Hello friends

I am bursting with happiness writing about this jacket. I feel such a sense of accomplishment and pride every time I wear it and even now as I write about it. The Wheaton Windbreaker which comes in sizes 0 – 30 is a cropped casual jacket designed for woven fabrics. It features a three piece lined hood and exquisite welt pockets with optional stitch detailing that are truly a thing of beauty. It has long dolman style sleeves with an elasticated hem at the wrist. The bodice is slightly gathered into a waistband with decorative stitching. It also has optional hood grommets and drawstring.

It really is a labor of love that comes together slowly, piece by piece and each step is truly gratifying. There’s really no other way to do it.

The suggested fabrics for the Wheaton Windbreaker include twill, rayon twill, rayon linen, corduroy, flannel and other woven fabric blends. The fit and style will change depending on the fabric you choose. I used a linen rayon blend (linen 55% rayon 45%) in honey color for my jacket. I had this one separating zipper in navy and gold and pretty much planned my jacket around it. The navy and gold plaid fabric that I used to line the hood and pockets is from my husband’s old shirt, and I love how wonderfully it ties in with the jacket and zipper. The drawstring is also from his hoodie but it matches well with my jacket so it’s mine now 🙂

Based on my measurements and the finished measurements chart, I picked a straight size 2. My standard adjustments for Hey June patterns are shortening the sleeves by 2″. For this pattern however, after measuring my shoulder to sleeve length rather unsuccessfully, I shortened them only by 1″ and they’re probably just a tad bit long and I might take off another 1/2″ next time but otherwise, this jacket fits perfectly. The hood is nice and roomy not to mention what a difference a three-piece hood does to your style-preferences. I don’t generally love hoods, I wear them because they’re practical for the weather around here and I am always cold but I don’t like them. The shape of the three-piece hood however has been a total game changer for me. I really love the shape and I love how it lays because of the way it’s designed.

As far as the construction goes, I highly recommend the sew-along on the HJ blog. While the jacket construction in itself is not hard, the welt pockets especially if you have not sewed any before, are time consuming. This was my first time making them, but I was able to follow the instructions and illustrations successfully. The pattern has several introductory pages with information on how to pick the best size, perform length and fit adjustments, how to choose fabric and other helpful sewing notes as well as styling tips.

Adrianna’s instructions and how she drafts the pattern pieces are brilliant so if you follow instructions carefully, things will fall and fit into place exactly the way they are supposed to and you will end up with a beautiful jacket with welt pockets that you won’t be able to resist showing off 🙂

It’s a pity the decorative topstitching is not clearly visible because the thread matches the fabric too darn well but I am especially proud of how my welt pockets turned out.😍

Once the pockets are sewn, the rest is pretty straightforward. There’s no setting in or easing in the sleeves required since the sleeves are already part of the bodice so the rest of the construction including the zipper comes together quickly. The construction of the hood takes some time not because it’s tricky or difficult but only because of the number of pieces involved. The sleeves are finished with facings and a wide 1″ elastic which is not only easy to sew but also looks amazing. The waistband is finished with decorative topstitching which is optional but adds such interesting visual detail that I think is totally worth the extra time spent.

One of the many things I love about the Wheaton Windbreaker is how polished the final finished garment looks. Every little detail – the welt pockets, the elastic sleeve hems, the wide facings, the lined hood, the waistband all add up to create a one of a kind jacket that is a thing of joy and pride 🙂

You can read more about the Wheaton Windbreaker, including fabric recommendations and styling options on the Hey June blog!

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Sewing!

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