REduce, REuse, REFASHION!

**  The Moto Jacket is now a pattern!  Get it in my shop and make your own cool Moto Jacket!**
I titled this REduce, REuse, REfashion because refashioning fits well into our family dynamic.  We are dedicated recyclers, we compost every scrap of kitchen waste we can, and we use gDiapers all to help to reduce our environmental footprint.  Refashioning is one more way to do that.  I won’t say that I don’t buy fabric, but I do try to choose organic fabric when I can and only buy what I need for projects.  Add refashioning what we have and it makes me feel happy that I’m doing what I can to lessen our impact.
Refashion Title AJL

I was really excited that there would be a refashion challenge for this season of Project Run & Play.  I love refashioning, and it was with a refashion project that I won the sewalong in Season 6.  Sometimes I look through my stash of refashion targets and figure out a project from those, and sometimes I’m inspired by something else which was the case in this instance.  I saw this picture from Shabby Apple in my Instagram feed and immediately loved the combination of a floaty skirt and moto jacket!

 

Refashion Labeled

Then it was a matter of finding materials that would work together to realize my inspiration.  A striped knit shirt my Mom had given me that was just a little too boxy for my taste, a crepe skirt of mine that I loved but sadly no longer worked with my post-children body, a bias-cut top of mine that was an unfortunate color choice with my skin tone, a thrifted men’s rib knit sweater, and some leather I salvaged from my sofa rehab a couple of months ago.

Refashion 1 AJL

Arden giving off her best tough girl attitude.

Refashion 3

I pieced the front of the shirt and carefully matched up the stripes.  The front neckline is salvaged from the hem of the original shirt.  I added the shoulder zips for a fun accent – they function but it isn’t necessary to open them to get the shirt over her head.

Refashion 2 AJL
The skirt I made into a paper bag style with a slight shirttail hem to the bottom, and the yellow shirt pulls up the hem to make it a bubble dress.  It’s very swishy and fun!  I found this great sparkle trim that matched the gold metal zippers on the shoulders and added a belted accent to the dress.
Refashion 5 AJL

The jacket.  Oh, I want one of these for me, but I don’t think I can eek it out of the leather I have remaining.  The whole reason I needed to reupholster the sofa cushions was because they were in such rough shape, so I only had one piece that was wider than 8″.  I used the one large piece to make the larger right panel and then all the other sections are small enough to work with the narrow leather and I pieced the back.  I’d like to take a moment to sing the praises of my Janome for tackling multiple layers of leather like a champ!  I used upholstery thread left over from the sofa project and that worked well for this.  A separating gold metal zip to close the jacket brings the look together.

 

Refashion 11

The lining is a linen shirt of hubby Dave’s.  I broke out my walking foot and some remnants of warm & natural batting I had left over from past projects and quilted a diamond pattern to the lining pieces before sewing it together.  I salvaged the pocket from the shirt and put it as an interior pocket.  I would have preferred to have the leather come up into the lining side, but the thickness of the leather posed a problem and turn and topstitch seemed like the best solution.

 

Refashion 6 AJL
The men’s cotton ribbed sweater became the sleeves, shawl collar, and the welt for the pockets.  The pocket bags are also from the linen shirt.
Refashion 7 AJL
The location for this shoot was such a fun find!  Hubby Dave had mentioned some time ago that there was a classic car showroom in town and he thought it would work for a location.  Since it’s frigid cold here in Michigan with the whole Polar Vortex and all, outdoor shoots are completely out unless we’re modeling parkas!  So I checked it out and it was perfect!  The lighting was gorgeous and how cool are all these classic and muscle cars?  I’m glad my target audience isn’t a bunch of men or I think everyone would be looking more at the cars instead of Arden and the outfit!  If you or your spouse are into cars, these and more are available for sale at Bay City Motor Company.
Refashion 9

I made a leather bow and slid it onto a sparkly gold headband that perfectly matched the trim from the dress and the zippers.

 

Refashion 10

Happy dance!

I don’t have any shots of the bloopers from this shoot, but instead a story.  Arden will do photo shoots for a promise of a treat afterwards, and there’s a cupcake shop just up the road.  So I started trying to take pictures and Hadley did not want to stay out of the shots.  The owner of the showroom came out and asked if she could have a cookie; he had a whole bag from the nearby Double tree.  (Have you had a Doubletree cookie?  They’re to. die. for!)  So I sat Hadley in a corner on my coat, just to the right of the creme Buick Roadmaster you see above.  She sat there eating a gigantic chocolate chip cookie like a happy camper for about 15 minutes.  Photo shoot saved!  She had a chocolate ring around her mouth and if I had even one shot left on my SD card I would have taken one – priceless!

Now I need to remember to have something to occupy my “assistant” when she’s along…

Photobucket

33 Responses to REduce, REuse, REFASHION!

  1. Deborah Devine January 27, 2014 at 3:26 PM #

    This outfit is fabulous! I loved how you pulled all those different fabrics together. My favorite is the yellow and blue jacket.
    Deborah
    sewmuchtogive

  2. sweeter than cupcakes January 27, 2014 at 3:37 PM #

    That jacket is amazing!! I love the sweater and leather combo. My favorite detail is the cute shoulder zippers on the tee.

  3. Kimmie Wilmes January 27, 2014 at 3:51 PM #

    Very cute! That is an awesome jacket!

  4. Michelle Martini January 27, 2014 at 4:04 PM #

    Gorgeous work!! That jacket is killer. The zippers on the shirt shoulders are spectacular.

  5. Elizabeth January 27, 2014 at 4:08 PM #

    I love this outfit! My favorite part is the leather jacket – so cool that you were able to reuse the sofa cushions to make something wearable! The zippers are so fun too.

  6. sallyavena January 27, 2014 at 4:09 PM #

    Wow! What an amazing outfit! You really outdid yourself with that jacket though. I can’t even imagine doing welt pockets with that knit…yours turned out perfect.

  7. carin van den berg January 27, 2014 at 5:12 PM #

    Love this outfit. the jacket is sooo great and I love those zippers on the shoulders. Great job and Great pictures.

  8. Kirsi January 27, 2014 at 5:13 PM #

    Really chic and cool outfit! And what amazing photos! The shirt is just perfect.

  9. thecrazytailor January 27, 2014 at 5:22 PM #

    I’m loving this whole look! The zippers on the shoulders are my favorite detail 🙂

  10. deuxsouriceaux January 27, 2014 at 5:30 PM #

    I love this look! And I love your ethics. I’ve been trying to move toward this as well.

  11. Falafel and the Bee January 27, 2014 at 6:40 PM #

    You did an amazing job with this whole outfit! I love your thoughtful details, and the design is awesome.
    ~Michelle

  12. Ajaire January 27, 2014 at 9:36 PM #

    That jacket is so cool. I love that it’s your old couch haha. And bringing the sweater to the welts makes it have a softer feel which I think is a great touch. So many good details here. And yes that’s a super fun hoot shoot location.

    • Ajaire January 27, 2014 at 9:36 PM #

      Haha photo shoot location.

  13. Bethany January 27, 2014 at 11:37 PM #

    Oh my goodness, this is absolutely amazing! That jacket is especially cool–I mean, it was part of your COUCH. 🙂 That’s pretty darn impressive!

  14. Jenn January 28, 2014 at 2:55 AM #

    This is awesome! I love all the details of your outfit; the jacket especially knocks my socks off. I’m also struck by several things I have in common with you…my name is Jenn, my husband is Dave, I have two daughters and also a terrible old leather couch about the same color as yours. I keep telling my Dave that we can’t replace the couch until the kids are old enough to probably not trash a new one; but reupholstering the cushions….hmmm, I usually just sew clothes but I’m inspired in many ways here!

  15. Skirt Fixation January 28, 2014 at 4:43 AM #

    Jenn! Where to start? Okay, first of all, thanks for being a good sport and continuing to sew along! Second, we love your photo shoots…this week we were inspired to find a better spot and your past week submissions were our inspiration! Third, we used leather this week too, you can see it here http://skirtfixation.com/?p=1581 Last of all, we just absolutely love your sewing talent! We’d love to feature something of yours on our blog someday! Keep up the good work.

  16. nest full of eggs January 28, 2014 at 1:38 PM #

    Really well done, the zipper detail at the shoulders is so fun!

  17. Jodi Bonjour January 28, 2014 at 3:01 PM #

    This. so. good.

  18. jacq January 28, 2014 at 3:36 PM #

    that quilting inside the jacket.
    great work- and those zippers on the shirt- love them!

  19. Lynn January 28, 2014 at 5:35 PM #

    again, this look is so so good=i love it. (i’m sorry, you were robbed!) such talent, i’m a little overwhelmed by your creativity…

  20. Joy Candrian January 28, 2014 at 7:32 PM #

    Really love all the details!
    xoxo Grandma

  21. Angela Kijauskas January 29, 2014 at 3:57 AM #

    Love the mix of colors, patterns, texture, etc.. Really well done.

  22. thingsforboys January 29, 2014 at 8:23 AM #

    You’ve done such an incredible job on that jacket! I love that it was from a sofa…awesome!

  23. marnae January 29, 2014 at 8:39 PM #

    Oh this this so great, Jenn! Love the jacket especially–but the whole outfit is just cool 🙂

  24. Frances Suzanne January 30, 2014 at 12:52 AM #

    Great job, yet again!! How can one not notice the striped perfection as you lined them up down the front?? And the cool zippers give it just enough ‘edginess’….. So glad you shared!

  25. Emily Thompson January 30, 2014 at 6:40 AM #

    love!!! That jacket is amazing!!! Where did you take these FUN photos??? AMAZING!!! I’m loving project Run and PLay! I also linked up this week, a recycled Sweater…Emily@nap-timecreations

  26. Beth Cavanaugh January 30, 2014 at 8:24 AM #

    No way–a repurposed sofa leather jacket? That is SO COOL! The whole look is so cool, with all of the thoughtful details. You should totally win the sewalong this week 🙂

  27. Magda E. January 30, 2014 at 4:42 PM #

    So happy you shared in the sew along link party! I love this look, reminds me of the 50’s, and i love the 50’s. That jacket is amazing but I am very impressed at how well you used all the different fabrics. Congratulations!

  28. Terri Lin January 31, 2014 at 4:17 AM #

    This outfit is AMAZING! So many details and the combination is just perfect! Love it. Brilliant job!

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