It's finally starting to feel like spring in Montreal! The sun is out, the snow is slowly melting and people are struggling to decide whether they should be wearing shorts or raincoats outdoors. But most importantly people are finally going back to wearing bright and colourful patterns after months of heavy jackets and dark fabrics! The warm weather has inspired me to play with patterns, textures and bright styles and I decided to take a thrifted denim jacket and give it a little "spring cleaning". This DIY is surprisingly easy and beginner-friendly considering how professional the end result looks. In this tutorial I go over how to bleach denim and how I recycled a jean jacket and an old tank top to make this fabulous spring coat. So let me tell you how I turned this basic piece into a one-of-a-kind daisy jacket! Bleaching the Jacket First thing's first, I needed a denim jacket. I headed over to my local thrift store and picked this dark wash coat that fit me around the shoulders, was tapered to my waist and ended at my hips. While this style is trendy and classic it didn't really like the colour or the fit. I thought I could make this a lot cuter and suited to my tastes. So I decided to alter it a little before adding the daisy appliqués. For this step I needed:
I placed the bucket in my bathtub and filled it with lukewarm weather. I then poured about a quarter of a galleon of the bleach into the bucket and stirred it all together with my hand. Make sure you're wearing rubber gloves when handling the bleach to avoid any direct with your skin. Once the bleach and the water were well-mixed, I submerged my jacket completely into the bucket. It is incredibly important that every bit of the jacket comes in contact with the water/bleach solution so that the jacket is absorbing it properly. Squishing the jacket helps to submerge it completely, thus allowing it to absorb the bleach. I checked on my jacket every 30 minutes and rearranged it in the bucket to make sure that the solution was reaching every spot on the coat evenly. Keep checking and rearranging your jacket until it achieves the wash you like. My jacket took about four hours to reach a slightly lighter wash but yours may take longer if you want a very light wash. I poured the bleach/water solution down the drain (still wearing gloves) and then rinsed off the jacket in the shower using cold water. After rinsing it, I threw it in the washing machine to get rid of any excess dye. Make sure there is nothing else in the machine so that the excess dye doesn't ruin any of your other clothes or linens. Washing it will also lessen the smell of bleach, but it will disappear completely over time and after airing out a bit. Optional Step: After the jacket was completely bleached, I decided to crop the jacket so that it would accentuate my waistline. I grabbed a pair of fabric scissors and cut straight across the jacket at the length I wanted. I also decided to leave the new hemline raw for a more worn in, frayed look but you can finish the seam by folding it up twice and securing it with a straight stitch. Decorating the Jacket Now comes the fun part; adding the daisies! I got these daisy appliqués from an old top I found at a clothing swap. These strings of daisies were actually the top's straps. However, you can find daisy appliqués on Esty or at most craft stores. I cut the individual daisies from the straps, which gave me about 50 individual daisies. I only used about 30 but you can add more if you want more daisies on your jacket. I placed each daisy where I wanted them to sit, using pins to hold them securely against the jacket. I played around with the placement for a bit, figuring out how many daisies I liked and whether or not I wanted it to look like a more uniform or random pattern. Eventually, I ended up with a more random pattern of appliqués scattered spaciously around the jacket. I found this gave the jacket a more hand-made look, which is the look I wanted. To secure the appliqués, I hand-sewed each daisy using a polyester all-purpose thread that matched the centre of the daisy appliqués. I made sure to go over the centre a couple of times to really secure it to the jacket, similar to a four eyed button. I decided to leave the petals unsecured to make the jacket more three dimensional. A quicker option would be to use fabric glue or hot glue but it would be less secure and wouldn't allow you to remove the appliqués if you ever want to rearrange or remove them. I finished securing the last appliqué, and the jacket was finished! And that's it! Hand-wash your new jacket and let it air dry or use a low tumble cycle to clean it. Throw it on and let everyone admire your work! Photos by Kyra Paquet
Edited with Lightroom CC
0 Comments
If you clicked on this post, you probably want to start sewing and have no idea where to start. Don't worry, we've all been in this position, myself included. The world of sewing and DIY is full of information and it's not always easy to navigate through it all, especially with so called "DIY Hacks" cramming themselves all over Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. While these shortcuts might seem like easy alternatives to traditional sewing, I've found that they just end up in disappointing results and wasted crafternoons. That being said, I have picked up a lot of tricks and skills over the past five years that have made sewing, crafting and DIYing much easier. Plus, these are all things that I wish I had known when I first started sewing, so hopefully this will help someone out. For this list, I will mainly be focusing on sewing tips, but maybe in the future I will create more lists as my skillset grows. While I can't transform an old T-shirt into a cute mini dress in under five minutes, I can certainly help make your sewing experiences a little easier and more fun. 1. Be Patient This one sounds like the most obvious but it is something we all take for granted. In a world where we expect perfect results immediately, sewing might seem like a waste of time at first glance. Why should you put time and effort into a project you can easily buy? Furthermore, a lot of people don't understand how long making clothes actually takes, which is why they get discouraged so easily when they actually try it. Plus, our first attempts aren't always successful so giving up is a simple solution to the problem. However, if you are serious about sewing and doing it successfully you need to have patience. A lot of things can go wrong and they inevitably will. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes and to keep going despite your failures. You'll eventually start seeing great results and you'll want to keep challenging yourself. 2. Sketch Your Ideas Whether or not you're an experienced artist, sketching your projects before applying them to fabric is a good habit to get into. Sketching your ideas on paper allows you to have a record of your concept, but more importantly it allows you to visualize your idea more easily. It also helps you translate your idea from an image in your head into a physical product. Keep in mind that your drawings don't have to be perfect; they're simply a vessel for realizing your brainchild (or brainchildren). In addition to sketching your ideas, I suggest writing down your ideal fabrics, patterns and colours as well as any samples of possible fabrics you might use. 3. Pre-wash and Iron your Fabrics While not all fabrics need to be pre-washed before use, it's good to habitually wash your fabrics before sewing with them to avoid any incidents once you've finished your full project. Every experienced sewer has a horror story about one of their projects shrinking in the wash after finishing it, trust me. You can determine if and how a fabric needs to be washed by consulting the fibres. A good rule of thumb is that all natural based fabrics should be pre-washed in hot water before use. Fibres like cotton, linen and denim will shrink the first time you wash them and then be fine for future washes. These can include fabrics like quilters cotton, flannel, denim, cotton-jersey, linens, rayon, etc. On the other hand, synthetic fibres like polyester don't require immediate washing before use. However, it's still a good idea to pre-wash these fabrics to help relax them and make them easier to work with. If you're working with a particularly delicate fabric or you don't know the fabrics' fibre content, you should throw a scrap of it into the wash for a little test drive before washing the whole bolt. This test will also help you learn if your fabric can be washed in hot water or not, since some fabrics (mainly wool) need to be washed in cold water. Once your fabrics are dry, you should iron your fabrics to prevent wrinkles as much as possible. I know that ironing might seem boring and time consuming but it can really change the look and feel of a project. If ironing stresses you out, I suggest putting on some relaxing music or a podcast to keep your mind occupied. Once you get into the rhythm of it, it honestly won't feel so bad. 4. Use Interfacing Interfacing, also known as stiffener, is a thin, paper-like webbing that helps fabric maintain shape and structure. They are typically used in projects like bags, accessories, toys and hats, but they're also essential for shirt cuffs, collars, formal wear, jackets and pants. They can range from very light weight, like tissue paper, to heavier weight like cardboard (though you shouldn't replace interfacing with either of these things). They are typically sandwiched between your outer fabric and a lining fabric. While interfacing might seem like a scary tool if you're just starting out, it can actually make your experiences better, especially if you're working with stretchy and more delicate fabrics. If you're nervous about trying it out on a piece of clothing, try a smaller project like a stuffed animal, a hat or a tote bag. I guarantee you'll never go back. 5. Learn About Different Needles I feel like many beginners overlook this step when they start sewing. Knowing when to change your needles is a habit that will drastically improve your sewing skills, and is actually a lot easier than you might think. The basic concept is to use thin needles for delicate fabrics, thick needles for heavy fabrics and ballpoint needles for stretchy fabrics. For example, If you use a leather needle on satin or silk you're going to end up with a lot of holes and rips in your project. By contrast, a more delicate needle will break if you try using it on a heavy fabric. Most needles will state their type on the packaging (universal, ballpoint, leather, quilting, topstitch, etc.) so first classify your needles by fabric type. Then check the numbers on the box: the bigger the number, the thicker the needle. For example, I have a set of needles marked as 80/11 and 60/8 Both are universal but the ones on the right are better suited for thinner fabrics like chiffon or satin, while the ones on the left are best for heavier fabrics like cotton and denim. There's also the ballpoint needle, which is a needle specifically designed for stretch fabrics. The needle's point is slightly rounded allowing it to push aside the fabric's fibres without piercing and damaging them. Once again, make sure you're using the right needle with the right fabric to avoid unnecessary snagging or tearing. Basically, make sure to switch out your needles any time you're working with a new fabric. You'll waste less time and broken needles that way. 6. Get a Pair of Good Quality Fabric Scissors A common tool beginners often forget or ignore to invest in is a good pair of fabric scissors. While I can understand the hesitation of investing in something that we can all get at the office supply shop for relatively cheap, most paper scissors aren't strong or sharp enough for fabrics. Plus the stress of using weaker scissors can potentially hurt your wrists or cut your hands if you're not careful. For these reasons, a good pair of scissors can make things a lot easier and less dangerous. I recommend the Fiskars brand Easy Action Bent Scissors available on Amazon. These scissors are spring powered so you can put less pressure on your wrist when cutting fabrics. They are relatively inexpensive compared to higher-end scissors so it's less intimidating (also Fiskars did not pay me to say this but even if they did my opinions would be the same, I really love these scissors). If you find spring powered scissors uncomfortable, there are plenty of traditional style offered by many brands. Do your own research and see what qualities work best for you. So save the stress early and drop those gross, old paper scissors for some shiny, sharp fabric scissors. 7. Do Tests on Fabric Scraps Finally, a good step before starting your actual project is to test your methods on any extra fabric or scraps you have. Maybe you didn't thread your needle properly, or your bobbin isn't in right or you're just using a fabric you've never used before. Either way, test out your machinery before applying it to the real deal, or you might accidentally come across a lot more problems than you initially realized. Plus, it's a great way to understand your equipment better so you can identify problems quicker and more easily. And that's it! I hope this post inspired you to dust off your machine and pick up that old sewing project you started but never finished! Let me know if you have any questions or comments in the comments section bellow.
What You Will Need:
Basic Shape and Pattern DraftingIf you are planning on making this project from scratch using new fabrics, you should follow the list of tools I have typed out above. However, I actually made my cape using an old jacket I found at a clothing swap in November of 2018. While the coat is super cute and flashy and beautifully tapered to my body, it is sadly too small for me and the faux leather belt was falling apart. The lining in the sleeves also had a few rips in them, though they aren't pictured. Nevertheless, I was able to get my basic cape shape thanks to the jacket's flared skirt. So I simply cut the skirt piece off the jacket to form my principal shape. If you're not using something that already resembles a cape or you're using brand new fabric, you'll want to make a simple circle skirt pattern. Circle skirt patterns are relatively common and you can often find commercial patterns for them anywhere that sells them. Otherwise, making your own pattern is easy, quick and a much cheaper option. Explaining this process here would be too confusing, so I'm going to suggest looking up a visual tutorial for this step. Annika Victoria, a YouTuber and DIYer, has a great video about making your own circle skirt here: The basic idea is to measure the capes opening by replacing your waist measurement with a loose neck measurement and using the same calculations to draft the pattern on a large piece of paper. You can also omit the waistband, as it isn't necessary for this project. Remember to keep your fabrics length in mind when deciding on the length of your cape pattern, and always remember to include a seam allowance when using woven/non-stretch fabric. After all that, your pattern should look something like this: After placing this pattern on your fabric folded twice, cut out the shape of the pattern and you'll be left with one big circle. Cut straight up the skirt to create your cape shape. Hemming and FinishingNow that your basic shape is done, it's time to finish off the edges. There are many ways to do this depending on your skillset, but I would recommend using an overlocker/serger or applying a layer of fray stop or fabric glue to the fabric's edge. The former allows a much more professional finish and can be used for many different projects. However, if you don't have the budget for an overlocker, I would suggest sewing the edges with a narrow zigzag stitch and then applying fray stop or glue to the raw edges. The zig zag stitch will act a sort of fake serge effect and the glue will keep the fabric from fraying anymore. Make sure you're using fabric glue instead of craft glue or hot glue because fabric glue will cling to the fibres and dry clear, while other types of glue will gunk up, expand and dry visibly. After finishing the raw edges, be sure to hem your garment by folding the hemlines in and securing it with a standard straight stitch. Use fabric pins to hold the hemline in place. Adding Snaps, Buttons and NotionsFinally we've reached the last steps of this project, which is adding your buttons and snaps! The easiest method of securing your cape is just by hand sewing snap closures to your cape, and then optionally adding more decorative buttons afterwards. However, I ended using my buttonhole foot on my sewing machine to add a proper button and buttonhole in the circled section below. Practice your buttonhole a few times on scrap fabric before adding it to your cape, because they can get a bit tricky. You may also choose a different closure method depending on your own experiences and preferences, like ribbon ties, velcro or adding a zipper. This part of the project is the most personal to you so don't be afraid to experiment. After adding my button and buttonhole, I added an additional small snap closure on the inside so that it would be snug and secure. I made sure to only sew through the lining of my cape so that the thread wouldn't show through the fabric. If your cape isn't lined, you can keep the stitches small using your matching thread or hide the stitches with some decorative buttons. Once you've finished adding your final details, your cape is done! I hope this tutorial inspired you to try some fun new projects this year! Good luck!
|
Details
AuthorAndrea Mestre Archives
May 2019
Categories |