One of my sewing goals for the past year has been to do more hand sewing, which is how I found myself making hexagons out of all my linen scraps one summer evening. My initial plan was to simply assemble the hexagons into a quilt. However, as I made more and more of them, I started to get attached to the idea of building them into a wearable project—a patchwork bomber jacket, to be more specific.

The hexagons are made by folding the edges of a fabric circle to meet the center and securing the folds into place with a few stitches. I find this technique clever, so I wanted to construct the entire jacket around it and stay as loyal to it as possible. This meant that I would make up the pattern pieces that were required for the jacket using full and partial hexagons, rather than assembling the hexagons into a large rectangle of patchwork fabric and cutting the pattern pieces out of it.

This project was one of the most time- and labor-intensive special garments I’ve created and I adore how it turned out. All the fabrics come from remnants, scraps, and past projects that were no longer being worn, so I feel like this is a perfect display of my sewing adventures. Plus, the entire piece is made of hexagons, often referred to as hexies. I love their modular design. The garment is infinitely repairable, too. If you get a stain or a tear across any hexagon, you can easily swap it out for a fresh one. The modular pieces also enable you to lengthen or shorten the sleeves or the body…