I am a jacket fiend, despite the fact that I live in tropical weather. Recently I acquired a mixed media jacket with faux leather contrasting sleeves and I cannot get enough of it. This inspired me to remix one ( or a few *ahem) of my older jackets to spruce them up and make them a little more trendy. The DIY is simple and you will not need a sewing machine so long as you are comfortable executing a backstitch. If you are completely clueless when it comes onto sewing then you can have your tailor or your dressmaker do this for you and it will still cost WAY less than buying a new jacket.
Contrast sleeve jackets are those jackets with a different colour or texture sleeve than the rest of the jacket. It adds a stylish element to what you're wearing with a modern edge and I am in love with the style. This DIY allows you to dip your toe in without committing because you can always switch the sleeves back so you still have a classic blazer. I really like this - Can you tell?
Okay so here we go!
Step One:
Choose two jackets of a similar style and length. Decide of the two, which jacket will be the shell and which jacket you will use the sleeves from. In the instance below, I am using my white jacket (Charlotte Russe, similar here) as the shell and the faux leather jacket (Wet Seal, similar here) as the sleeves for contrast.
Step Two:
Turn the jackets inside out and with a seam ripper, sharpened pencil, tweezer or a pin remove the lining around the seam where the sleeve is joined to the jacket. Once this is done then remove the stitching around the seam that attaches the sleeve to the jacket. Make sure you do this carefully and you do not use a pair of scissors in case you want to reattach the sleeve in the future. If you are working with more delicate fabrics like sequins, faux leather or satin you need to go very slowly and pull one stitch at a time so you don't rip the fabric.
Step Three:
Once both jackets have been de-sleeved, make a note of which sleeve is the right and left and what is the front and back of the sleeve. If you look closely you will usually see a seam going up the underside of the sleeve. This section is the part that comes up to the middle of your armpits, this is the first point of contact. Turn your shell (the part of the jacket that now looks like a vest) inside out and look for stitching or a seam that will line up with that long seam on the sleeve that goes up to your armpit - this is where you will make the first stitch.
Now take the sleeve (do not turn it inside out) and slip it inside the vest (which has been turned inside out) and through the arm hole. Line up the seams and pin the jacket at the following places:
Contrast sleeve jackets are those jackets with a different colour or texture sleeve than the rest of the jacket. It adds a stylish element to what you're wearing with a modern edge and I am in love with the style. This DIY allows you to dip your toe in without committing because you can always switch the sleeves back so you still have a classic blazer. I really like this - Can you tell?
Okay so here we go!
Step One:
Choose two jackets of a similar style and length. Decide of the two, which jacket will be the shell and which jacket you will use the sleeves from. In the instance below, I am using my white jacket (Charlotte Russe, similar here) as the shell and the faux leather jacket (Wet Seal, similar here) as the sleeves for contrast.
Step Two:
Turn the jackets inside out and with a seam ripper, sharpened pencil, tweezer or a pin remove the lining around the seam where the sleeve is joined to the jacket. Once this is done then remove the stitching around the seam that attaches the sleeve to the jacket. Make sure you do this carefully and you do not use a pair of scissors in case you want to reattach the sleeve in the future. If you are working with more delicate fabrics like sequins, faux leather or satin you need to go very slowly and pull one stitch at a time so you don't rip the fabric.
Step Three:
Once both jackets have been de-sleeved, make a note of which sleeve is the right and left and what is the front and back of the sleeve. If you look closely you will usually see a seam going up the underside of the sleeve. This section is the part that comes up to the middle of your armpits, this is the first point of contact. Turn your shell (the part of the jacket that now looks like a vest) inside out and look for stitching or a seam that will line up with that long seam on the sleeve that goes up to your armpit - this is where you will make the first stitch.
Now take the sleeve (do not turn it inside out) and slip it inside the vest (which has been turned inside out) and through the arm hole. Line up the seams and pin the jacket at the following places:
- that long armpit seam
- the top of the sleeve where it attaches to the shoulder (usually this section will be the pointiest section - pull out your sleeve and you will see)
- the half way points on each side between the top/shoulder and the armpit seam
Step Four
Do a preliminary stitch with your needle and thread like a running stitch or a base stitch (the standard in and out), remove the pins and try it on to make sure you've done it up properly and correct any bunching or gaps with your final stitch. If you are sewing by hand then I recommend you use a backstitch with doubled thread and go it over twice if your material is heavier like the faux leather I was using.
Et Voila! You're done!!!! Remember as long as you're careful when you're pulling out the stitches you can always just continue to swap out your sleeves. I hope you enjoy this one lovelies, and tag/mention me on Instagram in your DIY pics of your jackets so I can add them to a collage. Just tag #janekoysen.
Till later,
*Jane
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