So new top… well, new? not really, this funky little jacket was until recently a pair of menswear-inspired, wide-legged, linen trousers, that have been sitting in my re-fashioning bag for a coupla years now. True! I took them out to wear as fancy dress last year, but they went straight back into the bag afterwards!
I originally made these trousers back in 2009 using Burda 7944, and they have been good trousers. I wore them a lot and even featured them in a 6 different ways post forever ago.
But eventually they got to the stage where they looked like a dishrag practically as soon as they went on and got “knees” in them instantly. That’s linen for ya; I love it to bits but if it’s not a quality weave it does tend to lose its integrity quickly. This linen was not particularly fine-grade in the first place. Some linen trousers can get away with the dish-raggy look but not a tailored design like this one.
I’ve re-made them into a loose-sleeved jacket thingy. I’ve done this very same re-fashion once before, making a boxy little jacket out of a pair of Mum’s old cast-off three-quarter pants, but these trousers started out with quite a different shape to those pants so have ended up as quite a different shaped jacket. The waistband is close-fitted, not loose, and those long wide legs with a satisfyingly deep cuff have resulted in long wide sleeves, still with that satisfyingly deep cuff on the ends. You put it on with unzipped fly, and then zip it up down! and do up the buttons, just like when it was trousers but upside down. Cool huh? I really like it in it’s new identity. Making something like this is deeply satisfying to me. Taking something old, unwanted and un-chic and making it into something different; and I use the term different as in the kind of thing you rarely see a pattern for. It’s hardly mainstream, is it? This is why I sew; to make things for myself that are individual and unusual.
A quick run-down on the procedure…
Firstly, you cut off the legs to give a “body” section, and cut open the inner leg seam from one inner leg to the other.
Re-stitch both the front and back crotch seams to be straight lines from the waistband(back)/bottom of zip(front) to the old-crotch/new-neckline opening, Cut off excess fabric (the old-crotch curves).
My trousers had pockets; stitch the opening closed and trim off the pocket bags inside. I know I know, it’s slightly painful to remove pockets, even useless ones, but they just do not work in this design. I also switched the old plastic, colour-matched buttons I had used previously for nacre buttons sewn on upside down with the mottley-brown underneath showing, just because.
Stitch up the shoulder seams and cut armhole curve on the body section, and a sleevecap curve at the top of the cut-off legs, now sleeves. If you have a great fitting shirt pattern then use this as a guide. I just tried it on a few times, pinned it and winged it, being sure to keep both sides symmetrical.
Set the sleeves into the body section.
Don’t know if it’s obvious or not, but it was crazy windy while I was taking these photos. My tripod actually blew over once! Goodness knows why I pick the absolute blasting-est days to get out and photograph my makes. I must be some kind of freaking masochist. Hair; styled by gale-force winds. Lovely, not. But, seize the moment, and all that. After all, this is what I actually look like here. Keeping it real. Man, I’m a loon.
This one gave me a laugh when I saw it!
Details:
Jacket; refashioned from a pair of Burda 7944 trousers, gunmetal linen
Shorts; Burda 7723, themselves refashioned from an old skirt, details here, and see my review of this shorts pattern here
Tshirt (underneath); self-drafted, white cotton jersey, details here
Sandals; c/o Misano
You're genius, Carolyn. The jacket is amazing and also very inspiring. And above all, this jacket is very pretty on you! Great job!
Your refashioning is inspiring. I honestly don't know how you imagine your transformations, they are always beautiful:)
The close-fitting waistband looks really flattering juxtaposed with the wider sleeves. What a great refashion!
That's a lovely little remake Carolyn – what a great way to extend the life of fabric that is just too good to throw away. The shape suits you, especially with the little nipped in waist – sort of echoes of a bomber jacket, but not quite…
Wonderful refashioning and I really like the nipped in waist!
You slay me! Who would have thought it?? I mean this would look I'd cut up a pair of pants and stuck them over my head, but on you… it just works perfectly! I bow to your genius 🙂
Amazing refashion and thank you for sharing how you did it. Also, loving your new bright sandals with the grey!
Awesome!!! The boxy jacket doesn´t seem it was a pair of trousers…what a great refashion!
Great refashioning, very clever.
I like it. Quite a creative refashion.
thank you dk's wife 🙂
you never stop amazing me 🙂 that's one rather clever transformation, i love it, and have to try something similar
Any post with some free puppy pictures is a total win 😉
I have to say you are the queen of linen and this rocks even more because of the fierce refashion. Epic work, lovely!
So cool. It took me a while to figure it out even with your explanation and pictures, but that may be because it's 3:22 am here. I often read your posts and think about what I could do with it. With my extra curves and I can only imagine what doing this for myself would look like – probably a huge joke or parody of the beauty you created.
Great idea!:)
Aah… those darn camera straps; they're always getting in the way 😉
I love the idea of turning old rejected pants into a jacket. I have a pair that I will give some thought to to see what might be done with them. Thanks for the inspiration!
This is GENIUS! Very creative! I love the pants before, but I love the jacket even more!
Wow, what an up cycle! I love the style and the shaping. It does look so great that its a little bit worn already.
This is such an inspiration to look at less-than-favorite clothes differently.
I love the idea of this, both of re-using something old and of turning a garment upside down! Brilliant.
i noticed the wind in the first photo so it was funny to read your last paragraph. clever refashion of those pants. and I still want your sandals!
This is such a cool idea! Thanks for showing how you did it. Oh wind! We have it all the time out here too. Hope the camera was ok from its fall!
Wow. Wow! That is veryKa clever and great looking. Ka pai 🙂
Fantastic. Linen does that to you doesn't it? It can be a love hate thing and you have gone smoothly from one to the other. Top job. Jo x
I agree, genius!
whuuuuut…. i'm i awe. you're a sewing genius!
Love this jacket! (And love the way Constant Companion so often mimics your poses.)
thank you 🙂
Brilliant! I would never have thought of that. I will have to try that sometime when I am feeling brave.
Clever!!! You never cease to amaze me Carolyn!
This is a lovely refashion – beautifully designed and crafted!
I just love this re-fashion project! beautiful
http://en.inthemoodforcouture.com
The trousers were very nice, and I love your new kind-of-jacket! The whole outfit is just perfect. Despite the windy weather, the photos are beautiful.. I wish I lived near the sea (or ocean)..
This is amazing! what a great refashion. I like the sleeves so much…
So you use a Nikon, don´t you? ;D
Such an inspired refashion!! It looks amazing! This beautiful fabric was way to good waste.
Beautiful photos! Oh if I could count how many pants need refashioning. (At least 3 linen pairs because they all grew too big!) This is a wonderful idea, and my favorite photo is the linen blowing in the wind.
Your post is extremely helpful On Linen Pants. I will keep following. Thank you for sharing this information.