Make A Quilted Fashion Statement With Your Orphan Blocks

You know those orphan blocks you just can’t bring yourself to throw away? They took some time to make but they just didn’t fit in the quilt you were making? Well I’ve got a solution for using them. A fun way to use your blocks that you are going to love. How about creating some quilted fashion by designing a quilt jacket for you, a loved one, or a friend. It takes some time to make but it isn’t as hard as you think. Give it a go!

You will need:

• A sweatshirt 1 or 2 times bigger than the jacket size you intend to make depending on the style you want to make
• Decide your color scheme for your jacket
• Several orphan quilt blocks
• Pick out some scrap fabrics that coordinate with your orphan quilt blocks
• Decide which jacket style you want to create: an open front, a pullover, a zipper front or button front

This past Christmas I got really brave. I had about a month until Christmas day and was trying to find just the right PJ’s for everyone coming home for the holidays. I decided after our children were grown and moved out, if they came home for Christmas, they would get to open one gift on Christmas Eve and that would be pajamas. So I decided to take on making a quilt jacket for each of our girls who would be coming home. That meant three of them. I was eager to take this challenge on. The boys and my hubby got sweats and a cool sweatshirt but I had plenty of orphan blocks to make into some quilt fashion and I was ready to take this project on.

Finding A Pattern For Your DIY Quilted Coat

I looked online for ideas for making my jackets. There were lots of patterns and ideas for making quilted patchwork jackets. However, I’m all about finding an easy way of to make something and keep in mind I only had 1 month to make three jackets. I came across ZMarieDesign on You Tube and loved her step by step tutorial. She made it seem so understandable and easy to make. She took a sweatshirt and fashioned it into a quilt jacket. The idea of using orphan blocks was mine but her tutorial is straight forward and easy to follow. Instead of using fabric as she suggests, I used my orphan blocks and some scraps of fabric to create my three jackets out of sweatshirt.

Making Your Quilted Patchwork Jacket

I bought three sweatshirts and made sure they were larger than the size I planned to make. The size of your sweatshirt depends on how you are going to style your fashionable quilted jacket. Make sure when you purchase your sweatshirt that it is one or two times bigger than the size the person normally wears. I cut my sweatshirt the way ZMarie Design shows you how but made a simple deviation from her pattern. I cut each sleeve off at the top as she shows but didn’t cut down along the seam of each sleeve from top to bottom. I planned to just sew the sleeves back in once the main jacket was created just as they were. (So my sleeves would already be done and contrast with all the orphan blocks on each quilt jacket. I chose cream colored sweatshirts. I didn’t cover my sleeves with quilt blocks or fabric). A huge win was using the outside of the sweatshirt as the lining turning the front and the back inside out which made the interior of my jacket look and feel like it had been lined and it was soft. (This also saved me money since your lining is already built into the jacket aka sweatshirt so to speak.)

Coordinate Colors Of Your Orphan Blocks

You want your orphan blocks to really pop and stand out. Decide on the fashion statement you want your quilt jacket to make. Translated that means you want to choose colors that enhance your orphan blocks. Choose the orphan blocks you plan to use and if you don’t have enough blocks, create more quilt blocks that complimentI had plenty of orphan blocks to choose from and a few orphan blocks I had inherited from my mother in law.

Cut Out Your Sweatshirt Pieces

Take your sweatshirt and cut out each piece like ZMarieDesign shows you. Lay your individual sweatshirt pieces on a table or on the floor.

• Start with the left front piece of your sweatshirt.
• Arrange your orphan blocks where you want them to be.
• Then fill in with other blocks and scrap fabric where needed.
• Sew your blocks together the way you have arranged them.
• Press your sewn blocks.
• Put your sweatshirt front on top to use as a pattern.
• Cut around the blocks so your blocks fit putting your sweatshirt front on top to use as a pattern. (Remember to turn your sweatshirt pieces over so that the right side of your sweatshirt becomes the interior of your DIY quilted jacket.)
• Pin this to your front sweatshirt piece.
• Repeat with the other side of the sweatshirt front.
• Then do this to the back piece of your sweatshirt.

Sew Your Quilted Jacket Together

Sew your pieces together. At first it will look like a vest. Once your left front side and your right front side of your jacket are sewn to the back of your sweatshirt, you can carefully pin each sleeve and sew it back into your jacket. Line up the seam where it should be. This step was pretty straightforward. Like I mentioned before I left the sleeves intact and didn’t sew any orphan blocks to them. Press your jacket carefully.

Quilt Your Jacket

Quilt each section piece of your jacket. You can quilt it on your machine or quilt it by hand. Here is a tip to make a fun accent to your fashionable jacket. Take some brown perle cotton and sew a running stitch by hand around each block on your stylish jacket. Gives it a little handmade homemade cozy look to it. It is optional but you might want to consider it.

Add Binding

I made my own binding and pinned it around the unfinished edge of each jacket. Then I sewed it to the unfinished edges of my jacket. I then folded it down, pressed it and hand sewed the binding in place. Press again. I chose to style my jackets with an open front. However, you could do a pullover style if you like or add buttons or even a zipper in the front.

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