7 Free Crochet Jacket Patterns (XS to 5XL, Linked to Each Designer)

Every free crochet jacket pattern below is a real published pattern with written instructions and a full size range, linked straight to the designer who wrote it. Six of the seven go up to at least 4XL, and between them they cover super bulky one-evening jackets and carefully drafted cropped cardigans.

The thing that decides how a crochet jacket turns out is not the stitch — it is the construction. Seamless side-to-side, five flat panels, or drop-sleeve rectangles each fit differently and take a very different amount of finishing work.

Choosing a size and yarn

Crochet garments are written with intended ease, and ignoring it is the usual reason a finished jacket disappoints. The Riverbed, for example, is drafted with 14 inches of positive ease — pick your normal size and it will swamp you. Check the finished-garment measurement, not the size letter, and make a gauge swatch: on a jacket, a small gauge error becomes several inches across the chest.

1. The Hearth Side Crochet Jacket

The fastest jacket here by a wide margin: Wan at KnitcroAddict works it in super bulky alpaca on a 6 mm hook, almost entirely in single crochet. It is built from five flat panels with the collar added after they are seamed, so there is no shaping to follow while you work — you crochet five rectangles and sew. Sizes XS through XXL, rated easy, with a follow-along video. If you have never made a garment before, start here. Free pattern: The Hearth Side Crochet Jacket.

2. Nova Cardigan

Sarah-Jayne Fragola writes the Nova in nine sizes, XS to 5X, and works it in one piece from side to side with the sleeves and cuffs crocheted directly onto the body — so almost nothing gets seamed. Aran weight (Sirdar Hayfield Bonus Tweed in the sample) on a 5 mm hook, dropping to 4.5 mm for the edging. Rated beginner-friendly, which for a nine-size garment pattern is unusual and genuinely earned. Free pattern: Nova Cardigan.

3. Your Afternoon Walk Cardigan

Janne Kleivset’s cardigan is seamless, worked in rows of back-loop-only half double crochet — which is where the vertical ribbed texture comes from — then joined with a flat slip stitch seam that lies almost invisibly. Pockets and sleeves are worked straight into the piece. Lion Brand Wool-Ease on a 6 mm hook, written for XS to 5XL. Rated intermediate, mostly because of the join rather than the stitchwork. Free pattern: Your Afternoon Walk Cardigan.

4. The Haven Cardi

Ashley at Cactus & Lace works this one in a repeating six-row sequence that mixes extended half double crochet, puff stitches and extended double crochet — so the fabric has real texture without any of the rows being difficult. Made in one piece with minimal seaming, worsted weight on a 6.5 mm hook, sizes XS to 5XL. Budget between 1,100 and 2,100 yards depending on size; it is an oversized cardigan and it eats yarn. Free pattern: The Haven Cardi.

5. The Riverbed Cardigan

Daniela’s cardigan is drafted with 14 inches of positive ease, so it is deliberately oversized rather than accidentally baggy — worth knowing before you pick a size, because choosing your usual one will give you something enormous. The fabric is a repeating cluster-and-chain combination that carries a colour change through it. Worsted weight, Lion Brand Color Theory in the sample, on a 5.5 mm hook. Sizes XS to 4XL. Free pattern: The Beautiful Riverbed Cardigan.

6. Fern Cropped Cardi

The only cropped jacket on the list, and the one with the most careful drafting. Brianna Iaropoli uses short rows in the bottom ribbing so the waistband does not pinch — a detail most free patterns skip and then blame on your gauge. Drop sleeves, minimal shaping, Wool-Ease Recycled worsted on a 5.5 mm hook, sizes XS to 5XL. Rated intermediate. Free pattern: Fern Cropped Cardi.

7. Easy Rectangle Cardigan

Exactly what the name says: five rectangles — a back, two fronts and two sleeves — seamed together, with no shaping anywhere. Delia writes it in DK weight on a 5 mm hook across seven sizes from XXS to XXL. You do need front and back post stitches for the ribbing, so it is not quite a first-ever project, but the construction is the simplest possible way to make a cardigan that fits. Free pattern: Easy Rectangle Cardigan.

The seven patterns compared

Frequently Asked Questions

How much yarn does a crochet jacket take?

Far more than most people expect. The Haven Cardi needs between 1,100 and 2,100 yards depending on size, and the Fern Cropped Cardi between 980 and 2,156 — and that is for a cropped one. Work out your size’s yardage from the pattern before buying, and buy it all in one dye lot.

Which construction is easiest for a first garment?

Flat panels. The Hearth Side jacket is five rectangles and a collar; the Easy Rectangle Cardigan is five rectangles and nothing else. You crochet straight pieces and seam them, so there is no shaping to follow. Seamless side-to-side constructions like the Nova produce a cleaner finish but you have to trust the pattern for longer before the shape becomes visible.

Do I really need to swatch?

For a jacket, yes. A quarter-stitch difference per inch across a 40-inch chest is ten inches of error. Swatch in the stitch pattern the jacket actually uses, not plain double crochet, and measure after blocking — worsted acrylic and wool behave very differently once wet.

Can I make these in plus sizes?

All seven are graded beyond XL and five go to 4XL or 5XL, which is unusually good coverage for free patterns. The Haven Cardi, Fern Cropped Cardi and Your Afternoon Walk all reach 5XL.

Decide the construction first — panels if you want it simple, seamless if you want it neat — then check the finished measurements against your own before you choose a size. Each link goes to the designer’s page with the full size charts and stitch counts.