Let’s Get Started!

1.Welcome to the Vespertine Jacket Pattern! This page is dedicated to helping you construct your own version! Step #1 is to Familiarize yourself with the pattern pieces and the indicated markings such as grain lines, notches, and labels.You will have the following pattern pieces:

A- is the Collar

B-is the under collar

C- is the Front

D-is the Back

E-is the Front Facing

F-is the Side Front Lining

G- is the Back peplum (view A)

H-is the Back Peplum Facing ( View B)

I- is the Front Peplum

J- is the Front peplum Facing

K- is the Back peplum (view B)

L-is the Back peplum Facing (view B)

M- is the sleeve

N- is the Back Sleeve

O- is the armhole elastic casing

2.Cut out all of your pattern pieces, linings, and interfacings! I also go ahead and iron my fusible interfacings to the pieces they belong to in this step! Your pattern pieces will tell you what you need to cut of which fabrics!

3.Let’s start by prepping the Front and back pieces (C and D) Stitch the darts on The pattern front ( Pattern piece C) and the back pieces (D) after you stitch the darts, press them Flat and Beautiful.

4.With right sides facing, we can now let’s join the sides seams of the front and the back pieces , and press your seams , and finish the seam allowance out accordingly.

5.Now lets work on the lining. you can stitch the darts on Pattern pieces F, and press them open.

6.Let’s join Front Facing (pattern piece E) to Side Front Lining (pattern piece F.) With right sides together, pin and stitch the two pieces. Afterwards press open.

7.Stitch the Darts on the Back Lining (piece D) and press open.

8.Join the side seam of Lining piece D, and Side Front Lining (Piece F), and then sit your Self fabric( The self fabric is the proper terminology for the outer layer) , and lining aside.

9.Now let’s work on the peplum! There are a few variations here! You can choose to use Peplum Back G, or K. The difference is the amount of fullness here. I am choosing to create my sample here with Pattern piece G, because I love the drama of a full peplum. Both styles will work with Peplum Front piece (I) You will also see that the peplum has the options for Facings which will be pattern pieces ( H, J, and L.) These facings will act as a strip of the outer fabric along the lining, so if you see a little of the lining from the outside that it just looks like the outer/ self fabric. The facings are optional, and I chose not to use them for the sample, but I am going to show you how to use them here. First you need to serge, or finish the top edge of the facings that align with whichever peplum you are going to use. Next you will pin the facing to the bottom of the peplum pieces, and flatline ( a fancy word for stitch) around the edges of the piece to join it to the peplum. Afterwards, press it flat. All of your peplum pieces should have this around the bottom edge if you are choosing to use them.

10.The next step is to join the side seams of peplum front, and your peplum back pieces. With right sides together, pin, and stitch your peplum side pieces . You will also repeat this step for the accompanying lining pieces.

11.With the right sides together, lay your full peplum face fabric onto your full peplum lining fabric, and pin all around the outside circumference. After pinning you will stitch.

12.After stitching the circumference you can choose to under stitch here to help it hold it’s shape. This step is optional. Now, clip the edges of the peplum, and then turn it right side out ( the technical l term for this is Bagging it) Now press those edges flat and beautiful, and sit your peplum aside!

13.Next up we’re going to work on the Collar. Let’s attach the Collar to the /under collar( pieces A and B) The under collar will just be a little less wide than the top collar piece, and the purpose is to make it easy for the collar to fold down. IF you notice there is a side that is curved and a side that is straight. To begin, with right sides facing, stitch the collar to the under collar on the straight edge. Afterwards, press the seam open, and then press the seam to the under collar side because we were going to understsitch this. You will want to make sure you are under stitching on the under collar side so it doesn’t show on the outside.

14.Take note of the notch on the collar pieces titled “Collar Split” This will tell you where to stop stitching. We are going to sew from the straight side of the collar we just stitched down to that point, and when we get to that point, leave the needle inserted, lift the presser foot, and move the fabric so we can stitch from that point, straight to the outside of the fabric a few stitches, but not fully to the edge. We are basically creating an L shape here. Repeat this on the other side of the collar as well.

15.At a diagonal angle, clip towards the center of that L shape we just stitched. Now we can trim away the excess seam allowance by half. This will make it less bulky when we flip the collar right side out. Repeat this step on the other side of the collar also.

16.Turn your collar right side out, and press the corners out so they are nice and pointy. Now press the collar flat and beautiful and sit it aside.

17.Let’s chat about the sleeves! The sleeves feature a faux placket, and if you aren’t familiar with a placket, this is basically meant to mimic an opening with button holes for the sleeve, and a lot of designers like to imply the placket, because a real placket is almost never necessary for function. IF the placket is a bit tricky for you right now, no worries, just sew straight down the sleeve, and trim the excess seam allowance away. It will look just as cool, promise. Let’s start by pinning the right sides together of the placket side of the sleeves ( pieces M and N). If you look at your pattern, you will see there is a notch at the bottom of the sleeve pattern piece that indicates the stitch stopping point. Stitch from the top of the sleeve all the way to that bottom notch. When you get to the part of the sleeve where the placket starts, leave your needle inserted , lift the presser foot, and turn the fabric so you can follow the line of the placket .

18.Press the seam open flat and beautiful. As you can see the placket has now created a fold in the fabric, so make sure it is lined up where your seam looks continuous, and press that flat. This will help us in the next few steps. I also make sure my placket pockets are angled towards the back of the sleeves.

19.Turn your sleeves so it is face side down. WE are now going to address the flaps of the placket. We want to create finished edges that face each other here, and to do so, we will fold one side of the placket towards the top of the sleeve, and pin the side closest to the other placket. Now stitch from the fold towards the raw edge of the fabric , making sure to stop about 1/2” from the edge. This will be a short stitch. WE will now repeat this step on the other side of the placket. When we pressed the seam open, it will have created a line where the placket lays, and that line is where we will stitch. Fold the raw edge towards the top of the sleeve, like we did the other side, and pin the edge that faces the other side of the placket. Now stitch from the fold towards the raw edge, making sure to stop 1/2” away from the raw edge.

20.Now lets turn those seams right side out. As you can see, the bottom of the sleeve now wants to turn up where we have stitched, so let’s press the seam/ and the bottom of the sleeve seam allowance. The sleeve allowance should now be pressed towards the top of the sleeve.

21.Now let’s do a little hand stitch to join the openings of the placket we just created. They naturally overlap about 1/2”, so let’s stitch them in place. This step will finish out our faux placket.

22.Now we can close up the other side of our sleeve to create the full sleeve. With right sides facing, pin and stitch the inseam of the sleeve. Then press open flat and beautiful. Repeat steps 17-22 on the opposite sleeve.

23.Now we can sew the sleeve lining. With right sides facing, join the sleeve, and sleeve back. There will be 2 seams to join. After stitching both seams, press them open flat and beautiful.

24.Now we can attach Sleeves to the jacket body, starting with our outer sleeves with the plackets. Pin the underarm seam to match the underarm seam of the jacket body, and thin pin around the half circle. You will want to make sure the sleeve back is aligned with the back of the jacket as well. It’s easy to mix up the sleeves. After pinning, stitch them In place, clip the curve, and finish out the seam accordingly, and press the seam open. Repeat this with the opposite sleeve as well.

25.If you are choosing to add in the elastic/ elastic casing ( piece O,) now is when we would take care of that. You should have two pieces cut from your lining fabric. Start by folding them in half, with right sides facing, and pin/ stitch them. Afterwards, you can trim away some of the seam allowance, and turn the strip right side out and press it flat. Next you will need to cut your elastic. I chose to cut the elastic about 2” shorter than the casing, but you could always test on your arm to see how much elastic you want or need, but the goal here is for it to be a little shorter than the casing. You can also adjust the size of the casing depending on your arm. After threading the elastic through the casing, pin the elastic at both ends of the casing so it doesn’t slip inside the casing.

26.Now let’s pin the sleeve lining to the jacket body lining.  Make sure to insert your casing here. There are notches on the sleeve patterns. Place your Arm hole elastic casing right above the notches on the pattern. Pin your sleeve to the body lining, and stitch around the arm hole. Afterwards finish out your seam, and press.

27.Now that we have both the lining, and the outer shell sewn, we can attach our collar. begin by adding a Staystitch at the inner corner of the front bodice a scant 1/2" where the collar will join- about 1 inch on either side of the corner. We will then Clip the inner corner, stopping just before the staystitching. This will allow us to straighten out that section to make it easier to sew.

28.With right sides together, sandwich the collar in between the lining and outer layer. Pin all the way along, and make note to start/stop 1/2” before the ends of the collar. We will be needing that seam allowance to make the pivot. After pinning, make your stitch.

29.Now that the base of the collar is attached we have to address this pivot. It almost acts like a 90 degree angle here. You will start stitching the side of the collar to the jacket base.We will work our way towards the point we left off on, making sure to stop our stitch directly at the stitch we left off at. This Will ensure a nice angle. You can clip a bit of the excess here if it is feeling bulky.

30.Now that the collar is sewn we can flip it inside out, and check to make sure out pivot is gorgeous. Once you have in a good place, go ahead and give it a good press.

31.Before we can sew the rest of the jacket closed we need to chat about buttons/ button holes/ button loops. For this jacket I am choosing to add button loops rather than button holes. If you choose to add button holes, you don’t have to worry about that at this moment as that will be one of the last things you do. If you do want to add button loops, you will need to find the buttons you want to use, and the loop material you want to use. You could make that with the fabric you are using, but I chose to purchase this nylon silky rope because it was thin and sturdy. I measured out enough to have 1/2” seam allowance at both ends, and enough to make it around the button comfortably but still stay in place. The pattern has lines signifying where the button holes, or loops will go, so you can follow this if you like, but you can add or take away button holes and loops. This design is up for interpretation. Once you have decided how many loops, bend the loop in half, and pin it to the jacket front in between the lining and outer fabric. Make sure the loop is facing inwards toward the jacket.

32.Because this jacket has a significant crossover, you will want a security button to help hold the other side of the jacket in place, and to do this, I added an extra button loop right at the center point on the front of the opposite side of the jacket. You will sandwich this in between the lining and outer fabric.

33.Once you have all your button loops pinned, we can now stitch the front of the jacket. Make sure to back stitch a few times over the loops so they can be strong.

34.Now lets add in our peplum. Ate this point your jacket should still be inside out. You will insert your peplum into the waist opening, and pin the peplum to the jacket. Now you can stitch your peplum in. Make sure to leave an opening about 6-7” in the center so you can flip the jacket right side out.

35.Because we left an opening, the outer fabric isn’t attached to the peplum in the center back, so you will want to stitch those together, making sure not to catch your lining. Then you can Flip your jacket right side out.

36.Now we can hand sew the lining opening closed. I have a few hand stitching how to’s on my patreon page if you need them.

37.Let’s add our buttons. It may be helpful for you to try your jacket on, and close the jacket/ mark where your buttons will go. I find that helps the best when finding the best fit. After marking your buttons, you can hand sew them on! (While you are marking buttons, don’t forget to mark where your security button will go. You will want to sew the in on the inside of the jacket . And while we are sewing buttons, don’t forget to add them to your faux placket on the sleeve. Sew them onto the top part of the fold because it will look like they have come through a button hole!

38.IF you are adding button holes, now would be the best time to do so.

39.Put your jacket on, or on your dress form, and fold the collar down to your liking, and pin where the fold is. This will help you establish the shape, and then you can press it flat and beautiful. IF you like a little drama like I do, you can leave the collar up, and live your best Disney villain life.

40.Our last step is to turn the entire jacket inside out, and pull the sleeve lining down to meet the finished edge of the sleeve. You can then establish where the lining needs to hit, and fold it under/ pin/ hand stitch it to the folded up edge of seam allowance from the sleeve.

Welcome to the Vespertine Jacket Pattern. I named this jacket after a word that was really commonly used in the victorian era, which referred to something being active in the evening, and this jacket just looks like something ready for a nocturnal stroll. 

This jacket features an off the shoulder design, wit the ability to pop the collar for a very dramatic look. There are optional fabric covered elastic straps that hug the sides of the arm for extra support, as well as 2 peplum options, one for more fullness, and one for less fullness. The sleeves have a faux placket detail, although you could treat it as a regular placket if you like. THE jacket is fully lined, and I have chosen to close it with button loops, and small fabric covered buttons, but you can close yours however you like. Your imagination is the limit. 

Below are the written sewing instructions, and I also filmed a step by step Youtube video of the entire creation process of this dress which is on the left of this text box! When you make your dress, please tag me! I would love to see what your dress looks like!!

A Few Things to Note:

-The Seam Allowance for this pattern is 1/2” unless otherwise specified.

-This jacket does great with light weight wools, medium weight cottons, or even suiting fabrics.

-You will need interfacing, and I recommend the fusible kind. Find the best weight to compliment your fabric. This will be used in the collar, so you want it to be able to give it the right amount of structure.

-A cutting layout is provided in the downloadable PDF!