The third garment of my autumn/winter outerwear project, the Wiksten Haori has got to be the fastest sew I’m going to have. I think the Nani Iro Atelier coat looks like a fairly simple affair as well, but the Haori really surprised me, given that it has a lining. Full credit to the instructions, which were crystal clear, with excellent illustrations. This would be an excellent jacket project for a beginner, with a lovely result to boot! I think the sewing took just 2 hours.

The Wiksten Haori jacket has been around for a couple of years now and is a very popular pattern, but just incase you happen to have missed it, I can tell you it’s a lined, reversible casual jacket, with a Japanese influence. It comes in three different lengths and the most important thing you need to know about this jacket is that it’s oversized. Like, a lot oversized. Which is absolutely fine, as long as you know about it. So now I’ve told you.

I size into the Wiksten Haori XL, but made a Medium at the Medium length, and as you can see, it’s not straining at the seams. I originally traced a Large, but then tried on a Medium sample on a recent trip to Blackbird Fabrics and realised just how roomy it was. To be fair, that one was unlined, so had a little more space, but, still, I came home and retraced the Medium. I’m perfectly happy with it, but I think that I would also quite like to try a Large in the long length, for a bit more of the oversized look. I have a thin wool in my stash that I think would do the job nicely.

For this one, I wanted to use a blue/grey chambray that I’ve had hanging about for quite some time (although it clearly reads as totally grey in photos). I had 2.5 yards of it and that did the job, although I would have struggled if I’d wanted to use the chambray for both sides of the collar. The lining fabric is actually a quilting cotton that I absolutely love. It’s the violet colourway of Kasumisou (which apparently is a form of Baby’s Breath) from the Snow Flowers collection from Oka Emi at Cotton and Steel. I think the whole collection is stunning and when I realised this pattern would work with a quilting cotton, I immediately wanted to use this fabric.

I actually intended to make the collar the other way round, so that when I folded it over I would get the matching collar, rather than the contrast fabric, but I sewed it on the wrong way. I asked myself if it bothered me, decided it didn’t and carried on. I actually like wearing it both ways, with the collar both up and down, so in the end it worked out.

I followed the construction as per the instructions and, as I mentioned at the top, it was very straightforward. It’s mostly a matter of sewing straight seams and then pressing them. The “trickiest” part is probably sewing the sleeves, but it’s explained so well, you don’t even think about it. The only thing I did differently was to handstitch the underside of the collar down, which is basically the very last step. You’re instructed to pin and edgestitch, but I wasn’t convinced it would look very neat (at least, not when I did it), so I opted to finish by hand. It really didn’t take very long and it looks lovely.

I also considered adding pockets to the lining side, so that it was 100% reversible, but something made me opt out in the end. Not sure why, but I would probably do it another time. I’ve also seen lots of nice little adaptions where people have redrafted the pocket to fit into the side seams and hem, which also looks rather nice.

Overall, I don’t have too much to add to the plethora of other excellent posts and pics around on the internet about this garment. Take a look at the #wikstenhaori hashtag on Instagram for some seriously dribble-worthy inspiration and see whether this little number tickles your fancy. Also, try and see one in real life if you’re not convinced, as it’s 110% what turned me from “meh” to “hell yes” in one fell swoop.

I hope you’re having a Happy Halloween and will leave you be to enjoy it after this short, but very sweet entry into my wardrobe. I leave you with this Vogue-worthy pose which made my husband snort out loud.