Sonny Jacket - Pattern Review - Tilly & The Buttons

PATTERN BASICS: The Sonny Jacket is pattern number 1043 from Tilly & The Buttons – an independent pattern company founded by Tilly Walnes who was a contestant on Series One of The Great British Sewing Bee.  It comes in printed and PDF format and is an everyday jacket with a boxy fit and multiple style options.  It’s intended for medium to heavy weight fabrics that hold their shape like corduroy, denim, twill and canvas and has a size range of one to 15.

MY VERSION: I’ve made two versions of this pattern, both in a size three.  (My measurements for reference are:  bust 34”, waist 28” and hip 36”.). I made the cropped length version and it fit me really well with no adjustments.  I used the classic collar and sewed the front pockets on one of my versions and left them off the other.  My first jacket was actually an upcycling project which I talk more about in another blog post here.  I used some camel-coloured polyester wool that I had salvaged from an old coat which I didn’t wear anymore and was really pleased to be able to re-purpose it as a Sonny jacket.  My second version was made from some forest green needlecord from Fine Fabrics of Harrogate.  It was fairly lightweight with a small amount of stretch and I interlined it with calico to give it some more structure.  I also lined this second one using the separate lining pattern which you can buy in addition to the main pattern.

FIT AND SIZING:  I was pleased with the fit of this jacket.  Normally with Tilly & The Buttons patterns, I need to make an adjustment or two but that tends to be around the hip area.  As this jacket (the cropped length at least) ends around the top of my hips, it worked out well.  It definitely has a boxy feel it to and is not at all fitted around the waist / hip area.  The sleeve seam sits just below my shoulder which is how its intended to fit  according to the pattern pictures and this gives it a relaxed feel and the sleeve length was perfect for me.  It looks nice and casual un-buttoned and also quite smart if worn buttoned up.  I think I was quite lucky in terms of fit but fit areas to watch out for would be:

• Grading between sizes on the bodice pattern pieces if you fall between size ranges

• Length of the bodice

• Sleeve length

• Sleeve circumference

INSTRUCTIONS / DRAFTING:  Overall the clarity of the instructions on Tilly and The Buttons patterns is great.  They are very beginner friendly and walk you through the process of constructing the jacket step by step with clear photographs which are helpful.  There is a glossary at the start of the instruction booklet with sewing terms that you might not be familiar with if you haven’t done much dressmaking and useful paragraphs on how to prepare your pattern and fabric.

With the unlined version, there are surprisingly few steps and the jacket comes together quickly. If you are making the lined version, you need to combine two sets of instructions (the actual jacket pattern and the separate lining pattern instructions) and I found that there was a slight confusion between those in terms of when to insert the sleeves.  I talk a bit more about that in my Sonny Jacket Sew-Along on YouTube here at 32.57.  But it wasn’t enough to really put me off track.  If I’m being really picky there was also a very small typo in the instructions on seam allowance to be used on the facing.  It says to sew up the front facing with 5/8ths, around the neckline with 3/8ths and then it should say back down the facing with 5/8ths but it says 3/8^ths.  So just one to watch out for.

CONSTRUCTION AND SEWING EXPERIENCE:  Tilly markets this as a sewing pattern for confident beginners and I think that’s fairly accurate.  There is nothing really tricky in the construction process but you do need to be familiar with dressmaking terminology and have at least a few patterns under your belt before you attempt this one.  There are plenty of tips and tutorials on Tilly’s website which are helpful.  I always find it hard to estimate the time patterns take me to sew because I rarely sit down and sew anything in one go.  I’m usually grabbing bits of time here and there.  If I were to find a bit chunk of time to sew this together, I would say perhaps a day / a day and a half?  I do like to take my time with sewing and try not to race through things so I might take longer than the average person.

FINISHED GARMENT:  I’m really happy with both of my Sonny Jackets.  I’m not getting a great deal of wear out of them at the moment because its so cold and wet here in the UK at present but in a couple of months, I hope I will be wearing them on repeat as the weather improves.

To sum up, Sonny is a great little jacket pattern which I would recommend.  The various style options mean that you could make several different jackets from the one pattern which gives you value for money.  The only thing I would change would be to include the lining as part of the overall pattern, as I slightly resented having to pay extra for it but I do understand why its structured in that way.

Let me know in the comments if you have sewn up a Sonny Jacket.  What fabric did you use and which style options did you go for?