Refashion a jacket.

I love to spend hours browsing through second hand shops. There is something wonderful about finding a beautiful vintage piece of clothing & giving it a new lease on life. I know that I am not alone, there is many of us out there. I know this because I have entered a competition for "upcycling". Sew Wat is a facebook group that encourages upcycling, recycling & refashioning clothing. I thought that I would share with you one of the "refashioned" pieces that I have entered & show you how you can do it for yourself. I have been lucky enough to come across a few beautiful jackets lately from my local second hand shop. Some of them needed no alteration but I found a tweed jacket that needed to be brought back into fashion. This is the jacket as I found it.............

Now it really was a bargain at $7.50!!!

It now has a new lease on life & it was as easy as this......................

By shortening the sleeves.............

Sewing some bias binding around the bottom of the sleeves, around the collar & the bottom of the jacket.....

Adding a denim flower brooch & making a small tote bag (from the sleeves that were cut off) & decorating with a  matching denim flower.................

I have brought the jacket back into fashion!!

I have worn this jacket once since I made it & was given 4 complements by complete strangers!! 2 of those people worked in a high end fashion store!! I did not tell them my secret, I just accepted the complement & giggled as I left the store!! Why not update a jacket that you already have or spend a little time in your local second hand store. You might just be able to find a beautiful jacket just waiting to be refashioned!