The Reversible, Windbloc, Polar Fleece Jacket

I was freezing! Standing outside at the soccer game, with the wind blowing right through my Gore-Tex jacket and my Polar Fleece pullover. It was clear that I needed something more to keep me warm. A Windbloc Polar Fleece jacket would be just the thing, and if it were reversible, then it would (no doubt) be twice as effective.

I found some reversible, Windbloc, Polar Fleece at our locally-owned fabric store. And on sale, no less. So I bought it and a reversible zipper* to make the jacket.

This was one of those projects where the engineering is more interesting than the sewing. Sort of like conceptual art. Other than the pattern for the basic jacket (front, back and sleeves), there was no pattern and no instructions. I made it up myself. This is how the blue side looks.



And this is how the black side looks.



I wanted both sides of the jacket to be finished, so I could wear it either as a blue jacket or a black jacket. Since Polar Fleece doesn't fray, I decided to lap the seams and then trim off the excess. On the black side, you can see little bits of blue accents along the seams and vice versa for the blue side. I set in the sleeves as usual, using the black as the right side. Then I trimmed off the sleeve seam allowance close to the stitching, and topstitched the body of the jacket over the sleeves, from the black side. Then I trimmed off the excess jacket seam allowance close to the stitching. I faced the neck and the bottom hem and the sleeve hems, sewing the black side of the facing to the blue side of the jacket. Then I trimmed the seams, turned the facing to the black side along the seam line, topstitched it, and trimmed the facing close to the stitching. On the blue side at the hems and armscyes, all you see is the stitching and on the black side you see the facing with the little blue accent line. This is what the overlapped seams look like up close.



I wanted zipper pockets, too. I made secret zipper pockets with polyester lining material, and attached those to patch pockets. Now I have a patch pocket on the outside for gloves and a secret pocket inside the patch pocket for, well, secret things. I didn't want too much bulk, so I only put pockets on the left side of each front.



Making this jacket was easier because I got to use one of my newest toys--Gingher duck-billed applique scissors. I got them at the JoAnn's Black Friday sale--50% off plus another 10% off with coupon. Still not cheap, but I love them. They are sharp! I'm amazed at how dull all my other scissors must be, compared to the new ones.



Hints:
*Reversible zipper--The slider has a pull that can flip over the top so you can pull it from either side.
I used both blue and black thread, changing the bobbin and the thread on the top so it would match what I was sewing. Most often I used one color in the top and the other color in the bobbin.
I am not crazy about universal needles, but I used one on this jacket. It worked well.
I lengthened my stitch to 3.5, instead of the 2.5 default on my machine.