so the zipper pull won’t fly off when doing it up. You don’t end up with such a neat finish at the top as you would if the zipper length were perfect (or at least I didn’t!). And you risk breaking your needle. Go on, guess how I know that… But now that I know the final length measurement of my jacket, with all the various mods I did, I can order the perfect size next time. She says, hopefully!

(Casey has added some tips on shortening open ended zippers into the final pattern instructions, which are super helpful.)

The zipper and centre front bodice edges are then covered together with bias tape to finish them, with the ends caught in the collar and hem seams before turning out, again giving a beautifully neat finish and making for a nice detail when you see inside the jacket.

I absolutely love this jacket. In my fabric choice it is the perfect Spring and Summer time cover up / extra layer. Made in a snuggly french terry it would be a terrific warmer piece for other seasons. Suffice to say I’ll be making one of those soon!

Hmmm, have I unintentionally made a tribute to the Pink Ladies jacket of Grease fame?!

You can see here that the pockets sit too high on me. Their height and width has now been reduced by 1” in the final pattern itself but I also need to reduce mine down further in my next version, to match the reduction I made to the bodice height. I did do this when prepping my pattern pieces but somehow managed to cut the actual fabric from the original, unaltered, pattern piece 🙄

And so for the giveaway! Casey has very kindly given each of her testers a PDF copy of the finished pattern for themselves and also one to give away.

Hence if you would like to win my giveaway PDF copy, please leave a comment below saying which is your favourite view and whether you would be team woven or team jersey if you were to make this. I will draw a winner on Tuesday 9th March (UK time) and then make contact with the winner to send the download code for their free Cozi Jacket PDF pattern from Pattern Scout’s site.

The information / disclaimer bit:

I received a free PDF copy of the Cozi Jacket pattern for the purposes of pattern testing, as well as a contribution of USD $30 towards the materials used. I also received the free additional PDF copy that I am giving away here to the lucky winner. I was not required to write this blog post or promote the pattern as part of the pattern testing, nor am I being paid or otherwise sponsored to do so. All of the views expressed here are very much my own. I would only recommend a company or product of which I have already established my own favourable opinion. The links to Pattern Scout and the pattern are not affiliate ones.)