Mens Jeans Upcycle

 

My husband threw out two perfectly good pairs of jeans recently that didn't fit him well.  It was one of those holiday impulse buying situations and unfortunately also a case of you get what you pay for.   Despite the fit being lacking, the fabric was really nice; not too heavy and not too light.  The colours although quite different were complementary.  I popped them in my fabric stash intending to look for a third pair to make a denim jacket with.  The third pair never eventuated but I did find a piece of heavy brushed ponte in my stash left over from a pair of pants.  There was enough left for a skirt but I was pretty sure the fabric was too heavy to make a successful skirt out of so it had sat there for a few years.

Last week while pulling out some fabric for my spring sewing plans, I came across the jeans and also the ponte.  The colour match was perfect.  Sew Over 50 are running a sustainable sewing challenge this month so the timing of this make could not be more perfect either.

I had made Stylearc Stacie Jean Jacket way back in 2015.  I still have it and it still looks as good as the day I made it.  I just felt I would like a jacket with a bit more of a worn in look.  The original jacket is made in a stretch denim so I knew for this non stretch version I would need to go up a size or two.

Because I had limited fabric, I unpicked all the side seams on both pairs of jeans.  This was a time consuming and frustrating task.  These things were sewn really well.  I then laid my pattern pieces on and moved them about to get most aesthetically pleasing and intentional panel layout.  Because this fabric is non stretch and I have expanded somewhat since the original was made, I added an extra 1cm to each side seam of the jacket and also across the shoulders.   

 The original jeans had two toned top stitching so I stuck with this for my jacket and also used the original pockets including the pocket decorative stitching for my pocket flaps.  There are one or two areas where the original seams are visible, the bottom band being one but for the most part I managed to enclose any of the original seam areas into new seams.  This did mean I had to cut my bottom band in two pieces but you would need to look really hard to see that.

The sleeves were super easy to construct using the original pattern piece and simply adding a sweatshirt style band to the bottom.

I finished the jacket off with some traditional jeans buttons that were already in my stash.  The top stitching thread had also been in my stash so all in all this ended up being a free project.  It was both good for my credit card and also the planet.

I am really happy with how this jacket turned out.  It could have been slightly wider at the bottom band but I have no intention of buttoning it up so the fact it is a little snug is not an issue.  I love the ponte sleeves because this makes the jacket really comfortable to wear.  I would call this one a success and hopefully it will be in my wardrobe for 6 years like its predecessor.