Sunday, January 24, 2016

Totally Rad

Last week's denim and lace project got me thinking about another denim jacket patiently waiting in my refashion closet for its turn to shine. This vintage Levi's jacket from last autumn's clothes swap was in pretty good condition other than the dirty and damaged collar. The sleeves were also a little baggier than I would have liked.

Denim & Leather Jacket - BeforeDenim & Leather Jacket - Before

I started brainstorming about how I could replace the collar and sleeves while salvaging the body of the jacket, and then it hit me. Leather! So I pulled out this long black leather skirt from last spring's clothes swap and set about recreating a Veda X Madewell jacket I saw on Pinterest.

2015 Spring Clothes Swap Haul

Step one was removal of the old denim sleeves. I carefully snipped them off as close to the shoulder seams as possible. Then I cut one sleeve open and used it as a template to cut out the leather. I lined them up with the original skirt hem so that could be used as the new sleeve hems.

Denim & Leather Jacket - In ProgressDenim & Leather Jacket - In Progress

I folded each sleeve with right sides together and seamed up the under side of the arm.

Denim & Leather Jacket - In Progress

Then I attached the sleeves to the body by pinning them to the inside of the armholes and sewing on top of the existing stitches. Once the sleeves were attached, I tried on the jacket and took in the sleeves to be a bit more fitted.

Denim & Leather Jacket - In ProgressDenim & Leather Jacket - In Progress

After that it was time to replace the collar. First, I ripped out the stitches holding it to the body of the jacket. Then, like the sleeves, I used this piece as a pattern to cut the new collar.

Denim & Leather Jacket - In ProgressDenim & Leather Jacket - In Progress

It was really only the top layer of the collar that was damaged, so I cut that part off and joined the leather piece to the under layer of denim.

Denim & Leather Jacket - In ProgressDenim & Leather Jacket - In Progress

I snipped the corners off the ends of the leather piece to reduce the bulk for the next step. Then I folded the leather over and top-stitched around the sides and top edge.

Denim & Leather Jacket - In ProgressDenim & Leather Jacket - In Progress

Finally, I reattached the collar to the jacket. I was worried about the seam being too bulky for my sewing machine, so I didn't worry about folding over the leather since it would be on the inside anyway. I simply trimmed off the excess leather when I was done.

Denim & Leather Jacket - In Progress

This is my new favorite jacket. I've already worn it at least three times. Love it!

Denim & Leather Jacket - After

Denim & Leather Jacket - AfterDenim & Leather Jacket - After

Denim & Leather Jacket - After

Denim & Leather Jacket - After

Denim & Leather Jacket - After

Denim & Leather Jacket - After

13 comments:

  1. Very Interesting ! I like the visible seam lines on the sleeves.

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    1. I like them too, which is good since they were pretty much unavoidable!

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  2. Collars are always the first to go, specially on shirts. This opens a new world of possibilities.

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    1. Indeed it does! Just keep in mind, if you replace worn out shirt collars with leather, they'll have to be dry cleaned in the future.

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  3. I like yours better than the inspiration due to the lighter wash of your denim. Higher contrast! :o) And how serendipitous that the seaming on the skirt translated over to the visible seams on the sleeves so like the inspiration!
    JJ

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    1. Thanks, JJ! At first, I wasn't sure I would like the seams all over the sleeves, but I think it gives it just a little something extra.

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  4. Such inspiration and possibilities!!! Love this.

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