What can you make from an old leather jacket? What can be made from old leather clothes? Remake a women's leather jacket

How to alter a leather raincoat?

During the next cleaning in the closet, you can find things that you have not worn, but have not even touched for years. There are several options for what to do with them. Donate, sell or throw away. But another option for those things that you like is to alter them and wear them with pleasure. Yes, this process is not the easiest and requires certain skills and knowledge, but your efforts will be appreciated. You will enjoy the thing you remodeled yourself much more than any new item you bought. So, in this article we will look at how to alter a leather raincoat.

What do you need to alter a raincoat?

We are providing you with a rough list of items as it may vary depending on what type of cloak you have and what you want to do with it. To alter your raincoat you may need the following:

directly the cloak itself, which you are going to remake;
fabric for lining;
sewing accessories;
leather foot and leather needle;
a sewing machine that can be used to sew leather goods;
fur and other elements for decoration;
sharp scissors;
pins, paper clips, a centimeter and a ruler;
wooden hammer and glue.

The second life of a leather raincoat

One of the easiest ways to upgrade your raincoat is to change its length. A very long raincoat model can be altered and shortened to the knee or even turned into a jacket. To see what you can do with a raincoat, put it on and stand in front of a mirror. Evaluate how you look in it and how your appearance can be improved. Think through each of the possible options, otherwise, when you cut it off, it will be impossible to return the length. Measure the raincoat directly under the shoes you plan to wear it with, so you will have a clearer idea of what length you need. When you decide how you want to alter the leather raincoat, use pins or chalk to make marks on the raincoat that will correspond to the length of the finished product.

Now lay out the leather coat on a flat surface and, using a ruler, draw a hem line with chalk. Also make an allowance that will serve us to process the bottom - about two to four centimeters, this length depends on how thick the leather from which your cloak is made. Also make sure that nothing prevents you from cutting the product evenly - remove any accessories, all buttons and buttons from the hem line.

We move on to processing the bottom of the leather raincoat. To do this, you need to slightly spoil the lining fabric, and then start tucking the material until you reach the fold mark. If your raincoat is made of suede or soft leather, you can simply press the fold by pressing it with an iron, only using a piece of fabric as a layer. If the raincoat is made of a coarser material, the fold will need to be glued with glue specially designed for leather, and then beaten with a hammer, so the part will become soft and more convenient for stitching on a machine.

After this you perform stitching. It can be either single or double. As an alternative, you can make your leather raincoat without stitching at all, if the deflection is glued, because this way it will not come apart. After completing the stitching, you need to iron the bottom of the raincoat again.

Update your leather coat by decorating it with fur and adding pockets. We make pockets from cut pieces of leather; to do this, they will need to be placed on the front shelves and hooked with pins, and then attached to the product. And fur will make your model more original, and besides, it’s not difficult to work with. You will need to cut out the sleeves from the cloak, apply the fur fabric to the wrong side and outline with crayons. After this, cut and stitch the side seam. Next you need to sew in the lining from our sleeve and process the bottom edge, and then sew these parts into the very base of the leather coat.

Many who are interested in sewing very often have to work with natural and artificial leather. Handmade bags, leather jewelry, various crafts and even leather paintings look very original and stylish. But most often, working with leather involves repairing leather clothing, replacing zippers, restoring torn areas, etc.

There are many books on teaching the technique of sewing natural leather by hand or using a sewing machine, which tell in detail about the purpose of certain tools for working with leather.
I offer only a few basic recommendations that will be useful to anyone who decides to repair a bag, jacket, etc.

Tools for working with leather

Working with leather has many of its “secrets” and little details that need to be known and taken into account. For example, when cutting out paired parts, you need to remember that leather stretches more in the transverse direction than in the longitudinal direction, so paired parts need to be cut in any direction, but only in the same direction.

Ideas for leather jackets (selection)

Do not chip the skin with pins. Punctures leave marks on the leather, and if you change the zipper on a leather jacket or bag or jacket, you can easily see this.

Soft leather can be sewn on a sewing machine using a regular #80 or #90 needle. But for sewing rough leather or thickened areas, a special needle for working with leather is required. Even for hand sewing leather, the leather needle looks special, instead of a point it has a triangular tip.
When sewing leather, the stitch length of a sewing machine should not be too small, since frequent punctures will cause the leather to tear at the joints.

You need to cut the leather with a special shoe knife on a plastic board or plexiglass. You can also use a wooden surface, but then the tip of the knife will cut into the wood.
A shoe knife, rubber glue, adhesive seam enhancers, a thimble, strong synthetic threads and a small hammer with an awl - this is a must-have kit for any home furrier who decides to replace a zipper in a bag or repair a torn section of a leather jacket.

What kind of sewing machine can you use to sew leather?

Not every sewing machine can sew leather; treat your sewing machine with care and do not try to sew thick and rough fabrics, leather products, especially bags. As a last resort, you can use a Podolsk or Singer manual sewing machine, but not modern “seamstresses”, which cost 5 thousand rubles.
To work with leather, special industrial sewing machines are provided or, as a last resort, the instructions should indicate that this machine can be used to sew leather clothes.

If you sew leather on a household sewing machine, be sure to buy special needles and a foot, with a wheel (as in the photo) or a roller. Then the skin under the foot will not “slip” and the machine will easily advance the product without forming a seat on the top layer of leather.

If you don’t have a foot or it doesn’t fit (Podolsk sewing machine), then in order to make the leather move easier under the foot, you can sew it through thin paper, which can then be easily removed.

Sewing machine threads should be strong and elastic. But only nylon threads (as in this photo) are not intended for machine sewing. They are only used for manual leather work or industrial sewing machines.

Technology of sewing genuine leather and suede

When sewing suede products, you need to take into account the direction of the pile, otherwise the parts will have a different shade.
The leather is ironed from the wrong side with a non-hot iron without steam through a dry cloth.
To prevent the top part from stretching relative to the other, purchase a special foot with a Teflon-coated sole, as in this photo. Teflon feet cost much less than special leather feet.
The ends of the seam threads must be securely fixed with several knots, since machine stitches on leather products do not secure them and therefore they tend to unravel easily.

Working with leather is impossible without glue. The glue is applied with a brush onto a cleaned and degreased surface. Universal adhesives such as PVA and Moment, as well as rubber glue, are very effective.
Repeat the procedure of applying glue several times to thoroughly saturate the skin. At the same time, make sure in advance that the glue is not too liquid, otherwise the skin will get wet.
Set the parts treated with glue aside until the adhesive has dried “before casting”.
After some time, connect the parts together. Place the glued parts under the press. You can even lightly tap these areas with a hammer.
Using a cotton swab or rag, immediately remove excess adhesive solution so that it does not damage the front surface of the leather.

How to install fittings on leather products

Any handmade leather item must be decorated with fittings. Large metal rivets and buttons, buttons, blocks, locks greatly decorate leather goods.
Buttons are sewn to the skin only if there are buttons on the wrong side.
Before punching holes for the button, they are strengthened either with pieces of leather or thick adhesive fabric.
Installing buttons requires a special tool.

You can get by with homemade devices, but this installation method produces a lot of waste, then purchase more buttons than required.
Before installing a zipper into a leather product, you should secure it. Instead of basting with thread, adhesive tapes or glue are used. Sometimes even ordinary paper clips can “help”.
The edges of the cut skin areas are glued with special skin enhancers (tapes). On one side, a weak adhesive is applied to such a tape.
The puncture with a needle leaves holes, so the seam is done only once. As a last resort, a seam is laid along the old holes.

How to refresh the appearance of your skin

After finishing working with leather, the appearance of the product can be refreshed.
You can remove marking lines with soap and water and ammonia, then wipe with a cloth moistened with petroleum jelly or glycerin.
Heavily contaminated areas on the skin can be washed with warm, unboiled milk, rubbed with whipped egg white or half an onion.
White skin is cleaned with a mixture of milk and beaten egg white.
Patent leather should be wiped with a cloth soaked in glycerin or cleaned with a swab dipped in milk.
Suede can be cleaned with sawdust soaked in gasoline (the remaining sawdust is cleaned off with a brush), or an ink eraser, as well as fine-grained abrasive paper.
Stains from household grease are removed with gasoline or talc and a solution of oxalic acid.

But be careful, you can remove the paint along with the stain.

Leather paint in aerosol packaging is very easy to use: it is sprayed by holding the can at a distance of about 20 cm from the skin and quickly moving it along the surface to be painted. After a ten-minute break, the next layer of paint is applied. This operation continues until the surface of the skin acquires an even and durable color.

Some tips on how to sew and cut clothing items made of leather or suede.
1. Select patterns that do not require planting. Complex shapes in this case are easier to create using construction seams than using darts. In the past, tailors tried to use as few stitch lines as possible on leather goods. Currently, leather production has become thinner and softer and leather products have more seams; often even leather clothing or accessories are sewn from small scraps of leather.

2. Kimono and raglan sleeves are easier to make when sewing leather clothes than set-in sleeves. If you are making a set-in sleeve, measure the increase in fit. It should be no more than 1.5 cm. It is better to make a sleeve cut like a shirt, as it has a looser armhole.

3. You must be sure that your patterns are correct. Therefore, it is good to use the pattern that you have already worked with. Or the prepared pattern should be checked on a mock-up made of non-woven material (non-woven fabric without glue) or inexpensive fabric, and only after that it should be marked on the skin and cut.

4. Before cutting the leather, mark holes and thin places on the wrong side of the leather so that you can avoid them when cutting. Carefully lay out the patterns, make sure that the paired parts (right and left shelves, right and left sleeves, etc.) are cut out in a mirror image. Mark contours, lines and marks on the wrong side of the skin with a ballpoint pen or soft pencil, or a special marking pen. Mark seam and hem allowances. Some marks can be made using notches or adhesive tape. The seam allowances should be the same width, which makes it easier to sew the cut pieces together.

5. Leather stretches in different directions in different ways, so when cutting it is necessary to maintain the same direction of paired and mating parts. When cutting suede, you must follow the direction of the pile. The pile should be directed from top to bottom.

6. The needle leaves puncture marks on the leather, so leather parts are not swept away and stitching seams are not ripped out. To pre-connect the parts, use adhesive tape or paper clips. There is also a special pencil for fixing seams from Guetermann. The pencil does not leave a mark on the sewing machine needle. By the way, glue is a certain problem when sewing. It clogs the eye of the needle, causing gaps in stitches and even thread breaks.

7. Use overstitched, overstitched or covered seams. It is not possible to press or press seam allowances like on fabric. Instead, they can be glued with rubber glue or another, which remains elastic even after polymerization (drying). There are special adhesives from Rudolfix, as well as NT 2 glue from Gütermann. If you don't have glue, machine stitch the seam allowances in position.

9. The fastener is made with a zipper, loops (stitched, overcast and hinged) and buttons. The buttons must be riveted. They are installed in hardware installation workshops.

10. If you do not have such a convenient tool as in this photo, then smooth the seams with the handles of scissors.
First, place the seam allowances from the inside out using short taps and smooth them out. Then do the same on the front side with the seam groove.

11. Working with leather involves ironing the leather with a non-hot iron without steam through a dry cloth from the inside of the product. Before ironing a piece of the product, try it on a small piece of leather.
Ironing leather is not recommended because the hot sole of the iron can cause the leather to change its properties, become stiff and shrink in size. But sometimes when working with leather it is necessary to put an adhesive pad. Then you need to iron very carefully and always only on the wrong side, placing an iron pad under the sole of the iron.

How to alter a leather raincoat

How to alter a leather jacket

remaking an old jacket

Don't forget to throw away your old jacket, it can be remade, just watch my new video
Remaking a knitted sweater https://youtu.be/fz4FudGPyBc
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Thank you very much for the music Maladroit - La Compagnie Cuanol (I LOVE) https://www.jamendo.com/en/track/4428…

how to alter a leather jacket photo

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An excellent question, because not everyone would risk getting rid of a good quality leather item. And why? Customization is becoming more and more in demand and popular every year. And I perfectly understand those people who, for various reasons, cannot part with their old, but very beloved things.

Leather items are a completely separate issue. In my opinion, a quality leather item will last longer than we could ever imagine. To do this, it is enough to simply redo this thing slightly, breathing into it a new, fresh note, so to speak.

For example, from a very large leather jacket you can sew a women's jacket of a smaller size, or a vest of any length, or a children's jacket, or even a small jumpsuit. To do this, just take any pattern you like. We carefully rip off the sleeves, work on the shelves, remove the lining, and then you can apply the pattern to the material. By the way, if a thing has a not very pleasant aroma (over time this can happen with leather products), then first you should remove the contaminated areas, dry it, and then put it in a tight bag and place fresh tangerine / orange / lemon peels there (but not the zest ). Keep the bag closed for one night. I assure you, the skin will acquire a unique smell.

You can also make quite a lot of gloves from leather items. The most varied styles - long, short, without fingers. You can decorate them to your taste. We will receive ultra-fashionable and stylish accessories, also original ones, that will serve you for several more years. For example, you can use this pattern:

Transfer it to the skin, do not forget to add a little to the allowances and cut it out. Lay the lines on a machine - it’s difficult and not so beautiful by hand.

Leather belts and bracelets would be great. Amazingly beautiful flowers can also be made from leather. To do this, you will need to prepare any leather item by ripping and removing the lining.

Next, from cardboard, for example, we make a pattern of petals (if we are making a rose, chamomile, sunflower, etc.), the middle, then we transfer it to the material, cut it out and assemble all the parts using hot glue. Such flowers can be used to create brooches and bracelets. And they are also suitable as decorations for bags, berets, and hats.

I like to use leather jackets or trousers and even leather boot tops to make bags and clutches.

In fact, there is nothing easier than sewing a clutch from unwanted old leather items. To do this, you need to select the optimal pattern, transfer it to the fabric, cut it, and sew it. By the way, if, for example, you are using an old raincoat or jacket, then you can not rip off the lining fabric, which will reduce time and make work easier.

The seams on the clutch can be done by hand. Use some decorative stitch that you are good at to make it beautiful. The decor is at your discretion.

I think you've seen leather slippers on sale. So what’s stopping you and me from making such slippers from old leather things)?

It's simple. We need to print the pattern. There are a lot of them on the Internet, and you can easily choose the size you need by simply enlarging the picture. Next, use a piece of chalk or a piece of dry soap and trace the pattern onto the skin. Next we carry out the usual work.

Well, and, of course, you can make wallets of different sizes and designs, purses, and cases for smartphones/phones from leather items. And this product is even suitable for a gift if everything is done carefully.

Leather products are very practical and durable. They can be passed on from the older generation to the younger, the only problem is that leather tends to wear out and go out of fashion. If you want to breathe new life into something you or your parents love, you can alter a leather jacket, and do it yourself.

To do this, you will need a minimum of available tools, the most important thing is that you have a pattern for the desired product. If you have sufficient cutting and sewing skills, you can do it yourself; if you don’t have those, contact a studio.

Available means

In your work you cannot do without the following materials:

the leather product itself - a jacket;
rubber glue;
needles and paws for working with genuine leather;
a sewing machine capable of processing such material;
roller knife or sharp scissors;
non-woven fabric intended for leather;
wooden hammer.

How to alter a leather jacket with your own hands

When getting started, follow this plan:

Make the pattern. Outline all the details of the leather product, modeling them according to your figure.
Now it's time to open up the old jacket. Use a scalpel or razor to cut sutures. It’s good if you have to alter a leather raincoat into a jacket - then the pattern details will fit freely on the material and the seams will not be affected at all. Otherwise, if you do not have a raincoat, but smaller outerwear, you need to straighten them well, and if they are glued, then iron them through gauze, but only from the wrong side.
Lay out the pattern of the product on the leather and trace each individual detail. Don’t forget to leave allowances for the seams, approximately 1–2 cm. More at the bottom – 2.5–3 cm, and 0.5–1 cm is enough for the neckline and rollbacks. In the same way, cut the interlining, which will be used as linings;
How can you alter a jacket at home? Now it's time to cut out the leather pieces using sharp scissors or a roller cutter. Having strengthened them with non-woven fabric, finally pin them together with ordinary paper clips. There is no way to sweep away the skin, as holes from the needle will remain;
Now you need to equip the machine with a roller or Teflon foot, install a thick triangular needle and start stitching parts at home. It is better to set the stitching to 3 mm to prevent excessive perforation of the material.
The seams of the leather product must be tapped with a wooden hammer. Try to machine stitch carefully.
Now you can turn the product inside out and iron it with an iron. Using glue, connect the edges of the seam allowances, wait until it dries. Sew on a collar, stitch in sleeves, sew in a zipper with your own hands.
Fold and glue the bottom, leaving the top of the hem free. Sew the lining parts and connect it to the base. Hem the bottom and sleeves.

How to make a product look presentable again

You already know how you can alter a leather jacket, but how can you return the material to its former shine and beauty? If you have visible defects - abrasions, cuts and others, then the product can be painted with special paint.

Another way is to decorate the damaged area or restore it with liquid leather. The combination of leather with cashmere, suede, drape and other fabrics looks very stylish and modern.

This approach is appropriate if the old item is the same size as the one you plan to receive as a result. The presence of defects complicates the process.

Therefore, parts cut from a different material can not only solve the problem, but will also become a decoration of the new jacket, its highlight.

When a leather jacket gets boring or loses its appeal, it usually goes into the closet, because you don’t want to wear it anymore, and it’s a shame to throw it away. However, there is another solution - remodeling. You can use a jacket to make something radically new, bold and stylish. Here are some interesting ideas for you

Idea No. 1. Update style

To remake an old leather jacket, you can use: accessories, scraps of leather, fur or textiles, knitted parts. Here are some examples of how you can change a boring style:

shorten it, lengthen it, or make a “two-weather” jacket - sew a zipper along the entire width of the product so that you can wear short or long options if desired
fit and remove the belt or, conversely, sew in belt loops
sew a hood instead of a collar or vice versa, and the hood can be sewn from fabric or fur
you can combine several jackets from different materials and sew one - stylish, bright and unique
make knitted sleeves. You will find instructions on how to do this.

Idea No. 2. Sew a vest

There are two ways to convert a leather jacket into a vest. The first is to modify the original product: cut the length, remove the sleeves, add/remove the hood and belt. The second way is to use an old jacket only as material and cut the vest from scratch. Altering a leather product into a vest follows the same pattern as altering a similar sheepskin coat. You will find step-by-step instructions on how to do this.

Idea No. 3. Sew a bag, clutch or backpack

Leather bags will never go out of style. Here are very simple instructions, following which you will get a stylish new item from a completely unstylish leather jacket:

Cut out a rectangle (or two squares) of the size you need from the leather. These will be the walls of your bag. Stitch them together on three sides or sew them by hand using a furrier's stitch. Turn it out
Purchase a piece of chrome chain from the hardware department that is long enough to make a comfortable handle.
Sew or place a chain using rivets on the sides. Your bag is ready. If you wish, you can decorate it with thorns, rhinestones or buttons.

Idea No. 4. Make a bracelet

This idea is for those who doubt that something more worthwhile can come out of an old jacket. A stylish leather bracelet with buttons is made like this:

sew a rectangular case from leather
turn it right out
stitch with any line pattern
decorate with belt loops, buttons or any other accessories.

Leather is an excellent material for creativity. If you have certain sewing skills, it is quite possible to sew gloves, belts, jewelry, hats, corsets and much more from an old leather jacket. And if it’s difficult for you to come up with and implement an idea for remaking an old leather jacket on your own, contact the masters of our studio.