Hello Everyone,
Who’s heard of The Refashioners 2016? Click on the link to read all about it. It is the brainchild of the expert and inspiring refashioner, Portia Lawrie. This years challenge (which is open until the end of September), is to refashion jeans into…whatever you want. As many pairs of jeans as you like, and of any colour, but only jeans (no other sources of denim).
I put some restrictions on myself:
- I didn’t want to source any new-to-me jeans: I had to use what I could find in the house.
- I didn’t want to have to spend any further money on the refashion, and again use patterns/ fabric/ notions that I already had to hand.
What I found was three pairs of jeans, 2 dark and 1 light. This kind of limited what I could make (I knew that wasn’t going to be enough to cut a dress for myself, for example), and in the end I decided that the whole patchwork look just wasn’t me, and so that brought me down to just two pairs of jeans.
I settled on using the jacket from Burda 7494, having made the dress previously, because it had princess seams which I thought would be advantageous in getting the pattern to fit to what fabric I had, and also because it had shorter length sleeves.
Pattern Modifications
- Added 1 inch to side seams
- Did 0.5 inch sway back adjustment
- Did 1 inch full arm adjustment
- Added centre back seam due to fabric constraints
- Removed pleats from sleeve
- Cut peplum on cross grain
- Omitted lining (overlocked most of inner seams)
- Had to pretty much ignore grain when cutting the facings (in retrospect maybe I should have cut into the lighter denim for the facings but, hey ho)
- Added a machine made buttonhole
- Bound inner waist seam with self made bias tape (fabric from previous project)
- I chose to seam rip the outer legs of my jeans and so the sleeves were cut across the inner leg seam, with the original topstitching being left as a feature
Overall I am pretty pleased with how this turned out. I have only really done one other refashion before and so it was great to challenge myself thinking out of the box. In the end I think I have something that reflects my personal style. Who knew two pairs of unloved and unworn jeans still had so much life left in them?
Be sure to check out Portia’s blog for lots of inspiring refashions.
Until soon!
sewmanju 
The whole outfit is super flattering, Manju – and congratulations on such a successful Refashion! You’re giving me ideas… 😉
Thanks Del.
I love this, it looks so elegant, hard to believe it was a couple of pairs of jeans 🙂
Thanks Margaret. Yep I’m pretty pleased with it.
That’s a beautiful jacket and it looks great on you. You have also inspired me to consider what I could do with some old denim that is lying around the house. Thanks!
Thanks Gwen.
Cool! I’d never have guessed it was a refashion, you’ve done a great job 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thanks Ali!
It looks great. 🙂
Thanks dkswife
GORGEOUS. makes me want to take another (read: seventh) crack at my botched project!
Thanks marcy. You’ll knock it out of the park.
Like I said on Instagram, this is awesome and it looks like it was made from denim fabric NOT refashioned jeans. You did an amazing job on this jacket! Are you entering it into the contest? I hope so because it’s just stunning!!!
Thanks Carolyn. Yep it’s already been entered (I hope!) I am pleased with the outcome.
What a great jacket. Will have to look at that paatern
Thanks Abbey.
Dear God Woman, you are magic! That jacket is amazing!
Aw thanks sugapuddingguild
Fantastic!
Thank you Fiona.
Yours is definitely the most classy of the remakes I’ve seen, and it would wear with anything. Lovely.
Thanks cawmags
I think your jacket looks fab, an amazing refashion
Thank you lynsey
This is fabulous Manju! Can’t believe this is a refashion, it looks like new fabric. You’ve inspired me now to go and claim a couple of pairs of my husbands old jeans that have been lying on a chair in our bedroom for longer than I care to think!
Ha happy to help Sam. It’s a good challenge to sink your teeth into
That is a lovely outfit. The pants are super flattering and I think that is one of the nicest jackets I’ve seen. A great mix of casual denim and jacket. Love it.
Thank you summerflies
It’s a great jacket! I would not have guessed it was made of old jeans. Great job!
Thanks masha
That is a lovely jacket! I never would have guessed it was made out of old jeans.
Thanks Dana
I. LOVE. THIS.!!!!
This came out just perfectly!
Thanks nakisha
I’m loving the drape/look of those cropped pants! What fabric did you use for those? Sorry if I missed the post on those.
I used a good quality crepe. If you search for the pattern number in the search box on the right all the details will be in there.
that is a super cute jacket – I have to check out that pattern. Perfect little summer jacket.
Thanks Beth. It’s a bit of a sleeper: but cute once made up.
Oh my goodness, that looks sharp! I dont know which I love more…the pants or the jacket. Of course the jacket is a work of art and effort…good job! I hope someday to sew as well as you. And you have such a great sense of what styles suit you, too. 🙂
Thank you Nita. Be fearless and try new styles and sewing new fabrics or you will never know/ get to the level you want.
It looks great!!
Thanks Peggy.
Great outfit. I’m not sure about the challenges for me but I’ve told some others about it and love following along. I like the look of the jacket but the cropped wide legged pants are more my scene!
Thanks Anne. These pants have been such a great staple for me over the summer
What a great refashion – you’ve turned some unwanted old jeans into a very desirable top-notch jacket!
Thanks sheryll
Wowsers! This is brilliant, and definitely my favourite denim refashion so far. Also, it looks great with those lovely purple trousers.
Thanks Lynne
This is unbelievably fantastic! The neckline shape is gorgeous, and the top-stitching really highlights the shape. Beautifully done. Now I need to find this pattern!!
I can’t find the pattern for the jacket. Would one of you ladies have a link to it. Many thanks
Sorry tania it appears to be OOP: your best bet would be to try eBay or etsy
Thanks Meigan: think it might now be OOP.
Lovely outfit and such a great refashion! Sometimes things made from old jeans look quite home-made and not in the good sense of the word 😉 but that’s certainly not the case here. Love it!
Thanks Inge!
Oh wow! This little jacket us just adorable. Love everything about it. Gorgeous!
Thanks Tomasa
Wow! This looks great. The whole outfit looks so good on you but I love the shape of that jacket.
I like it!!!
That’s an amazing refashioning Manju and I agree with everyone here the entire outfit is perfect, really interesting how you can give new life to unused items, I have never done any refashioning myself but I love what I’ve seen so far.
Your outfit looks great! I can’t believe how much the jean jacket is “dressed up” by your culottes. Very lovely!