Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Recycled Denim Jacket

I made a denim jacket from three pair of blue jeans and one skirt using Butterick Pattern B0458, by Connie Crawford. I first mentioned the pattern here. As usual my pictures of the garment are not so great, but I'll keep trying!Recycled Denim Jacket B0458


And this close up turned out a little better.
Recycled Denim Jacket B0458

I also took many picture of how I laid out the pattern pieces on the denim if you are interested you can see them on Flickr

Here is a view of the pieces ready to go together.
B0458 layout

I chose the pieces by color, the facing pieces were a slightly lighter weight and that was a real bonus. All the denim was fairly lightweight, I wouldn't recommend diong this jacket with Levi's. The sleeves are cut with the out seam still sewn and there are darker pockets showing on the back of the side back pieces (I removed the pocket to make it fit). All the side pieces are from the skirt, the center front and back pieces are from one pair, and all the facings are from the last pair. Also my collar and cuffs are on the opposite grain.

I mostly followed the directions, I talk more about the construction here on Pattern Review.

A bonus to working with old jeans is the cost, if I make a mistake its not a big deal. And there are plenty out there. Choose Larger sizes if you are going to try something similar.

A drawback to recycling is that a lot of the denim is stretched in spots and may take more fussing, particularly the sleeves. And a caution, I have a couple of wear spots on my finished jacket, I should have looked things over a little better.

I LOVE my new jacket, I think it turned out awesome. I do have to decide what to use for buttons, but I have time. I'll definately be trying some more patterns. I need to do some drafting too. This is something that would be great for selling.

3 comments:

Rowsella said...

I love this! I love repurposed projects and this came out so well. The wear spots you have to work hard to get so I think they are a bonus.

Tracy said...

Love this idea! I repurposed old jeans to make a tote bag and a quilt, but I love the jacket much more. I sometimes get large size jeans from thrift stores to repurpose for only $1 to $3 each.

Kuby said...

Just georgous. Excellent job!!