Summer Sun Jacket

We moved! Our new place is in Harlem, which means I can walk to work. This is wonderful, but as the season moves towards summer and the sun gets brighter, the half hour walk home turns me a bit pink. I’ve started reapplying sunscreen before I leave work, but I prefer to just cover up with wide brimmed hats. Unfortunately, a lot of my dresses don’t have sleeves and I need something to cover my shoulders. So I made this very lightweight summer sun jacket.

I’ve seen similar lightweight outer garments referred to as kimonos, but this really isn’t shaped like a kimono. It’s a trapazoid, with triangular sleeves that come to a point at the wrists. It is a simple thing to make, with two straight seams and a bit of finishing. I added pleats and little shell shirt buttons at the point of the sleeves, but without that decoration it would have taken about 15 minutes to sew. If you need something to cover your shoulders and have a nice airy piece of fabric, I highly recommend making one. To do so, you will need 2/3 of a yard (24″) of 60″ wide fabric.

1. Finish all edges by folding over 1/4″, ironing flat, folding the edge again, ironing, and sewing down (as you would for a hem).
2. Put the fabric on a flat surface, right side up, and fold a triangle at each side, so both short edges of the fabric lie along one of the long edges.
3. Beginning 8″ from the point, sew the edges together on each side.
4. (optional) Gather or pleat the outer two inches of arm seam on each side.