Rae Cumbie and Carrie Emerson are hoping they’ve found the secret to attracting quilters to garment sewing and vice-versa—attracting garment sewers to quilting. The duo, who founded Fit for Art Patterns, discuss their efforts and their latest book, Sewing Quilted Patchwork Jackets (Landauer, 2024), in this episode of Sewing With Threads.

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The publisher gave Rae and Carrie just 8 months to create the 10 garments that are explained in the book. “It was really a fun experience, and we are so pleased with the product,” Rae tells Threads Editor Carol J. Fresia.

How-to Book for All Sewists

 

The book, intended for all ages and level of sewist, includes a pattern from which you can make six adult jackets and four children’s jackets. The projects build on each other. They start with a simple whole-cloth quilted version, move on to pieced jackets with precut fabrics, then build on those skills with jackets incorporating more complex patchwork and garment sewing techniques, Carrie says.

You’ll notice, for example, the jackets have a simple free-hanging lining, a more challenging quilted lining, or are reversible, which is the most challenging, Rae says.

“We hope that people, once they’ve mastered the basic skills, will be able to go on to mix and match a lot of the techniques,” Carrie says. “We can’t wait to see what people will do with all the skills we are giving them in the book.”

Rae and Carrie invite all to post their creations and see more quilted jacket inspiration on their Instagram #sewingquiltedpatchworkjackets.

“Neither Rae nor I are super-sophisticated quilters, and I can’t wait to see somebody who has done awarding-winning quilts make a quilted jacket and what they can do with it,” Carrie says. “Please bring it on.”

More Information on Sewing Quilted Jackets

Because Rae and Carrie couldn’t squeeze all the information they wanted to in their book, they’ll be sharing more tips in blog posts about each project. Keep an eye out for those at Fit For Art Patterns.

Listen in for more for on sewing quilted jackets, a trending style. Rae and Carrie talk about their favorite fabrics and batting to use when making a quilted jacket, preferred piecing style, their favorite projects in the book, how to launder quilted jackets, and even their opinions on free-motion quilting.

Rae Cumbie’s Articles

See some of Rae’s past articles:

“Make a Boro-Stitched Jacket” Threads #228, Winter 2024

“Make a Mixed-Print Jacket with a Squared Armhole” Threads #199, Oct./Nov. 2018

“Use a Stitch Regulator for Free-Motion Stitching on Garments” Threads #189, Feb./March 2017

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This episode’s sponsor

Join us on an exclusive trip to London in May 2025. Highlights of this tour are a glove-making master class, an embroidery workshop at Hand & Lock, a visit to a renowned theatrical costume house, and a guided tour of Savile Row. We’ll also visit specialty fabric shops—and enjoy afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason. To find out more, go to ThreadsMagazine.com.