Made by Me: The Refashioners 2016

It's unusual for me to take part in online competitions/sew alongs etc, but when I saw the gorgeous and amazing projects that were being shared on Makery as part of The Refashioners 2016 and then found a few pairs of my husbands old jeans on the chair in our spare bedroom I knew I had to join in.



I decided I wanted to make a jacket, I thought kind of biker style originally, although it has evolved into something a bit different. 

I spent a bit of time browsing patterns and came across Lekala 4530:

I chose this mainly for the cross over front, and originally decided I was going to fasten it with a couple of snap fastenings rather than the zip.   I've used a few Lekala patterns now and have always been really impressed with the fit of the finished garment.  I actually ended up cutting the neckline down a bit as the back was quite high and stiff in the denim. 

Once the pattern was printed out and taped together I started the job of harvesting as much fabric as I could from the two pairs of jeans that matched most closely.  I did have another pair at my disposal, but they were much darker in colour and I wanted to keep everything as uniform as possible.

I ended up having to crop the jacket a bit, although it is still plenty long enough for me, and I had to completely disregard grainlines.  By doing this I just managed to get all the pattern pieces out of the two pairs of jeans. 



I'm not sure where the idea for embroidery on the collar came from, but I have to say I totally enjoyed doing it.  So much so that I couldn't stop and ended up hurting my wrist from gripping the denim so tightly as I sewed!



The construction of the jacket was pretty straightforward.  I omitted the lining and used bias tape to finish all the body seams, which were then topstitched.  All the other seams were finished on the overlocker. 

I played about a bit with pocket placement, as you can see from the progress photo above the pockets ended up at a different angle on the finished jacket. I actually considered putting a pocket somewhere on the back just for a bit of visual interest, but it just looked ridiculous so the back is currently plain.  I may go back and add some embroidery on the back once my wrist is better!



As you can see, I ended up closing the jacket in a completely different way to how I'd originally imagined, with a single jeans button at the waist.  This seemed to suit the finished garment more than and of course, shows off the embroidery to its full advantage. 

I wasn't sure how to finish the hems as I had a few areas where the fabric was pretty thick.  I was just going to overlock them then turn a single hem and topstitch, but in the end I sewed a line of topstitching about 10mm from the edge and left the fabric to fray.  How much that will annoy me as time goes on remains to be seen!

This is a really different project for me - I'm not really into refashioning or recycling clothes - but I really enjoyed it.  I love denim jackets, particularly when they start getting a bit worn and faded, so this one is perfect.  I really like the faded patches on each upper arm which came from the knees of one pair of jeans. 

I also really love the shape of this jacket and I think I'll probably make it again sometime in "proper" fabric. 






12 comments

  1. This looks fantastic Sam. Great use of the jeans and the embroidery really adds something special to the project.

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    1. Thanks Manju, I'm really pleased with how it turned out considering I'm not a natural refashioner.

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  2. Ingenious! And the embroidery just makes it. You did an amazing job and I can't believe you made it with 2 pairs of jeans. It looks great on and the frayed edges just make it look more lived in & comfy. Great job Sam.

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    1. Thanks Fran! It was a squeeze getting it out of 2 pairs of jeans I must admit.

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  3. Love what you've done to recycle these old jeans. The embroidery is beautiful and really makes your jacket stand out.

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    1. Thank you Jen. I loved doing the embroidery.

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  4. Wowsers!! This is brilliant. I love the embroidery, it must have taken ages.

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    1. Thanks so much Lynne. The embroidery did take a while but I did it in the evenings while my husband was watching rubbish TV! I'd planned on doing some on the back too, but I hurt my hand so had to stop. I might go back and add some more at a later date.

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  5. oh wow, that is stunning!! I'm so wildly impressed with the embroidery too- it's a beautiful detail that really polishes it all off. I love it!

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    1. Thanks Julie! I've only worn it once or twice so far because I tend to wear jeans quite a lot and I really don't want to do the double denim look. It looks great with a little dress though, or black skinny trousers.



      I loved doing the embroidery. I was going to do some on the back as well but sewing through the denim hurt my hand so much I had to take a break. I might do some more later.

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  6. I just love it! It was fun watching it come together on IG!

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    1. Thanks Gail. It was fun posting little progress shots on IG.

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