Friday, January 30, 2015

January MAGAM project done! A little Refashioned Denim Jacket

I 'sweatshopped' myself to get this little jacket (Simplicity 1688) done before the end of this month! I am quite happy with the final result. I didn't take a lot of pictures in progress because I was rushing to get it done This is a summary of my journey with this jacket:

1. I cut open the inseams of the heavy weight blue denim jeans that my hubby gave me. I laid the pant legs flat and laid the pattern pieces on them. It became apparent very quickly that one pair of jeans was not going to be enough even for just the body of the jacket. Fortunately hubby gave me another pair o f blue jeans but it was of a medium weight denim. Both jeans were very worn, stretched (bum and knee areas), and have holes in them. I laid out the second pair of jeans and cut out all the required pattern pieces in both the lengthwise and crosswise grain to economize on fabric.

2. For the lining, I used a thrifted cotton shawl I had in my stash. It has a lovely print and I thought it would make a good lining.

3. For the sleeves, I chose the sleeves for View A because I thought I would look too broad in the body if I have even more wide stripes on the sleeves. The sleeves have the original topstitched side seams of the men's jeans, as well as the hole on the knee. I didn't patch the hole mainly because I'm lazy and because I wanted to retain the original 'charm' of the jeans.

4. I added 2 inches to the lowest band of the jacket. Also, i added a curved centre back seam to fit my body a bit better.

5. I bound the edges of the jacket with some denim binding I already have in my stash.

Here is the final product (I messed up the binding near the neck so please ignore that! ;-):


Here is the fun lining inside:


Here is how the jacket look on me:


Here is the back (you can see the stripes don't match up too well here. Ooops!):


You can see my review of this pattern on PatternReview.com.

I can't wait to wear this when the weather is a bit warmer!

13 comments:

  1. I love refashioned projects and yours is so cute!

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    1. Thanks Beverly! I try to refashion as much as possible because people just keep giving me their old clothing and I have a few big sacks of stuff to be refashioned in my sewing room (taking up too much space)!

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    2. Hi, I am a first time visitor to your blog and I must say you are doing a great job! Lovely little jacket! Looking forward to the next project.....

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    3. Welcome Therese! And thanks for your comment! I hope I'll get a lot of wear out of this jacket when it gets warmer!

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  2. You are inspiring me to think about what I can refashion out of my husbands old bits and pieces :)

    I love this little jacket - it's going to be such fun to wear - and clothes like this do get worn because there is no fear of ruining them :)

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    1. Thanks Sarah Liz! I have more worn and torn denim left in my to-be-refashioned stash so I'll have to come up with other ideas to make them useful.

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  3. This is amazing! A useful and designer item from something as in abundance as jeans. Makes me want to incorporate patterns more. Look forward to see more of your refashions!

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  4. This is amazing! A useful and designer item from something as in abundance as jeans. Makes me want to incorporate patterns more. Look forward to see more of your refashions!

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    1. Thanks RenataLaura! I'm happy to be able to use these old, worn, stretched out jeans for something useful!

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  5. Love this cute jacket and you did a fantastic job of denim splicing/re-fashioning!

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    1. Thanks Lisa! I got lots of denim to be refashioned so I have to think of some new ways to use them!

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