Suzanne Myers Otto : November 2021

Monday, November 29, 2021

"Vintage Denim Jacket with Boho Flair", May 2022

I invite you to join me in beautiful North Carolina in late spring of 2022. I'll be teaching a weekend workshop at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. Workshop dates are May 27 - 29, 2022. My workshop is titled "Vintage Denim Jacket with Boho Flair". This workshop will be followed by my one-week class, "Brasstown Boho Skirt".

Sign up for my workshop and you'll gain numerous ideas for transforming your denim jacket from boring, to bedazzling!! Shop your local thrift shop for an unlined, light to medium-weight denim jacket. Prewash your denim jacket, then gather embellishment supplies, ie lace, beads, buttons, etc. You will be sent a supply list at registration.

The following photos are eye candy to get you excited about this easy-going, casual workshop! Note: I use hand sewing most of the time to embellish my garments. I hand wash or spot clean my embellished garments.

The denim garments shown below are crying out to be embellished!

I purchased the jacket shown below at a Maxwell St. Days sale here in Madison more than twenty years ago. It was just begging for some ornamentation. I dug through my extensive collection of trims, lace and beads to create the Boho look I love! More photos of this jacket follow.

The jacket shown below was also a sale find. It is decorated with seed beads, bugle beads, a button, a patchwork square, and my favorite embroidery stitch, Raised Chain Band, around the patchwork square.

The next jacket shown is embellished in a more subdued fashion. I applied vintage tatting, enhanced with seed beads, on the collar and cuffs.

The next jacket shown was purchased at a local Goodwill store. I love the aqua color. I do not love the weightiness of the denim. Lesson learned: heavy denim does not lend itself to hand embellishment. I trudged onward with this one, using vintage trims and pieces from my stash. I used a vintage crocheted motif on the back of the jacket, adding seed beads of different sizes to the mix. Vintage lace trims the collar. I applied hand dyed contemporary rick rack to either side of the front zipper. "Baby" rick rack was used along some of the seam lines.

The jacket shown below was featured in my blog post of March 15, 2021. View that post to see details of how this jacket was embellished!

While not a denim jacket, the cotton/poly blend shirt below was brightened up with some Boro stitching. I used Perle cotton (size) #8 for the stitching.