Refashioning: Altering and Dying a Jean Jacket

So, I am part of this fashion facebook board and on it I have a faux arch-nemesis, Susan, who challenges me to different fashion battles. This past time it was thrifted polka dots. She wants to do a jean one, but I told her I was still in search of the perfect jean jacket. That Thursday, I found this on the dollar rack. It's way too big and the wrong color, but. . .it was so great! I had to pay a dollar for it. 

See how long the cuffs are?

Using a jacket that fits me as a guide, I cut away the inner part of the arms and the side seams and stitched them up.

I would have stopped there, but. . .as you can see this blue is washing me out. 

I was not finished.

Okay, so this part is for all you people that I tell about RIT dye and who act all scandalized like, "You do WHAT in your washing machine????" It's really okay, guys. It's made to work in your washing machine, and it's actually a lot less messy than trying to do it in your tub or in a plastic bin!

All you do is start your machine on a small load with hot water. Let the water fill up and don't close the top--to keep the agitation at bay. Pour in a cup of salt (for cotton blends) and a bottle of RIT dye and then add your article(s) of clothing (up to two pounds). (Last week, I dyed six pairs of jeans that were starting to fade using two bottles of dye and two cups of salt. Just fyi.) You can stir it with a big stick if you want, but just make sure your clothing is submerged and wait 30 minutes before you close the lid and start the cycle. The washer does literally the rest of the work. After the washer is done, put your clothes in the dryer and run an empty cycle with bleach through your washer.

I put a blanket over the top of my machine to keep any of the dye water from splashing out. (We have an old machine. Can you tell?) I also did this during the bleaching step.

This is after the bleaching step. See? Nothing to worry about. I think it's actually cleaner than it was before I dyed anything. Just make sure to bleach RIGHT AFTER the dying step so the dye doesn't have time to set.

So now it's the color I wanted, but the buttons were still a little wrong. I like pewter, but I don't look that great in it.

Enter: Silver fingernail polish.

The buttons on the right have been painted. See the difference?

Okay, almost done. The last thing that was bugging me was that the shoulders were too broad. Fortunately, I had some "for real" 80s shoulder pads in my inventory for just such an occasion.

I hand stitched them in.

Okay so....I am from Ohio, but my husband is from South Carolina....Is it just me or do you hear the "Gettysburg" soundtrack in your head when you see this too? Anyways, I like it. It looks like it could be a museum piece. 

(And in lieu of the SC "Rebel Flag" conspiracies lately, I can make a "Daughters of the Union" statement! Haha!)

The finale: Proof that "Dressing Your Truth" works. I snap into focus when I am wearing certain colors.

The End!!