Patch It Up: Part 2

I know that an update on how this jacket is progressing is well overdue, so without further ado, here is Part 2, presented to you... I've officially lost it. This is the second (but not last) installment of my wonderful jacket's transformation. If you missed it, see Part 1 here. Anyway, over these past couple of years I've been following some pretty darn amazing blogs that share my passion for fashion, (yes, I used to play with Bratz dolls. They were so indie back then) sewing and all-round DIYing. I stalk them daily and with each one of their latest posts, I become more in awe of their photography skills, their ability to attract so many followers, their press features and of course, their raw enthusiasm for what they do. One of my favourite bloggers, Annabelle Fleur from the wonderfully sophisticated Viva Luxury, has recently been wearing this gorgeous leather jacket by BCBG.

Ignore the price-tag and humour me for a second; leather, pastel-coloured patches and studs sound like an uncoordinated mess, but this jacket makes it work beautifully. The patches soften the leather, yet the studs, which usually have the effect of toughening up a garment, do the exact opposite: they add a touch of luxury in the way that pearls do to an otherwise bland LBD. In other words, this is the only leather jacket that you can get away with wearing in summer, and who wouldn't want to? If you want to be inspired, see Annabelle's post on the jacket here.

The point of all that was to introduce the BCBG jacket as the inspiration behind the design for the back of my jacket. As someone who loves customizing clothes, I'm always looking for new and inspiring ways to improve the quality and aesthetic of a garment. Adding studs to the shoulders of a denim vest is great, but uniqueness is, arguably, more intriguing.

Here is a template that I made from strong card. Although my design was based on the back of the BCBG jacket, I altered the proportions to fit my jacket. Sort of looks like an upside-down Taj Mahal now. I made sure that its height and width matched that of the space on the jacket that I wanted it to fit in. Then I pinned the template on the fabric, ensuring that the Aztec pattern ran horizontally. I got my iron out and pressed like a mofo. Do not iron those pins! After that, I cut it out, carefully.

This patch has so many edges, corners, right angles; you name it. So be prepared: this part is tricky. I used the zig-zag stitch on my sewing machine along the edges to prevent any fraying. My patience is lacking at the best of times, so this stage was interrupted by limitless breaks, lots of caffeine and a few hundred deep breaths. Take it slow, remembering to back-stitch when you reach a corner. In my opinion, the zig-zag looks very authentic; like a decorative trim. 

Then I pressed like a serious mofo, both the part of the jacket that I wanted to sew the patch onto, and the patch. After that, I carefully pinned the patch onto the jacket. I used up all of my pins to ensure no (mother) puckers could sneak in whilst I sewed. After it was pinned onto the jacket, I pressed again, making sure that I steered clear of those pins! By this stage, it looked like this:

 We're nearly home, people. All that was left to do was to sew away!

Stay tuned for Part 3, where studding will commence. 

Patch It Up

So I’ve been working on this (very) special denim jacket for a couple of days now. It was a glorious find on none other than *bows down* eBay. This little number is not only 30+ years old, but also in near-perfect condition, was the bargain to rule all bargains, and it just reeks of quality hard-wearing 1970′s denim. Oh, and to top it off, I bought two. TWO. The only thing is, I bought them for the purpose of splattering them in Aztec patches and bronze studs. Here goes nada…

I bought this fabric on Etsy, perhaps a site that deserves a full-body plank rather than a humble bowing down. I could (and do) spend hours gazing in awe at the work of thousands of humble (yet ferociously ambitious) artisans, always flabbergasted not only by the product of hours of blood, sweat and tears, but by their photography, packaging and marketing skills: How do they take such breathtaking photos? How lovely has this been wrapped? Wish I could think of a name that cool… These people are not only selling you a product, but a brand that is entirely the work of themselves. Total. Respect.

Anyway, with this fabric, it was love at first sight. Usually I’m hesitant at buying fabric online because you can’t really see the fabric. I mean, sure it says 100% cotton on the description, but what kind of 100% cotton? There’s diaper cloth, dimity, drill, duck, flannel, flannelette, gauze, gingham, lawn and muslin. There’s organdy, outing flannel, oxford, percale, pima, polished and don’t get me started on poplin. Don’t forget sailcloth, seersucker, you get the picture. So you can understand my dilemma. But with this fabric, the photography was so fine and good that I could see all the in’s and out’s of this lovely gem. I wanted a vintage-style fabric that would complement the jacket; imagine those course, itchy, giant rice bags – only smoother. Not only this, but it had the perfect distressed Aztec pattern. Operation Find Perfect Fabric: Complete.

So here’s my special little guy posing for a photo:

 Well it doesn’t exactly look like a girl, does it now?

Although he looks totally gorge without any embellishments, I think that after 30+ years, he could do with a little change. Variety is the spice of life, you know.

Firstly, I made templates out of card. Since I’m too much of a stinge to have invested in a tracing wheel, this involved a lot of estimating where the border of my template should be, then matching it up with the jacket, then re-drawing the template, etc, until I could cut it out. This was quite easy to do though, since I only want the fabric to sit within the thick hems of the jacket. Therefore, I suggest laying your jacket out flat. Place some wrapping paper over the area you want to cover, and, using a pencil, trace your template out by feeling the thick hems and drawing just inside them. Cue edited photos courtesy of Paint:

I then pinned the templates to the fabric and cut around them. Hopefully, when you place the fabric where you want it to go, it should fit into place.

Here, I’ve pinned, then sewn on the two long patches:

And here are the two breast patches that I split into three pieces: (Guess what I’m gonna put between them! Exciting!)

I made sure I zig-zag stitched along the edges of the patches before sewing them onto the jacket to avoid fraying. Yes, I am also too stingey to invest in an overlocker.

And here we are so far:

Stay tuned for my next post of the back of the jacket- but for now, arrivederci!