You know that blazer in your closet? The one you bust out for the occasional interview or when you want to pretend like you are really super important? How about investing $5.00 in fabric and transforming that blazer into a new signature piece for your closet? I recently purchased two blazers (one black, one khaki)—-not because I have interviews or the need to feel really super important—-but because they were on clearance for $6.00. Anyways, the sleeves were like 6 inches too long so they’ve been hanging in my closet while I’ve been brainstorming what to do with them. I don’t sew, I don’t hem, I don’t mend. I shouldn’t say I don’t sew—because I did recently buy a sewing machine ($30.00 on Amazon, thank you) so…I’m pretending to sew.
So in the name of pretending to sew I came up with a little project that actually required me to bust out my machine. This entire project took me about 45 minutes start to finish—and I must say the results are pretty awesome.
1. Put on the jacket and eye-ball how much sleeve you want to cut off. You’re adding a “rolled cuff” so you want the sleeve to hit above your wrists—but how much is up to you. I went with just slightly below the elbow.
2. Chop em off! Yeah, feels good.
3. Lay the jacket sleeve flat and measure it’s width. If the sleeve lays 4″ across flat, then you want your polka-dotted lining to be about 4.5″ across.
4. Sew 9″ (or whatever) of fabric into a simple tube (like pictured) I made these satin ones about 10 inches long because I wanted plenty of fabric to play with.
5. With the tube turned inside-out insert it up the arm of your sleeve about 3 inches. Simply tack it (by hand) into place in 4-6 spots around the sleeve.
6. Take the tube, roll it up a few times until it looks “cuffed” up over the sleeve of your jacket and tack it into place again. I bunched it in some areas to give it a casual “gathered” look. Or you could tack it tightly so it has a clean, professional roll.
It’s as easy as that! The finished product is a blazer that is no longer boring, but now adds unique character to your Fall/Winter wardrobe.
