Sewing the Style Arc Naomi bomber jacket

Style Arc has been a familiar name on my pattern shelf since I first started sewing seriously. The Perth-based indie company prints their patterns on big, sturdy sheets with proper tissue-paper envelopes, and the Naomi bomber caught my eye because it's one of their more relaxed, modern silhouettes. I'd been on the hunt for a casual zip-up that I could throw over a tee without looking like I was heading to the gym, and the Naomi seemed to fit that brief. Spoiler: it delivered, with a few tweaks along the way.

This post walks through my fabric picks, the construction order I'd suggest for first-timers, the small fit changes I made on my 1.65m frame, and how the finished bomber has slotted into my everyday wardrobe. Hopefully my notes help anyone weighing up whether to give this pattern a go.

First impressions of the Naomi pattern

The Naomi comes in the usual Style Arc sizing block, which is drafted for a B-cup and runs from a size 8 up to a 22. The pattern sheet is printed on one large piece of tissue with a printed layout diagram on the front, and the instruction sheet is a single folded A4 booklet. There are no separate pieces for different cup sizes, so if you usually need a C-cup adjustment, factor that in from the start. Style Arc drafts are known for being quite close-fitting through the shoulders, and the Naomi follows that lead with a clean raglan sleeve line.

The bomber itself is fairly straightforward: a front zip, two-piece raglan sleeves, an optional stand collar or simple crew finish, and a contrast ribbed hem and cuffs. There's no separate lining piece, so you can pick a fabric with a decent right and wrong side without too much fuss. For anyone new to jacket sewing, the lack of lining makes this a brilliant starter project, and you can always add one later if you want extra warmth for a Melbourne winter morning.

Fabric options that work in an Aussie climate

Because the Naomi has no lining, your outer fabric choice really sets the personality of the jacket. Here's how the main options stack up:

Fabric type	Weight	Drape	Warmth	Ease of sewing	Best for
Ponte / scuba	Medium-heavy	Structured	High	Very forgiving	Cooler climates, year-round wear
Cotton sweatshirting	Medium	Soft, holds shape	Medium-high	Easy	Casual everyday bombers
French terry	Medium-light	Slightly drapey	Medium	Easy	Trans-seasonal pieces
Lightweight wool suiting	Light-medium	Crisp	Low-medium	Moderate	Dressier bomber takes
Stretch cotton sateen	Light	Soft drape	Low	Easy	Spring and early summer bombers

I went with a mid-weight ponte from Spotlight's fashion fabric range in a deep bottle green, mostly because I wanted something that would work through a Hobart winter without needing a scarf. Ponte behaves beautifully under a domestic machine and forgives the occasional wonky seam, which matters when you're sewing late on a Sunday arvo.

Cutting, marking and getting prep done

Before I even picked up the scissors, I traced the pattern pieces onto Swedish tracing paper so I could keep the original tissue intact for future sizes. Style Arc includes seam allowances on the pattern, which is one less thing to add, but it does mean you need to be precise about matching notches at the raglan seams. I marked each notch with a short tail of contrasting thread rather than snipping the fabric, since ponte can shift a bit when cut and snips can disappear into the pile.

The zip I used was a chunky 25mm open-end metal zip from Spotlight's haberdashery wall, picked up for about eight Aussie dollars. I shortened it to 55cm by stitching over the teeth at the new length and trimming the excess. For the ribbing at the hem and cuffs, I cut bands from a coordinating cotton-lycra rib knit, making them roughly 80% of the wrist and hip measurements so they would grip without being tight.

Construction walkthrough and order of operations

I started by joining the front and back bodice panels at the side seams, then attached the two-piece raglan sleeves to the front and back. Style Arc's instructions have you sew the sleeve in one continuous seam from cuff to neck, which is lovely and quick once you get past the first one. After the main body was together, I inserted the zip using a centred application, tacking it in first and then stitching down with a zip foot.

The cuffs and hem band go on last, and this is where you want to slow down. Stretch the ribbing slightly as you sew it to the body so it has that characteristic bomber hug once it's on. I also top-stitched the zip line with a slightly longer stitch length for a clean, sporty finish. The whole jacket took me about five hours of sewing time spread across a weekend, which felt reasonable for a first bomber.

Fit adjustments I made

The pattern was drafted with a fairly standard amount of ease, but I found the sleeves sat a touch low on my shoulders. I lifted the entire sleeve cap by 1.5cm before cutting, which gave me a more natural shoulder line without changing the overall silhouette. I also took 2cm out of the body length because I prefer my jackets to sit at my high hip rather than mid-thigh.

For anyone sewing a bomber for the first time and feeling unsure about adjustments, my notes on dartless fit when and how to use it cover some of the principles behind subtle reshaping that doesn't require full bust or waist darts. The Naomi doesn't need a dart anywhere, but the principles transfer across to most knit tops you might want to draft alongside it.

Wearing the Naomi through the week

I've worn this bomber more than I expected to. It goes over a striped tee and jeans for a Saturday morning coffee run in Fitzroy, and it layers nicely under a longer wool coat for those genuinely cold mornings in July. The bottle green colour works back with my wardrobe of mostly cream, navy and rust pieces, and the slight structure of the ponte means I don't have to steam it between wears.

For sewists in the southern states where winter lingers a bit longer, I'd recommend going up a half size if you want to layer a chunky knit underneath. For Queensland or northern NSW sewists, sizing down and using a lighter sweatshirting would give you a piece that bridges autumn and spring without overheating. Swapping fabric weight completely changes how the Naomi reads, and that's a lot of the fun.

Final verdict and sew-again thoughts

Would I sew the Naomi again? Absolutely. It's one of those patterns where the simplicity is the point, and it rewards a careful fabric choice rather than fancy techniques. The Style Arc instructions are sparse but adequate, and the fit is forgiving enough that an intermediate sewist will feel comfortable tackling it as a weekend project.

I have a charcoal grey ponte version on my cutting table already, and I'm considering a third in a wax print cotton for summer evenings. The Naomi has earned a permanent spot in my rotation, and I reckon it'll do the same for anyone who sews it. You'll find more pattern reviews and tutorials over on my sewing page if you want to keep exploring indie designs.