As winter is around the corner, I believe it’s time to make yourself some warm clothing. The functional bomber jacket is a staple item for fall-winter season, and it is so easy to layer up to make great outfits, whether you want to be girly in a dress, or sporty in joggers or jeans and boots. The Mika basic bomber jacket is a quick and simple project for even beginners who want to start sewing with thicker fabric. It has ribbed neck, sleeve cuff and waist, front zip closure and side seam pockets. Although the pattern is for unlined garment, you can also created fully lined garment from it.
Let’s see the Mika basic bomber jacket in details:
As usual, my pattern is made in 10 sizes from XXS to 5XL so you may find a suitable size for yourself. If you are not sure which size suits you, take a look at the measurement table before doing anything here: SIZE GUIDE.
The pattern is made using layered PDF, please check for your desired size before printing so you won’t waste your paper. I have included a first page with many details about sizing and printing, so please first read the first page and make sure you know what size you need! If you still do not know how to print a layered PDF, please check for the printing instruction in this post: PRINTING GUIDE.
My patterns are now made in both A4/Letter paper and A0 paper format so you can print at home or at any print shop!
For home printers, you can print this using your home printer and either A4 or Letter paper. I calculated the printing area so that you will be able to use either type of paper to print the pattern out perfectly. Always print the first page first and check with the test square if you are printing at the right scale before you print out the whole pattern – avoid waste of ink and waste of paper, save the earth!
Some PC may print smaller than actual size even when you choose 100% scale – I don’t know why this problem exist, but my HP laptop cannot print true to size. I have to scale up to 103% to get the right size. You may need to check with your PC to see if it prints true to size, if not, scale up a bit. I was informed by a reader that you can also print the pdf as image to get the right scale, however I never tested it on my computer.
SEWING INSTRUCTION
You will need
- Fabric of your choice. This pattern is intended for woven fabric, choose a warm and thick fabric for chilly days.
- Exposed outerwear zipper
- Scissors, pencil or fabric marker, ruler, pins
- Sewing machine/Serger or needle and thread
- Printed pattern
How much fabric do you need for this piece of garment? To be precise, you may need to check how much fabric you need before buying. It will depend on the selected pattern size, the width, and design of the fabric you plan to use. Just to be sure, print all the paper patterns and lay them out at the width of fabric you plan to use (usually from 90 to 150 centimeters or 35 to 60 inches). Measure how much fabric you will need. Don’t forget to account for pieces that need to be cut multiple times and pieces that are cut on the fold.
Cutting instruction:
After printing out and taping all the pattern pages together, you will get something similar to this:
You will see that there are 2 sets of lines on each pattern piece. The inner lines are sewing line (and you sew along these lines), and the outer lines are cutting lines (you cut the fabric along these lines, remember the folding lines where you have to fold the fabric before cutting). The distance between sewing line and cutting line is seam allowance, and it varies from point to point. For example, the side seam allowance is about 1/2 inch (1.2cm), and seam allowance at hemline is 1 inch (2.5cm). This is the reason why I do not remove the sewing lines from the pattern. Please use it as a guide to know how much seam allowance you need to give at each seam.
The fabric will be cut into following pieces:
- Front: cut 2 mirrored
- Back: cut 1 on the fold
- Front Facing: cut 2 mirrored
- Sleeve: cut 2 mirrored
- Sleeve Cuff Ribbing: cut 2
- Waist Ribbing: cut 1 on the fold
- Neck Ribbing: cut 1
- Side Seam Pocket: cut 4 (using thinner fabric for less bulky seams)
Place the pattern pieces on the fabric, pin the pattern pieces to the fabric to secure them in place. Using sharp scissors, carefully cut out the fabric pieces along the outer lines of the pattern. Take your time to ensure precise and clean cuts, as this will affect the fit and overall appearance of your garment.
Make sure to mark all notches and other design features such as darts, pleats, draw marks etc. from the pattern pieces onto your fabric. When sewing the garment, pay attention to notches, they must match up.
Sewing instruction:
1. Serge fabric to prevent it from unraveling.
2. Place Front and Back right side facing, pin and sew the shoulder and side seams. Attach the side seam pocket as you go. You can refer to a tutorial on attaching side seam pockets in this article: How to add a side seam pocket. For this jacket, the bottom end of the pocket will be sewn to the waist ribbing together with the main garment.
3. Sew the underarm seam of the Sleeve.
4. Sew the two short ends of Sleeve Cuff Ribbing. Fold it in half hiding the seam allowance inside. Divide the Sleeve Cuff Ribbing and Sleeve into 4 parts and match the points. Pull the Sleeve Cuff Ribbing as you sew to match the Sleeve.
5. Turn the Sleeve inside out, pin it to the armhole opening of the main garment. Sew to attach the Sleeve to the main garment.
6. Fold the Neck Ribbing in half, pin it to the right side of the main garment, matching the notches to the shoulder seams. Sew to attach the Neck Ribbing.
7. Use similar method to attach the Waist Ribbing to the main garment.
8. Measure the front center seam. Cut the exposed zipper accordingly.
9. Place the main garment right side facing up. Place one half of the exposed zipper to the center front on the right side of main garment, then place Front Facing piece right side facing down to cover the zipper. Pin the center seam and neckline. Sew to join. Repeat with the other half of the zipper. When it comes to the end of the Front Facing piece, fold the bottom seam allowance of the Front Facing piece to the wrong side.
10. Hand sew or use stitch in the ditch method to attach the bottom of the Front Facing piece to the main garment. Topstitch the front center seam and neck seam.
And here is the download link:
MIKA BASIC BOMBER JACKET SIZE XXS-5XL (A0 PAPER)
MIKA BASIC BOMBER JACKET SIZE XXS-5XL (A4 LETTER PAPER)
To download just click on the link above and choose “Save link as”. The PDF file will be downloaded to your device. An advertisement may pop up, just close it and continue with your download. In case some ads attempt to make you enter your personal info, just ignore and close it. I do NOT require any kind of information to download my pattern files.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Because of many cases of copyright infringement, I have restricted permission on my patterns from now on and you will not be able to open it using PDF editing software like Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw etc. Please use PDF readers to open and view the files – there are many free PDF readers that offer layer viewing and printing, like Adobe Reader, Foxit Reader…
Happy sewing! And don’t forget to share your project on my Facebook page: Tiana’s Closet Sewing Patterns or tag me on Instagram #tianasclosetsewingpatterns, I will be thrilled to see the garment in real life!
