Happy December! I don’t know about you, but I am behind the 8 ball here. My to-do list is bigger than me! I haven’t even started Christmas shopping or decorating the house. Part of my delay was working on this project of turning a vintage jacket into a cape blazer.

You all know how I like to think out of the fashion box. When I find a fabric that I really like but the item is too big, I look at how I can revamp it into something else. I loved this vintage jacket, but it was a size 18 and it had some worn areas.

At just $5 I decided I would try my hand at turning it into a cape blazer. I have just enough sewing skills to be dangerous and think I can do more than I actually can. I really need to take some sewing classes so I can bring to life what sits in my fashion brain.

*** If you have a blazer that fits you, you will not need to do all the extra taking in and modifying that I had to do to this one to make it my size, depending on the style of jacket you might be able to leave the sleeve attached at the top of the shoulder and just open the sleeve seam and detach the armpit area to open it up and follow the rest from there.

I started by using a seam ripper in the armpit area, going along the seam to open the lining to get to where the sleeve is attached to the shoulder. I would be keeping the majority of the lining in place so I was careful to stay on the seam line.

Once exposed, following the seam line, I removed both sleeves from the jacket.

It now looks like a vest, which made me change my original plan for it.

Since it is too big, I needed to take out some of the side fabric, I was lucky that there were 2 seams, opening them both and removing the center piece gave me just the right fit in the bust.

I used the seam ripper to open the sleeve flat keeping the lining intact and removed the front pockets. I will use them later to recover a pair of shoes to go with this.

I decided to alter the front to look more like a tailored vest but keep the back long. I used a vest I already had as a guide for where I wanted the length and points to be. I laid it on the table and cut the excess off.

I pinned the shoulder seams, bust, and waist to where they would fit me properly. I left it a little bigger to allow me to wear sweaters underneath.

Cutting off the excess fabric after pinning it was time to put it all through the machine.

This is what took the longest of the whole project.

I still needed to do a second run through the machine for some of the lining but this is what the sides look like. I left the opening large to make it easy to move around.

After rounding out the sharp cut from the jacket I pinned back the lining to the new sleeve and ironed it down.

I pinned then sewed the sleeve back on to the jacket. I could have enclosed it completely on the back, but I wanted the sleeve to be more flowy.

Now she has a whole new identity!

With the vintage over-the-knee Ralph Lauren boots, it gives it a casual English flair. I also added some Adlo knee-high heeled boots and a fur collar, to give it more of a glam look.

I will definitely do this project again, I will get one closer to my size next time so there won’t be quite as much sewing. I would also add a coordinating fabric or lather to the outside of the sleeves to make them a little larger.

Now, I guess I better start tackling that to-do list!

Hope your day is most blessed!

Eden