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!