The Hooded Overshirt

The development for this pattern started in the winter months. I was thinking of a warm large overshirt, that could just be thrown on, to wear over thick tights or jeans. However, in the initial sampling process I had run out of shirt weight calico and made one of the toiles in a lighter weight gauzy calico; this is when it struck me that this style would look great as a beach cover-up and so would work all year round.

The garments you see here are the summer versions both in linen, the white one is much finer than the blue.

The pockets are a key feature of this garment and to make the most of them I included pocket flaps. For the lower pockets I decided upon bellows pockets. These are more complicated to sew, but the trick is precision cutting and to keep the needle in the down position when turning the corner. Of course if bellows pockets aren't for you, just omit the insert for simpler patch pockets. 

This style really suits a hood. I tried alternative collars but the essence of the garment was lost. It’s a simple two-piece hood with tape covering the back and neck seams, then finished with a drawstring.

I kept the fastening of the front placket understated, with hidden fastenings. On the lightweight white linen I used Velcro.

For the blue garment I attached the buttons to the underside of the top placket with the buttonholes on the other placket, so the buttons fasten on the inside.

Finally, the hem is curved. Curved hems have been out of style for some time, but now they just seem right again. I pressed the bias tape to the shape of the hem before attaching; this made it much easier to get a neat, flat curve.

The finished garment can also be top stitched as shown on this blue Hooded Overshirt.