Thrift Flip: Men’s Shirt to Cropped Jacket
This is a super cool thrift flip you must try for yourself. In this tutorial, I will show you how to turn a men’s button-down shirt into a chic jacket with a cropped hem. This easy cropped jacket is fairly simple to make, and fun to wear and show off. So let’s get started.
Tools and materials:
- Men’s long-sleeved button-down shirt
- Seam ripper
- Elastic band
- Zipper
- Measuring tape
- Scissors
- Pins
- Ruler
- Fabric pen
- Needle and thread
- Sewing machine
Remove buttons
To begin this DIY cropped jacket I removed all the buttons from the shirt, other than the one on the pocket.
Remove collar
Next, I cut off the collar.
Cut
I measured 45 centimeters (17½ inches) from the back of the neckline to the middle of the shirt and cut off the bottom of the shirt at that point.
Measure
I measured the length of the neckline, from corner to corner. For me, it was 51 centimeters.
Mark and cut
Using the offcuts of the shirt, I marked a rectangle that was 51 x 24 centimeters (20 x 9½ inches). Then I cut it out.
Cut notches
I folded the rectangle in half and made a small notch along the fold on either side of the rectangle.
Pin and sew
With right sides together, I pinned the rectangle along the neckline and sewed it down with two rows of stitching.
Sew
I used a zigzag stitch along the bottom edge of the jacket to prevent fraying.
Mark
I marked 4 centimeters (1½ inches) from the bottom on either side of the opening of the jacket.
Pin and sew
I pinned the zipper into the opening of the jacket, from the 4-centimeter mark to the notches on the collar. Once it was pinned in, I cut the zipper to size and sewed it in place, leaving about an inch at the top of the zipper unsewn.
Pin and hand sew
I folded and pinned the top ends of the zipper, and stitched them down with a needle and thread.
Pin
Next, I did a lot of pinning. First, I folded the zipper seams inward and pinned them down.
Then I folded and ironed the top edge of the collar, and then folded the side edge of the collar over the top of the zipper, and pinned it down.
Finally, I pinned the edge of the collar to the neckline.
Sew
Sewing time! I top-stitched the zipper seams in place.
I also top-stitched the collar seam.
Then, I folded up the hem of the jacket by 4 centimeters (1½ inches) and sewed it down.
Insert elastic
I cut a piece of elastic that fits comfortably around my waist. I attached a safety pin to one end and fed it through to the other end, pulling the elastic with it.
Then I tucked the ends of the elastic into the seams, pinned them, and sewed them in place.
Finish the sleeves
After turning the jacket inside out, I pinned the cuffs and sewed them closed.
Then, I cut two pieces of elastic that fit snugly around my wrist. I sewed the ends of each piece of elastic together and slipped the elastic circles over the cuffs of the shirt.
Then I folded the cuff over the elastic, pinned the edges, and sewed them down.
I hope this cropped jacket tutorial was helpful. Let me know what you think of this idea!
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Comments
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You can cut a zipper to size. Maybe google to find out
I liked everything about the jacket but I would have made it longer