This project started as a test for a hood, and I later decided to make the whole jacket.



A friend of mine at work wore a ski jacket, and I was obsessed with figuring out how the face shield/hood was patterned and constructed. I used the steps in Patternmaking for Fashion Design by Helen Joseph-Armstrong to get the basic hood blocked out, and I also referenced the hood pieces from the Green Pepper 124 Fairbanks Anorak pattern. \[I then used this tutorial\](https://youtu.be/T\_5HL\_VX5ps?si=QmA0VY53kwTqrFgW&t=244) to convert that into a three-panel hood.



The first edition was way too deep and tall. I turned the hood inside out, put it back on my head, pinched the seams to make it more form-fitting, and marked the new stitch line with a marker. At this point, I wasn't planning to make this into a full jacket, so I was full-on using a permanent marker and contrasty thread. After multiple rounds of trial and error, I got to a point I was happy with. I unpicked the hood completely and laid the pieces down on paper to outline my new pattern shape. I then cut out those pieces from the lining fabric scraps I had to see how this hood would look lined. It looks—AWESOME!



It was at this point that I decided to just go for it and make another jacket. I had already made a few raglan bombers, but I wanted to change my approach. The last iterations struggle at the sleeves, especially when the arms are moving. They tug and feel too short. I also wanted to create a jacket that could fit over a hoodie or sweater, something you might see on the slopes (though I haven't skied in close to 10 years now). So everything needed to be bigger.



Starting with a sloper, I used a modified Simplicity 9388 as a base. Since I wanted this to be a bit oversized, I added 1" of ease to the side seams and 1/2" to the front and back center seams.  That adds up to 5" of ease when all is said and done. I also lowered the front neckline by about an inch. As a bigger fella, clothes tend to sit higher on my belly compared to the back, making an awkward line at the hem. To counter this, I added about two inches to the hem at center front and drew a line from that new point to the side.



Next was converting this into a raglan sleeve. \[I used this tutorial\](https://youtu.be/0ZMGsztpHSE?si=ldyEZrZgJbh5O4Go) as a guide. Before I did all of that, though, I raised the shoulder point about an inch to give myself a little more room. I also went comically wide at the wrist. Writing this after the fact, too wide, but more on that later.



Assembly was pretty straightforward. The fabric came from some curtains I bought off marketplace a while back. The lining was from those same curtains, and I used cotton batting for insulation. To pattern-match, I would flip and lay the piece I had just cut onto the fabric to find where everything lined up, then cut the other piece. The last time I worked with this material, I broke four needles; this time I only broke one, that's improvement, yo.



Since I finished the hood before I even made the pattern, I had to reopen it at the neck so I could attach the hood to the shell and lining separately. If/when I do this project, it would be far better to keep the hood's shell and lining completely separate at this point and not connect them until later. Not doing so made a few parts of this more of a headache than I would have liked, especially when it came to attaching the zipper.



You can't see it, but the cuffs are made with pink rib knit elastic, and that's because I was more focused on completing this jacket with what I had than on waiting for the appropriate pieces to arrive from online purchases. Pink is what I had, pink is what I used. I also had some white rib knit lying around for the waist ribbing. \[I really like this tutorial on how to do that.\](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDeTBvBvy3k&list=PLCkrIKFL8hRbwk7sIUt\_AkqPbd9w0llXU&index=5) But I made sure not to join the lining to the shell at the waist here.



Overall, I'm delighted with this jacket! I keep poking my head out of the fully zipped hood because it looks silly to me, but a fun kind of silly. And it's perfectly warm! There are always a few things I'd change if I did this again, but nothing has made this unwearable. I'm excited to take this around as the weather gets colder here.



The things I would change are as follows:



The wrists are too wide. Not too bad, but it could benefit from being just a tinge narrower.



The waist is too loose. This is another easy fix: I need to cut a shorter rib-knit piece to make everything more snug.



The hood is almost there. I'm not quite sure what I need to change; I just know it's not where I want it to be fully. I could actually use some advice from y'all on what could be improved here.



No zipper shield. My beard has gotten caught so many times!



The hood isn't insulated. Nothing a beanie can't solve, but still, it would be nice to add that in next time.



But as I said, I'm still pleased with what I have. Skiing is one of the things that got me interested in fashion and style as a kid, and I've always wanted to venture more into snowwear. I'm not sure if this fella is right for the slopes, but it feels like the cool jackets I was obsessed with when I was younger, and it makes me excited to keep exploring this avenue.

[Self-Drafted] Raglan Bomber Jacket 3.0 Ski-ish Jacket