How to Make a Quilted Jacket in 2 Easy Ways

Looking for the perfect beginner’s quilting project? Using a couple of “cheater” methods, Spoonflower Ambassador Meg Fleshman of MEGMADE Sewing will show you how to create a gorgeous quilted jacket in no time at all thanks to special designs from the Spoonflower Marketplace.

Meg: Quilted jackets have been trending for a couple years and it doesn’t look like they’ll be going anywhere any time soon. They are a great vehicle for fun fabrics and colors and have quickly become one of my favorite garments to sew. I’ve used Spoonflower products in two different ways to create two jackets featuring motifs and colors that are quintessentially Meg. Read on for two methods for sewing your own quicker quilted jacket, plus my fave tools for quilted jacket success! 

You can make a “cheater quilt” jacket two ways: using Fill-A-Yard® with a collection of designs or checking out the patchwork designs already available in the Marketplace.

The Fill-A-Yard method will result in a simple square pattern filled with all of your favorite designs. The basic layout would also allow more intricate quilting designs to shine. For more unique quilting or patchwork, the Marketplace is full of designs featuring scallops, hexies, starbursts and scrappy patterns. 

(Note: This post mentions Petal Signature Cotton^® Solids, which we sunset in June 2023. However, your projects will work perfectly with Petal Signature Cotton—it’s the exact same fabric and can be printed with any Spoonflower Marketplace design! Solid color designs can be found in the Marketplace by searching for the color name and the word ‘solid’ with it, like this search for solid pink designs.

Instead of cutting out a few small shapes with a lot of fabric left over, Fill-A-Yard allows you to print multiple designs all on one cut of fabric, ready for quilting.

If you’re not quite ready to go full quilting, the “cheater quilt” method is a great way to dip your toe into something new and still get the quilted jacket look. 

Using Fill-A-Yard or patchwork Marketplace designs cuts out the quilt piecing so you’re one step closer to a beautiful quilted jacket. (If you’re not sure what Fill-A-Yard is, you can learn all about how this helpful tool can help you in your fabric projects in our Fill-A-Yard Guide.)

To make a jacket using Fill-A-Yard, begin by creating a collection of favorite designs from the Marketplace. If you haven’t made a collection before, Spoonflower explains how to do it here. It’s probably no surprise that I made a collection of pink designs for my quilted jacket!

Once you have a handful of designs collected, open up the collection and click the “Start Designing” button in the Fill-A-Yard bar at the top of the collection. First you’ll choose the Fill-A-Yard layout you’d like to use. I recommend the 2-yard (up to 48 designs) option. For maximum yardage, choose a wider woven fabric like Cotton Lawn, Organic Sweet Pea Gauze™️ or Organic Cotton Sateen.

Next, you’ll fill in the cheater quilt template with the designs from your collection. Fill-A-Yard is neat because you can control the layout and place each Marketplace design exactly where you’d like it. Feel free to create a special layout with repeating designs or even fill each square with a unique design!

Once all template squares are filled the finished product can be added to your cart. Don’t forget to pick a coordinating design for the jacket lining! Petal Signature Cotton Solids make great bias tape for finishing your one of a kind quilted jacket.

The second option is to search the Spoonflower Marketplace for a patchwork or quilt design. I’ve created a collection of favorite patchwork designs from there, but to find your own try searching for “patchwork,” “quilt,” “hexies” or “scrappy.” For my second jacket I went with a scrappy design for a more freeform look. I love this Scrappy Large Fabric design by bridgettstahlman–it’s full of fun colors and patterns and looks beautiful with a cream bias binding made with Petal Solids in Natural.

Now that you’ve picked out a patchwork design from the Spoonflower Marketplace or created a custom Fill-A-Yard quilt layout, here are my top three tools for quilted jacket sewing success!

For beautiful, crisply pressed bias tape, I like to use a simple spray made of one part distilled water and 1 part vodka. This is an economical, non-aerosol option that has given me the best results when I’ve needed a little starch. 

I’ve used the widely available metal bias tape makers, and I find that my set of 3D printed bias tape makers produce a neater bias tape with less hassle. You can find 3D printed bias tape makers on Etsy. 

This spray-and-fix adhesive is a lifesaver when sandwiching lining fabric, batting and outer fabric for quilts and quilted apparel. It holds the layers in place so nothing shifts or puckers while quilting and it won’t gum up your sewing machine needle. I find it especially helpful when having to finagle fabric to quilt on a home sewing machine. Generally speaking I don’t use any aerosol products (hence the homemade vodka spray), but this product is my one and only exception. A little goes a long way and one can has lasted through four quilted jackets and several lingerie projects (for basting tulle and lace).

Thanks for checking out my jackets! I loved making these with Spoonflower and hope you enjoyed them as well. If you make a quilted jacket using Fill-A-Yard or a patchwork Marketplace design, make sure to tag them with #spoonflower and #megmadesewing when sharing on social media—I’d love to see your beautiful work!