Jackets

Embroidered Jacket

December 23, 2019 By Mary Peterson 14 Comments

Hello Everyone!

Happy Holidays! School is finally out for winter break and I have a moment to share my latest denim jacket makeover. I am particularly proud of this one as I feel it has some great features.

The embroidery was cut from some yardage that I purchased a while back. I used an iron on adhesive backing to apply, and then added some boro stitching and additional embroidery of my own. Also, you can see that I added a flannel lining to cover up the embroidery inside and it was stitched in totally by hand.

**I added the yellow french knots in the center of the flower and the light green stitching to highlight the leaves. Navy boro stitching secures the iron-on patch**.

**In addition to the yellow and light green, I added the navy petals and french knots on the center back flower.**

**I cut and fit these lining pieces from a thrifted flannel shirt, and then I used my navy embroidery floss to hand sew it down for a custom look.**

**Here is a close-up** **look at what the lining stitches look like from the outside.**

This design is going to be a great addition to my wardrobe. To think I only paid $9.99 for a beautiful brand named jacket, (Guess) and $4.99 for the lining, I would say this is quite the thrifty deal! The work was just fun and love as sewing is peace, joy, and sanity to me in an otherwise chaotic world.

Wishing peace, joy and happiness to you all during this Holiday and a very happy and prosperous New Year!

Please take a minute to say hello and let me know what you think of my latest offering. I love to hear from you all.

Much love and happy refashioning!

Upcycled Denim Jacket

November 10, 2019 By Mary Peterson 8 Comments

Hello Everyone,

Sometimes you come across a piece that is just a crime, and the crime was committed here. (See Below) I came across this atrocity at a local thrift store. Someone had done some major damage to it. (I have no idea if it was really connected to the show in some way, but it is terribly ugly is it not? ) In fairness, the jacket itself was beautiful quality denim with quality construction.

**Awful bling is falling off anyway and needs to go**!

This was just the piece to solve the crime

**The grey stripe in the skirt is actually a chambray blue**

TUTORIAL:

**I added panels made from the skirt and used decorative topstitch for a custom look**

**I added flannel lining to cover up the stitching inside and add warmth**

**The inside lining is hand stitched with embroidery thread**

**I love it when there is a happy ending to a fashion crime!**

Well there you have it! You are now the judge and the jury. Crime solved?

Let me know!

Happy Refashioning…

Boro Embroidered Jacket

October 17, 2019 By Mary Peterson 10 Comments

Hello Everyone!

Below you can see my latest denim jacket designed with boro embroidery. This jacket was a perfect candidate for boro. It had holes everywhere! I know holes are “In Vogue” right now, but so is boro! I didn’t repair all of the holes. I left worn areas strategically around the jacket.

I will bet you want to know how it all began, and then I will dazzle you with the details. Keep scrolling because the inside is almost just as interesting as the outside.

**Embroidery and lining came from this shirt**

**The embroidery is covered up with fabric from the blouse. It is hand stitched into the jacket with embroidery thread.**

Well, I can’t wait to hear your comments. I had so much fun making this one. What do you all think?

Talk to me!!!

Jean Jacket with Boro Detail

September 21, 2019 By Mary Peterson 4 Comments

Hello Everyone!

Recently, I became very interested to incorporate Japanese style Boro stitching into some of my refashions. The word boro is derived from the Japanese boroboro, meaning something tattered or repaired. Boro refers to the practice of reworking and repairing textiles through piecing, patching and stitching, in order to extend their use.

This is the finished project. It is not technically authentic Boro because this was not a mending project. I just wanted to decorate the jacket, but I think that the result is beautiful. It was a journey to be happy with the end result. This finished piece did not happen overnight. It came in stages:

Stage 1

I found a perfectly fitting white denim jean jacket at the thrift store. The price tag was $4.50.

**This is the before with only the collar and pocket stitching finished**

Stage 2

Here is a close up picture of the decorative stitching on the pockets and the collar. I used a heavyweight embroidery thread.

**At first I thought this was all I would do to the jacket, but it would have been so boring…**

Stage 3

At first I thought I would just do some scraps over a gray denim back panel. The only problem was when I mocked it up on the back it just looked too deliberate and staged. I wanted it to look more like modern art.

Stage 4

I started clipping, pinning and stitching…

**This is after I started cutting back the gray**

Stage 5

**I experimented with a circular pattern in the upper left**

Stage 6-Ready to Wear

As always, I welcome your comments and look forward to them.

Until next time,

Happy Refashioning…

Refashioned Spring Jackets

April 14, 2019 By Mary Peterson 17 Comments

Hello Everyone!
Spring is here in SoCal so I still have time to refashion a jacket for those cool mornings! Here is the AFTER but you will not believe the BEFORE! I think this piece lends some glamor to my very glamorous life as a teacher. Right?

Jacket #1

I purchased this jacket for the whooping price of $4.00. It had good structure and shape, but it was just a boring khaki color damask pattern. In addition,it was also in a petite and needed to be bigger for my 5’7, 150 pound frame. My favorite part was the back pleats.

Jacket # 2

I originally planned to use the “Right side” with the embroidery, but ultimately found the wrong side of the fabric to be infinitely more interesting! This piece cost me $5.99.

Tutorial

Step 1– I took out the sleeves from both jackets. Then I opened up the side seams of the khaki jacket and added a blue side panel from the embroidered jacket. This was necessary to make the bust and body wider to fit my frame. Then to make the sleeves match, I had to use one sleeve as the pattern and cut a matching sleeve from the back of the jacket.

Step 2-Next, I added a trim on the neckline made with one of the gold stripes cut from jacket #2. I overlocked the edges of a gold stripe to make it into trim for the collar. In this picture you can also observe the delicate damask pattern on the tan base material.

Step 3-I added back the sleeves with the stripe pattern. In the second picture you can see the detail on the cuff. I turned up the “Wrong” side of the fabric up to make the hem. I thought the overlock edge detail paired well with the trim on the collar and made the sleeve more luxe looking.

Step 4-The final step was to add some detail to the back. I used the same technique used on the collar trim, but made this trim a lot wider.

That is it refashion friends. I hope you like it and and look forward to your comments. Happy refashioning!!!!