I really had every intention of having this project finished and posted this morning, meaning I would have had to finish it yesterday afternoon. Believe me, if I hadn’t said in the previous post that I’d have something to share “today or tomorrow” I probably would have put it aside for a week…or two. Terrible. But thanks to you, my few and faithful readers, I managed to get my lazy butt into action.
Ten years ago I became obsessed with owning a leather jacket. I wanted a brand spanking new leather jacket, not a musty one from the local Value Village. I already had one of those from when I was in high school during my 70′s rocker phase. It later served its purpose during my goth phase but the bright orange leather didn’t seem to go well with my all-black clothing. Anyway, back to ten years ago, I was out of high school and I had a job. So naturally I went shopping. And Danier Leather had a sale. My boyfriend at the time also thought leather jackets were super cool and with his blessing I purchased a knee-length leather coat for $200. The original price, so the tag said, was $800 but I found that hard to believe. Still do. I wore that jacket everywhere. I thought I looked so freaking cool and hip I strutted around with a perma-smile. That lasted for about a year and eventually the jacket ended up in the back of the closet. I tried wearing it again in later years but the effect wasn’t the same. Instead, I wondered if I looked a little too much like I was in The Matrix, especially on sunny days when I wore sunglasses.
Excuse the picture quality – Jay took the “good” camera on his trip but you get the, ahem, picture.
Where is the jacket now? I thought about donating it but for some strange reason I have this emotional attachment to it. It was my first new leather jacket, my first major wardrobe purchase. I couldn’t part with it.
So I decided to cut off the bottom and turn it into a waist-length jacket.
It was a scary project and I almost didn’t do it but after the first snip it became easier to keep going.
I hemmed the inside lining with my trusty sewing machine. I used masking tape to measure where I wanted to cut and I put my scissors to work.
For now I’ve decided to leave the leather hem raw, I think it kinda looks -sorry another pun- edgy. I may do something with it in the future but for now I really love how it looks.
So here’s my advice to you: if you have something in the closet that you don’t wear and you’re only keeping it because of sentimental value, maybe you should refashion it and give it a new life. I know that tomorrow I’ll be sporting my brand spanking “new” leather jacket!
