There are tons of free sewing patterns out there for simple, slouchy jackets, but it can be difficult to find high-quality free sewing patterns for more complex garments. In this post, I round up some of the best free jacket sewing patterns available in two main categories: tailored jackets/blazers and casual jackets.
Tailored Jackets and Blazers
1. Marfy – Marfy 1756
The renowned high-end pattern company Marfy offers free patterns on its website as a way for people to try out their patterns before committing to buying their (somewhat expensive) patterns. Sewists around the world rave about Marfy patterns because of their impeccable drafting and flattering fit. One of the free patterns available on Marfy’s website is for a classic Chanel-style cardigan jacket with patch pockets. (If the link doesn’t work, try going to marfy.it/en/free-sewing-patterns, then selecting the first available pattern.)
A lot of sewists have tried out this pattern and the results have been stunning (you can see some of them here).
This pattern is available in Italian sizes 42-58. Marfy patterns do not come with instructions, but fortunately there are a series of posts on the blog A Challenging Sew that give very detailed instructions (with tons of construction pics!) for Marfy 1756.
2. Avantages Magazine – Tweed Jacket
Avantages Magazine is a French women’s magazine, and their website offers a free pattern for a cute jacket made out of tweed fabric shot through with lurex.
The pattern comes in French sizes 38-46. Unfortunately, the instructions are only available in French, and Google Translate doesn’t do a great job translating the instructions, so you’ll need to know how to sew a basic jacket to work with this pattern.
3. Mood Fabrics – Ercilla Suit
Mood Fabrics, the fabric purveyor of Project Runway fame, offers a ton of free suiting patterns on its website. One free pattern is the Ercilla Suit, a pattern for a classic single-breasted blazer with shawl collar.
The pattern comes in US sizes 0-30. There is a blog post that provides some instructions on how to construct the blazer, but they are not that detailed and they don’t go into the tailoring techniques you’ll need to make the blazer look really crisp. For that, check out my favorite book on tailoring, Tailoring: the Classic Guide to Sewing the Perfect Jacket. That book has step-by-step instructions (with tons of photos) showing how to tailor jackets using fusible or sew-in interfacing.
4. Mood Fabrics – Rosemary Blazer
Mood also offers a free sewing pattern for the Rosemary Blazer, another classic single-breasted blazer, this time with a notched collar. The nipped waist and flared hip give this blazer a silhouette reminiscent of Christian Dior’s “New Look.”
The blog post for this pattern offers pretty detailed instructions with lots of pics, which should be enough to guide advanced beginner or intermediate sewists through the construction of this jacket.
Casual Jackets
5. Mood Fabrics – Hawthorn Jacket
If you’re into athleisure and you want a lightweight jacket that looks like ready-to-wear, check out the free Hawthorn Jacket sewing pattern from Mood Fabrics. This jacket has really interesting seam lines which would look great accentuated with contrast stitching or piping.
You can see the seam lines most clearly in the line drawing:
This pattern comes in US sizes 0-30. The blog post has some instructions and pics that walk you through construction of this jacket and making your own piping.
6. Mood Fabrics – Olive Jacket
Another trend that has been raging for several years now is the classic olive green utility jacket, and Mood Fabrics has a free sewing pattern for that too, in the form of the aptly named Olive Jacket. This jacket features large pockets with flaps and heavy-duty snaps.
This pattern comes in US sizes 0-30. The blog post has some instructions and pics, but note that this pattern is not appropriate for complete beginners, as there are some tricky components to this garment (such as welt pockets and sleeve vents).
7. Fabrics-store.com – Paola Workwear Jacket
Another garment that is very much on-trend right now is the “shacket,” i.e. the shirt/jacket hybrid. You can make your own DIY shacket using Fabrics-store.com’s free Paola Workwear Jacket pattern. If made up in heavyweight flannel, denim, chambray, or linen, this jacket looks just like a heritage work shirt, even though it’s actually fresh off your sewing machine.
This pattern comes in US sizes 0-30. There are detailed step-by-step instructions (with pics!) for this pattern here.
8. Sew Mag – Bomber Jacket
A few years ago, it felt like all of the runways and fast fashion outlets were flooded with luxe bomber jackets made out of satin. If you want to jump on that trend, try sewing a bomber jacket with this free pattern from Sew Mag. This pattern includes all of the trademark characteristics of the bomber jacket: zipper front, gathered, ribbed waistband and cuffed sleeves.
This pattern comes in small, medium and large. There are step-by-step written instructions on the website, but no pictures or video showing the construction steps.
9. Bernina – Blouson Jacket
Sewing machine manufacturer Bernina offers on its website some free sewing patterns that first appeared in Bernina’s Inspiration Magazine. One of these patterns is for a really cute blouson jacket that features ribbed cuffs and waistband, a zipper front and patch pockets. This pattern first appeared in Bernina Inspiration Magazine No. 67.
This pattern comes in European sizes 34-48. Unfortunately, no instructions are available online – for that you need to buy digital access to the issue of Inspiration magazine.
10. Bernina - Denim Jacket
Another sophisticated free jacket pattern available on Bernina’s website is this denim jacket from the March 2020 issue of Bernina Inspiration magazine. The jacket features a boxy fit, cuffs and collar, and the design has very unique seam lines that can be accentuated with contrast topstitching.
This pattern comes in European sizes 34-48. Unfortunately, no instructions are available online – for that you need to buy digital access to the issue of Inspiration magazine.
What do you think: are there other types of jackets that you would like to sew up with free patterns? Let me know in the comments!
