I’ve been adding a bunch of boxy pieces to my handmade wardrobe lately, all while not wanting to look pregnant and being a little ambivalent about the style. I saw the Luna Jacket bobbing around in the Instagram sewing community during Me Made May, but it took a while for me to decide to give it a try because of that familiar, boxy silhouette.

One of the things that won me over is that the shape reminds me of an 18th century European bedgown. It felt like a natural stop on my foray into historical costuming.

In case you’re curious but don’t feel like searching, here’s a photo of a bedgown (if you click the image, it will take you to the site where I found it, which has a brief history and some neat photos of this clothing of the past):

The pattern has three variations, one with a neck band, side ties, and pockets, one with a lining, and a simple version with just the neck band. I used Papercut Patterns Tutorial for adding a lining to the neck band version, and threw in the ties and the pockets. Others who have made the jacket have universally mentioned it being oversized, so I made the smallest size, which is one size smaller than my measurements called for.

The tutorial said interfacing was optional, so I skipped it. If I had to do it again, I would still have skipped the interfacing on the pockets, but would have added it to the neckband to keep it looking a little crisper.I lengthened the jacket by four inches. This would make for a tight fit on two yards of fabric, so I considered a sleeveless version. I’m still thinking about it for a future make, but I ended up having enough fabric to get the sleeves in even with the lengthening (I had to hack the neckline as a result – there wasn’t enough fabric for the lengthened neck band pieces. I added a small section to the center back of the original neck band, which basically lines up with the shoulder seams and isn’t very noticeable).

The jacket is a red and black flannel on the outside. I’m not usually a red girl (except when it comes to Swedish Fish), but this flannel is a subtle color that looks like a dark red, but has a pattern up close, and I love the way it looks. I used sand washed rayon for the lining. The rayon was left over from the very generous yardage suggestion for the Arenite pants I made. I didn’t end up loving the original grey color of the fabric, so I used RIT dye to change it to a rusty faded red, which I like better.

Before the dye job, I corresponded with someone from RIT to get the color right. They requested I send photos of the items I was dying and an image of the color I wanted, and their advice was super helpful and gave me the color I was looking for. I ended up using the dye mixture for several projects, reusing the dye pot over and over. Super satisfying. The different items I dyed, as well as serial use of the dye pot, gave me a great variety of shades of red, all in the color family I was hoping for.

The new color of the rayon matched the flannel I was using for the outer layer of the jacket. Because the fabric was already a tie dye color and I used a smallish dye pot, the color came out mottled, which you can see in some of the pics below. I am a sucker for tie dye, so I was pleased with how it turned out.

I lined the pockets, cutting two pocket pieces from each of my fabrics, sewing them together on three sides, turning them right side out, and folding over the top of the outside fabric for the pocket’s opening. I lowered the pockets about 2 inches from what the pattern called for. I hand sewed the sleeve hems, the ends of the ties, the area around the slits on the bottom hem.For the inside finishes between the layers of the front and the back, which you can’t see, I did a combination of French seams, rayon seam binding tape, and leaving edges raw. I also threw in some zig zag stitching. None of the methods really came out on top for me. Of all the tedious sewing tasks, I’ve come around to hand sewing and ironing, but finishing edges, especially before I start constructing a garment, is probably my least favorite task. Plus, looking back, since the whole thing is lined, I could have skipped finishing the edges altogether, but hey, what’s done is done.

With all the ties in place, you can tie it closed on either side. I wish I’d thought to put a tie on the inside to tie the underneath layer of the front of the jacket, so it wouldn’t bunch in the front when it’s tied with the front panels overlapping. Two years later, I finally rectified this and seam ripped a tiny hole through the lining to pull the tie inside the jacket. Each side took just a couple of minutes, and now I can wrap myself up like a burrito and the tortilla shell won’t sag, so to speak. And there are no longer double ties hanging on the outside of the jacket.

When I look at photos of the jacket, I think to myself, it’s not terribly flattering. It is incredibly warm and comfortable, though. While I didn’t intend it to be reversible, with the careful finishing, it is. And I like both sides equally well.It was a cold, wet, miserable day the day Three took these photos, and I was grateful to have finished the jacket in time to wear it because it was perfect for the weather. The sleeves are the right length for getting things done without getting stuff on your clothes, but still keeping your upper arms warm.

My jacket is super wrinkled in these photos because after less than a day of wear, speaking of getting stuff on your clothes, my two-year-old got something on my jacket and I had to wash it. I dried it on the drying rack and declined to iron it. I probably could have fluffed it in the dryer a bit, but the flannel I’ve bought for projects in the past tended to pill pretty quickly. This is a different brand than I’ve tried before (and I think it’s a little nicer), but I’d like to go easy on it and hopefully enjoy this jacket in its current, soft form for as long as possible.

I wore the Luna Jacket with my Metamorphic dress in India Cotton, and I’m quite pleased with how the dress transitioned with me into cooler weather, considering it was my go-to outfit on the hottest days this past summer.