Women's Suit DIY: How to Turn Dated Office Wear Into a Trendy Outfit

If you have a suit that is in dire need of a transformation, then this tutorial is for you! In this DIY suit upcycle, I’ll show you how you can quickly transform a basic suit into something trendy and super stylish.
Tools and materials:
- Old women’s suit
- Pins
- Sewing machine
- Matching thread
- Scissors
- Loop turner
- Flat iron
I have a lovely baby pink blazer and matching skirt that I’m going to work some magic on. This is a great DIY suit refashioning guide, and if you’re interested in upcycles, then I suggest you follow this tutorial for tips and guidance. Let’s start!
1. Cut the skirt
The first thing to do is cut the skirt to your desired length. Feel free to skip this step if you’re happy with the length.
2. Hem the skirt
Next, flip the skirt inside out and hem it by folding the edge upward by about ½ an inch. I recommend doing a double fold so that the raw edges are neatly tucked inside.
This is the only alteration I did for the skirt. Next, I’ll be moving on to the DIY suit jacket alterations.
3. Crop the jacket
Just like the skirt, go ahead and crop the blazer. Start snipping below the second button.
4. Hem the jacket
Now, turn the jacket inside out, fold the raw edge by an inch (twice), pin, and sew into place.
5. Make a matching top
Since I had leftover fabric, I decided to make a matching top as part of my DIY suit. Using the scrap fabric from the skirt is a good start! So, cut the fabric into a rectangle, as shown.
The fabric I cut out was see-through, so I layered it up with another piece of fabric.
Once that’s done, flip the top wrong sides up and hem the bottom (right and left side). Also, you can hem the top part of the shirt while you’re at it.
6. Make straps for the top
To secure the top, cut out four strips from your excess fabric.
Then, with right sides facing up, fold each strip in half, and sew along the long raw edge.
Using a loop turner, turn the straps right sides out.
For a simpler way to press your straps, go ahead and flat iron them; it works just as well as an iron.
7. Attach the straps to the top
Last but not least, sew two of the straps to the bottom corners of the shirt and the remaining two to the top corners.
Women's suit DIY tutorial
Here’s the final product! I love this DIY suit transformation. It looks way better than the original style, don’t you think?
I hope you found this guide on how to upcycle old women’s suits useful. Thanks for joining me and I’ll see you again next time.
Enjoyed the project?
Suggested materials:
- Old women’s suit
- Pins
- Sewing machine
- Matching thread
- Scissors
- Loop turner
- Flat iron
The author may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.
Comments
Join the conversation
Very cute. I’m a number of years past my “sell by” date, but for a younger woman it’s adorable. Maybe they’ll find some of my old suits I donated. Really a very creative update.
Yours is soooo much better and cuter than the inspiration! I adore it! I would personally be more comfortable with a little more stability on the "tube-top" piece. If I ever make this, I would cover the back and have shoulder straps. WELL DONE!!!