Here’s a mild-mannered cyclist who sews and has created a fluoro/reflective jacket using McCalls 7026.

The back view covers my RTW cycling jersey so I won’t be adjusting the jacket length.

What I will be adjusting is the front panel so I can include zippered pockets for future jackets. The pattern has the pockets in the side seam but on a form fitting jacket, side seam pockets makes the side seams gape.

I prefer the pockets at the front and with a zipper, to keep my keys and id intact. I always carry id in case of an accident and I’m the one they need to put in an ambulance to send to hospital. It’s happened in the past and fortunately I regained consciousness fast enough to get off the road.

The yellow fabric is two-way stretch and is a factory off-cut I was given. The print is a Spotlight special I bought. Kirsty of Top Notch used this same print for her Frocktails 14 dress and I loved the texture and flouro-ness of it when I saw her dress in real life. When it was on sale, I bought a few metres to experiment with.

I didn’t use the cuff on sleeve for this version. I was checking the fit of size 12 and I’ll use this size for my Minerva Crafts version next month. The print fabric has no stretch but my Minerva Crafts ponte does so this size will work. I’d certainly go up a size for non-stretch fabrics. 

I do love the effect of the reflective tape.