New Look 6249 in Bellagio Italian Knit.

New Look 6249

It has been an extra cold winter this year and I have really been feeling it. We had snow falls on the Tablelands just last week...a very rare occurrence. I live a few hundred metres from the ocean and we don't even experience frosts here, but it has been freezing. I was in desperate need of something warm to throw over my work outfits.

I wanted something simple, loose fitting and most importantly, WARM. I found a suitable fabric online from Knitwit in Perth, Western Australia. A Bellagio Italian Knit which is described as a beautiful warm fabric to make stylish coats, jackets or capes. I then went on the hunt for a suitable pattern.

I ended up choosing New Look 6249 which was available at my local Bargain Box Fabric.

Originally, I chose view A (the one on the model with the shark bite high low hem) but when the fabric arrived and I realised how thick and bulky it was, I revised my plans. I ended up going with view B and lengthening it by 18cm.

I made a size medium which turned out just right. There is plenty of room to fit a cardigan or jumper underneath without feeling constricted at all. The addition to the length turned out very well too (which was the maximum I could add due to fabric restrictions). 

I love the subtle cocoon shape from the back. This works well with long pants or pencil skirts.

The shoulders are quite dropped and the fit is very loose. There are no closures.

The pockets are very roomy and are great for keeping your hands warm. They were very easy to construct. After finishing off the raw top edge and turning inside, the lower edge of the pocket is sewn to the front. The two sides are then secured in the side seam and the front band seam. If I make this up again I would lower the pockets slightly, as I find them to be a little high.

Another change I made to the pattern was to finish off the sleeves with bands. The pattern says to sew a deep hem and then turn back to form a cuff. This fabric was very bulky and that would have been four layers in the cuff. I cut about 18cm off the length of the sleeves. I folded the off cut in half forming a band and then reattached it to the sleeve. This had a similar look to a cuff without the extra bulk.

I used my sewing machine with the walking foot to sew all the seams on this jacket. It handled the bulk with ease. I used the overlocker to finish off the raw edges. It did struggle with anything more than two layers but I got there in the end. I pressed the seams open to make them less bulky. The hem was sewn by hand and the hand stitching just disappeared into the fabric. I also hand stitched the overlocked edge of the front band down for a neater finish.

The shawl collar can be worn standing up on those very cold mornings to keep you extra warm.

Or folded over, as the pattern intended. Either way looks fine.

This jacket has been worn almost daily since I finished it and has been a most welcome addition to my wardrobe, and it is very warm too.


Happy Sewing