I enjoy embellishing vintage denim jackets! So much so, that I'll be teaching a
class on this in May of 2022, at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown,
N.C. That class is titled "Vintage Denim Jacket with Boho Flair. I will also
be teaching a one week workshop called "Brasstown Boho Skirt".
That class immediately follows the denim jacket class. I love the creativity
of Boho style and the fact that pretty much "anything goes".
I purchased a vintage J. Jill denim jacket on Etsy a few months ago. When I'm
decorating vintage jackets, I usually do it totally by hand. This was a rare case
where I made use of a sewing machine. Deciding that the fit was slightly snug,
I cut the jacket apart. I then inserted lighter colored denim strips from the jacket
hem, up the sides, and down the sleeves. The strips were cut from the legs
of jeans my husband was about to throw away!
The first two photos show the jacket as purchased, and after I washed it.
Pieces of jeans, calling out to be reused!
Photos below show the jacket cut open, then with the denim strips inserted. The
light denim strips were inserted with the use of my sewing machine. Ultimately,
I machine stitched the side seams together and turned the edges to the inside,
attaching them to the inside by hand.
Thinking my jacket needed some embellishment, I remembered a one
yard piece of hand-painted lace I had in my stash. The lace was another Etsy
buy, purchased in 2012. I cut the lace to size, then basted it on just to keep it
in place for my more thorough hand-stitching. I almost always use hand
stitching to apply embellishments . . . I feel like I have more control over it than
I would with machine stitching. I also think it looks better!
I added narrow heart-patterned lace along the top edge to cover the raw edges
of the dyed floral lace. Then I added a small purple heart-shaped button at each
end.
I used some green woven ribbon with white polka dots to cover the (bottom) raw
edges of the purple floral lace. Sewing the ribbon on was a bit difficult as there is
a bulky waistline seam underneath it. I used my jewelry pliers, when needed,
to pull my needle through multiple thicknesses.
My finished jacket is shown below.
