Refashion Runway 2, Week 4: Leather

To be perfectly honest, when Beth announced one of the Refashion Runway challenges was "Leather", I was a little afraid. Not because I'd never worked with leather and feared the technical aspects. No, that part was actually pretty exciting. But I was worried I wouldn't be able to find a happy medium between dominatrix and cowgirl. You be the judge. Have a look at my results below. Then head on over to the Renegade Seamstress to see how the other competitors faced this challenge and vote for your favorite!

I picked up this simple, A-line, black suede skirt at the thrift shop. The tag claimed it was a size 0, but I was able to get it zipped - albeit not comfortably - and I normally wear a size 8, so I have my doubts. But that's neither here nor there.

My first thought was a leather jacket. I already have a brown one, so a black one would fill out my autumn wardrobe nicely. But there was definitely not enough leather in this skirt for a full jacket. So I supplemented this thrift store find with an extra large long-sleeved tee from my heavier days.

My first step was to carefully pick apart the side seams and down the length of the back. From each of the long narrow panels of the back, I cut out my sleeves.

I set the sleeves aside and used the aforementioned brown leather jacket as a template for the back panel. I made sure to line it up nicely so the existing seams on the skirt would be symmetric on the jacket. And the slight flare in the skirt would help my jacket flare at the hips as well.

From the scraps, I cut two trapezoidal shapes and attached them at the shoulders.

Then I cut two crescent shapes and attached them to the trapezoids.

When I went to top-stitch to the sides of the seams, I discovered that my sewing machine and the suede side of the leather did not get along. It kept skipped stitches, not catching the bobbin thread every time. I had already made a special trip to the craft store for upholstery-grade thread and leather needles, so I didn't really want to go back to buy a walking foot for my machine. These two short seams and the two shoulder seams were the only ones I needed to top-stitch, so I decided to just do so by hand. PSA: Do not try to hand-stitch through leather without a thimble. Just sayin'.

With that out of the way, it was time to attached the sleeves.

Then I sewed up the inside of each sleeve, as well as the tiny little side seam along the edge of the crescent shape.

This concludes the leather portion of our program, with a weird-looking front-less jacket.

To create the fronts of my jacket, I needed to separate the sleeves and body of my tee from its yoke.

Then I cut up the sides of the body, so I had two large rectangles. Each rectangle was attached sideways to one of the side edges of my jacket.

For the collar, I took the two sleeves of the old tee and cut the tops at a slight angle. I turned one inside-out, stuck the other one inside it, and joined them around the circumference.

Once it was turned right-side-out, I had a long tube with a slight crook in the middle.

I pinned and sewed this to my jacket around the back of the neck and down each side of the front knit panels.

And with that, my jacket was complete!

Don't I look totally hardcore in black leather and studded boots? Yeah, you know you're scared.

I can't wait for it to get just a tad cooler here, so I can wear this on the regular.

Hey, what's that on the ground?

As it turns out, photographing details of a black garment - without washing out the pale girl wearing it - can be a bit tricksy.

And now I will leave you with my best flying squirrel impression. You're welcome.

Don't forgot to go vote by Friday, October 18!