Sunday Sew-Day: Blazers, Part X

You guys really impressed me with your creative suggestions for my Valentine's Day refashion. So what will it be? A bikini? A halter top? A corset? Alas, I was no where near as imaginative as you lot. I took this pink, polka dotted, linen blazer from last fall's clothes swap (I wonder if the same person also brought my clown jacket to the swap?), and I turned it into...

...a blazer! Surprise! Okay, so maybe it's no big transformation or anything, but I felt like this one had some potential as is. It just fell a little short. I like pink. I like polka dots. But this blazer just seemed to have a bit too much of both. Plus, I felt like the patch pockets and boxy style didn't really suit the fun, feminine fabric.

So my first step was to remove the pockets.

Then I cut off the sleeves, as close to the underarm seam as possible, then straight across for a little cap sleeve.

I cut off the collar and the bottom corners, leaving only one button.

With the sleeves cut open, I could access the inside, between the lining and the outer fabric. I flipped the sides inside out and seam-ripped a couple inches of the bottom edge where the two fabrics were attached to one another.

Then I was able to take in a couple inches on each side of both fabrics.

And I resewed the bottom edge afterward.

After a quick trip under the iron, no one's the wiser!

From one of the discarded sleeves, I cut six 1.5-inch wide strips.

Four of the strips were sewn end-to-end and used as a binding around the front and collar edges. I pinned them together with right sides facing.

I ran a line of stitches about 1/4 inch from the edges, then folded and pressed the binding flat.

I folded the binding over toward the inside and pinned again.

Then I stitched "in the ditch" so you can hardly even see it from the outside.

I repeated this process with the remaining two strips to finish off the sleeve edges.

I think removing a lot of extra fabric makes the pattern not quite so overwhelming. Plus, taking in the sides and rounding the corners adds to the femininity.

Oh yeah, and I also picked out those little stitches that keep the back flap together. You know, the ones you're supposed to snip as soon as you get it home from the store, but apparently no one ever did for this jacket. I wonder if the previous owner ever even wore it...