Customise a jacket

Give an old favourite blazer a new lease of life by changing the buttons or adding patches, beads and trinkets to sleeves, shoulders and pockets.

You will need

● jacket or blazer
● decorative trinkets such as buttons,
● patches, badges and beads
● trimmings, ribbons and pretty scraps of patterned fabric
● Wundaweb
● scissors
● iron
● needle and thread
● sewing machine
● large safety pin or kilt pin

To make

1 Freshen up the front of your jacket by replacing existing buttons and adding extra or brighter ones to the cuffs. Simply remove what is there already and hand-stitch your new ones on in their place.

2 If you want to add patches and appliqué, you can make these by cutting out flowers or motifs from patterned material. For more complicated additions, such as the hearts and flags shown here, sew together fabric shapes, reclaimed crochet, ribbons and trimmings. Attach them to your jacket in the same way: iron a similar-sized piece of Wundaweb to your patch, making sure you have the paper-side uppermost, then remove the backing strip, position and iron over the top. Machine-sew around the edges with a zigzag stitch to secure.

3 Create charms for the pockets by threading beads, trinkets or bells onto a large safety pin or kilt pin.

4 Decorate the collar, pocket flaps, cuffs, shoulders and across the back with ribbon and scraps of fabric for extra detail. Machine-sew or blanket-stitch in place.
Tip: Keep a collection of pretty vintage buttons, ribbons and other trimmings in glass jars, so they’re to hand for use in craft projects.

You might also like...

Customise a denim jacket - no sewing needed
See more quick and easy ways to customise clothes
See all of Sarah Moore's craft projects for Country Living
Buy 'Homemade Gifts Vintage Style' by Sarah Moore (Kyle Cathie, £16.99)