Replace the Back of a Denim Jacket

 Hello Readers. This white denim jacket seemed perfect. It was soft and broken in a bit. It was the right size and it was a bargain at a neighbors yard sale. My friend E bought it and took it home and realized it had 2 large unicorns on it. The unicorns were attached with all the power of the universe it seemed. She was not loving the unicorns so... let's fix that by replacing the back of the jacket. 

Old jacket-new back panel.

Someone decorated this jacket with a couple unicorn patches and they were the most secure patches I have ever seen in my sewing career. I thought I could just remove them but I was wrong.

 

I worked on removing these patches for a while and it wasn't going well at all. There was some kind of adhesive as well as stitching and I could not remove it. 

 

After a while I had to give up. I moved on to Plan B because this was messy and sloppy looking. I never like to give up so if things don't work out the first time, there is always a Plan B.

 

 I decided to cut the back of the jacket out. I cut out the three back panels and shoulder/neck panel. You can see my cutting expertise here. I used my sharp scissors to get a clean cut edge. I cut out the fabric inside the seams, leaving the seams in place to keep the structure of the jacket intact.

 

This fabric was in my stash and it was very close to the weight and feel of the white denim. I pressed it nice and flat with a hot iron. I wanted it to be a smooth as possible before I cut it. 

 

I used the piece I cut of the jacket to cut out a new jacket back. I cut around the white denim piece and added about 1/4 inch all around the piece. That would give me enough room to sew it to the jacket. I did not want a big seam allowance because I didn't want to change the size of the jacket at all. 

 

Now I had a piece of the new fabric that was exact shape of the old back of the jacket. I could sew it into the jacket and it would fit right in. 

 

I used my serger to sew all the way around the piece to prevent fraying. If you do not have a serger that is OK. People sewed without sergers for decades. I also sewed without a serger for decades, you can too. Use a zigzag stitch on the edges to prevent the edges from fraying. It will work out just fine. 

 

I pinned the new piece into the jacket. You can see the blue pins here. This would hep keep everything in place while I sewed. 

 

I pinned all around the new piece for the jacket. I did stab myself with a pin, but I persevered.

 

I stitched the edges all around to sew it into the jacket. I tucked the new piece inside the opening I cut from the jacket and sewed right on the edge of the jacket seam with a small zigzag stitch to cover the cut edge of the jacket. It was easy to use the edge of the jacket as a guide for where my stitches should be. 

 

I stitched on the outside of the jacket so I could see where the edges of the jacket and the new back piece overlapped. I wanted to make sure the new piece was tucked into the jacket neatly.

 

The piece I cut out fit into the jacket well. The jacket came together quickly and easily. I liked how the new fabric looked too. 

 

I tried to make the design of the fabric well centered in the jacket, you might not have a design or pattern in your fabric to worry about, a solid block of contrasting color would be fun too. Use whatever fabric you like. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Leaf Jacket

 Hello Readers. I love fall and I was feeling the fall weather and I decided to make a jacket with a fall theme. I wanted fall colors and fall vibes. Let me show you what I put together. 

Feeling those fall vibes yet? 

I found these two fall place mats at a thrift store a few weeks ago. I loved the colors and I had this jacket idea. I could tell that the place mats were quilted cotton, so I knew I could sew through them. (I don't think this would work with plastic place mats.) The place mats were only $1 each so it was not a huge investment. 

 

I already had this denim jacket. I knew I wanted to do something on the back of the jacket. The place mats were mostly orange on one side and had a ore golden paisley pattern on the other side. I went with the orange side for this project but the other side would work too. 

 

I have had this leaf shaped dish (Similar size dish here.) for years but another object or stencil you can trace would work. Use whatever you like. My leaf dish fit in my place mat so I knew it would work for my plan.

 

I flipped the dish upside down so that I could trace it easier. I used a marker so it would show for this photo but you can use chalk or a pencil that will wash out later if you prefer. I just traced all the way around the leaf. 

 

I cut out the leaf shape from the place mat with sharp fabric shears that could cut through the thick quilted fabric easily. My place mats were really heavy weight and not easy to cut. I just took my time and cut around the leaf shape slowly. 

 

I pinned the leaf shape to my jacket with a lot of pins. (Similar here.) I needed it to be held in place as I sewed it to the denim. I placed my leaf on its side a bit. That way it looked a little like a falling leaf. 

 

I went to my sewing machine. I used matching pumpkin orange thread and I set my machine for a zigzag stitch. I wanted to sew all the way around the leaf. Using a zigzag stitch that went back and forth across the cut edge of the leaf to cover the edge with the stitching. 

 

I sewed around the leaf twice. I did that to make it secure and also to cover the edge better. You can see some of the white quilt batting showing around my leaf. When I sewed around the edge the second time, it hid that white at the edge better. I liked having a very heavily stitched border around the leaf. It doesn't have to be perfect, don't stress about it too much. This isn't the Mars Rover, it's just a fun jacket. 

 

Here is my finished jacket. The leaf is a fun pop of orange. I liked how it fit on the back of the jacket and the color was perfect for fall. 

 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. Maybe you can make a fun jacket too. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add A Quilt Piece to a Jacket

 Hello Readers. I liked this magenta jacket a lot. It was so bright and cheerful. It was very simple and plain so it was great for a refashion project. I wanted to add a little more fun
and thought I could remove the back of the jacket and add a different fabric. 

I had a piece of quilt with some shades of pink in it. I thought it would be a great combination if I put the jacket and the quilt together.

This magenta denim jacket had an oversized fit but any denim jacket you have would work for this project. 

I put the jacket on my sewing table and cut the back panel out of the jacket. I used sharp scissors and cut close to the seams of the center panel. I did not cut or remove any of the seams. The seams gave me a "frame" to work with. The center back panel has thick seams on all 4 sides and they will be a guide for our project. I took out a rectangular piece of fabric and I am going to replace it with something else.

I used the piece I cut from the jacket as the "pattern" for the quilt piece. I cut the quilt piece 1/2 an inch larger on all 4 sides than the magenta piece. I will need that little extra for my new seams. The quilt was easy to work with but you could use a different fabric if you want. The cutting and sewing steps would be the same. If you use a knit or stretch fabric it can stretch as you work with it. A woven/non-stretch is easier to handle while sewing.

 

I used my serger to stitch around the edge of the quilt piece to keep it from fraying. You could also use a zigzag stitch around the edge as well. This will be inside the jacket and no one will see it, but I don't want the edges to fray over time.

 

I pinned the quilt piece to the jacket. The quilt piece is inside the jacket. I used a lot of pins so that the 2 pieces of fabric wouldn't shift around while I sew. 

 

I used my sewing machine to attach the jacket to the quilt piece. I used a wide zigzag and matching thread to stitch and sewed right over the cut edge of the jacket. I did my sewing on the outside of the jacket. I stitched twice around the rectangular hole that I had cut out of the jacket. I wanted it to be sewn in really securely and I wanted to cover the cut edge of the jacket so it wouldn't fray later. 

 

You can see the zigzag stitches on the inside of the jacket. It is sewn in place all around on all 4 sides. My fabric shifted a bit but because I had that 1/2 inch extra for the seams, it still turned out OK and looks great from the outside.

 

The quilt piece adds some fun to the jacket. I liked how it turned out. This quilt is modern from a store but if you have a damaged old quilt, you could use a small piece that isn't damaged. That would be a fun way to save a piece of a sentimental quilt you have. 

 

You can grab a denim jacket and add something fun and colorful to the back easily. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Year End Update***- This jacket was so easy to make ant it is such a fun look.
 

 

 

 

 

Distressing a Denim Jacket

 Hello Readers. I got this jacket as a hand-me-down and liked the classic style. I decided to do some distressing and have some fun with it. This is an easy no-sew refashion that only requires scissors.

Before and after. 

I tried my jacket on and decided on the length I wanted. Then I started cutting the sleeves and the body of the jacket to make everything shorter. I have short arms and I wanted a cropped jacket so it all needed to be cut shorter. I then got a seam ripper to start distressing the edges. 

 

 You can use anything you want to distress your jacket. I have seen people use sand paper, cheese graters, tweezers... anything that you can pull and scratch at the loose threads will work. 

I also used scissors to make little tiny cuts along the edges so I would get more fraying when I washed and dried the jacket.

This is a look at the fraying I got after washing the jacket in my washing machine. I put it in the dryer next to get more fraying and dry the jacket. 

The washer and dryer worked really well to bring out the fraying at the edges. I like the frayed edges a lot. I usually cut the really long white threads to neaten it up a little. 

Here is a close up look at the jacket and the frayed edges.

I really liked how the jacket turned out. And the cropped length is especially great for petites too. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- This was a fun project for me. The cheese grater was my favorite. The jacket still matches everything.

Denim Days-Dying Dots

 Hello Readers. I have been refashioning denim this month because I love denim and I love a theme to get me thinking. Today's post is about a lightweight denim jacket. I found this jacket at a clothes swap . The purple polka dots caught my eye. 

Before and after.

This jacket was boxy and shapeless and just did not fit well. The sleeves were not long enough to be full length and not short enough to be 3/4 length. I knew I could fix those things but I wasn't crazy about the lavender purple color either. Did the purple look to juvenile? I couldn't quite figure it out but something didn't work for me.

Here is a picture of my actual washing machine and the Rit dye I used to change this jacket into something I would love. (Not an ad. Rit dye doesn't know me. I am just a fan.) I chose this color because I liked it and it was darker than the lavender and I knew it would cover it well.

I was very happy with the color. I pushed up the sleeves and played with the length a little. I thought a shorter cropped length jacket would be better. I decided on a good length for me and just cut the bottom of the jacket off.

I cut the jacket and the sleeves so they would fray and I would have a distressed look. 

This new shorter length was just what I was looking for. 

I really like the look of frayed denim. You can faintly see the polka dots which is OK with me. I didn't mind the dots, I just didn't like the original lavender shade of purple that much. 

This jacket was a great layer for a windy day. And the red wine color really popped!

I like this color a lot so when I dyed the jacket, I also dyed a pair of cotton khakis. Both of these pieces took the dye really well. They were both made of 100% cotton and I used the dye for cotton fabric. 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- I loved the color of this dye. The jacket is wearable all year round.

Playing With Denim

 Hello Readers. I am so happy spring is here. It isn't hot yet it's just comfortable enough to enjoy the outdoors. (Unless you are a victim of seasonal allergies, it is pollen season!) 

I found this short sleeve denim jacket at a swap and liked the short sleeves. I had not seen a short sleeve denim jacket before. I didn't even know I would want one until I saw it. I wasn't 100% sure about the super faded color. I have a small stash of dye in my laundry room for situations like this.

I started what I thought would be a simple dye job. I used this cherry red dye. The denim jacket was  100% cotton so this should have been a fast and easy refashion.

I used my washer and put the dye in the water. I don't know why it turned out so pink. It was SO pink it was almost magenta. I used a short wash cycle and I think it was too short. When you dye clothes in a pan on the stove, you can check the color and keep the clothes in the dye longer if you want. When you use the washer, you can't extend the dye time because the dye has gone down the drain. I think I will use a big pot on the stove next time. 

So, I took a breath. I don't like to give up on a project. I was going to get this jacket the color I wanted. This bottle of scarlet dye looked like more of a true red. I should have chosen it in the beginning.  I think the name should be "Really Red".

I definitely should have used this color from the beginning. It was a true red. It was exactly what I wanted.

 

 

Did someone say, "Red Jacket?".

 

 Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Chickie's Year End Review-I love this red jacket just as much as I did when I dyed it. Red denim? Love it!