QUILTED JACKET TRANSFORMATION - TURNING A JACKET INTO A SUIT

My new quilted skirt suit.

I’ve had quilted jackets on my mind lately, which drew my attention to the fact that I don’t wear this one. You may remember it from when I sewed it in 2020, at the very beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Photos of this jacket - more specifically, of me wearing it - took on a life of their own on Pinterest.

The jacket in question, fresh off the sewing machine in 2020.

I don’t mind if people make their own versions of my projects - I often encourage it! - but it can be a bummer if they don’t at least “tag” or credit me for that inspiration. Individuals weren’t the problem, though. Before long, I was getting targeted Instagram ads, featuring those photos of me wearing the jacket. The ads linked to sketchy Chinese websites, selling digitally printed polyester monstrosities. Whole websites full of weird fakes of one-of-a-kind garments.

I was very happy with the jacket! But it didn’t become a frequently worn item in my wardrobe like the other quilted jackets I’ve made for myself.

As photos of the jacket took on a life of their own, the jacket itself got pushed farther back in my closet. The proportions of it didn’t feel quite right anyway - too long, difficult to layer. So let’s do something about it!

After the transformation, only a few small scraps and the patch pockets are leftover. I am sure I’ll find use for the pockets.

I cut the jacket in half at a high waistline. Exhilarating! I also removed the patch pockets. From there I added darts to the back of the jacket, helping to nip in the waist. I replaced the white plastic buttons with glassy black ones - they’re actually carved shell that has been coated in a thick layer of enamel, heavy and weird!

Just as with with original jacket, all seams inside the cropped jacket and skirt are bias bound and then invisibly hand stitched down to reduce bulk.

To keep the binding consistent across the project, I decided to sacrifice a blouse I was no longer wearing, for the greater good. This was a top I loved wearing for a couple of years, and then I moved on from it. The fabric is Marc Jacobs cotton lawn. I bought the end of the bolt from Mood. It’s printed askew, the fabric is off grain. It’s just always been an annoying fabric. Cutting it into strips for binding feels like its best possible fate.

No more exterior patch pockets, but the original jacket had two interior patch pockets, which remain untouched.

The bottom half of the jacket was fated to be a mini skirt. The skirt was far more complicated to make than the jacket, mostly because I had to undo my bias bound seams, and then re-do them.

I inserted a regular coil zipper into the left side seam of the skirt.

I sewed up the center front of the skirt, and hand stitched the buttonholes closed. I took in the side seams at the waist, curving to nothing at the existing hem. This created a bell shape. I inserted a zipper in the left side seam.

Adding two sets of darts on the front of the skirt helps give dimension to the bell shape.

I added one set of darts at the skirt back, and two sets of darts on the skirt front (six darts total). All darts were machine top stitched down. All seam allowances were wrapped in the same bias binding used in the original jacket, pressed flat, and invisibly hand stitched down to reduce bulk.

As with the bottom edge of the jacket, I bound the top edge of the skirt in the cotton lawn from the black floral blouse.

The finished suit!

The result is this suit! I will wear the jacket with high waisted black pants - that’s a no brainer for me. The bell shape of the skirt isn’t in my wheelhouse - I wish I’d had enough fabric for a true A-line. But as an impactful, Fran Fine inspired brunch outfit? It’s perfect.

If you’ve been afraid to cut up an existing garment you’ve sewn for yourself, but hesitated, let this be your sign to bust out those scissors and go for it! XO, Martha