Boyfriends, fathers, brothers and random male strangers – from now on you’re going to have to keep a sharp eye on your suit jackets. After a little bit of experimenting, we finally figured out how to create a party dress from something you can easily find in a second hand store (or at home in the other side of the closet). Just in time for the holiday season! Read on to see how. Men, you have been warned.
The before on me…
The challenge with turning a men’s jacket into a dress is that the shoulders will usually be too wide – so we’ve come up with a way for you reduce the width and create a more feminine shape. When you choose your jacket, make sure it’s the right length so it actually can be worn as a dress!
Before and After: Turn a Suit Jacket Into a Dress
How to:
1. The first thing you need to do is remove the sleeves from the body of the jacket.
The sleeves will be attached at the seam, and you actually want to cut that seam off completely so you can get in between the outer fabric and the lining and remove the shoulder pads.
3. If you can, cut the shoulder pads out of the jacket, making sure to leave the inner lining and outer side of the shoulder intact. If you can’t fully remove the padding, what you want to do it cutĀ some of it out so it is only the width of your own shoulders.
4. Once the shoulder pads have been removed or fitted better, fold the outer fabric in.
5. Iron down the edge and then pin inside. You will have to do this all the way around the arm hole. We then hand sewed it down so that the stitching had a bit of give – arm holes are tricky beasts so it’s good to take it slowly when stitching.
6. When you’re finished it should look like this.
7. Finally, we sewed some seams into the back of the jacket so it hugged the body more. You can do this, or simply belt it (we did both!).
Voila!
You can also use this tutorial to make a sleeveless trench or gillet style jacket, in case you want to cover your legs a bit more than this… It’s quite versatile like that š
Think I’ve found my new Christmas party dress!
Photos by Nicola Lemmon
This absolutely amazing! It’s so cool what you can do out of this jacket, thank you for this!
https://makeandmess.com/
This is so cute! I might have to give it a try! My hunt for a sleeveless trench dress has come up empty so this might be a great alternative! Wonderful post!
Xoxo
Annie
http://www.somethingswellblog.com
That’s amazing! I love this new reinvented dress!
Erika
http://whaterikawears.com/
OMG! It’s georgeous! I want made this same.
OMGGGG how can one be so creative! I love this!!
Rachel x
thehappybits.blogspot.com
so creative!
http://hashtagliz.com
This is absolutely amazing! So impressive. I need it!! http://www.bethanyavenoir.com
Loved this!
https://carlotarules.wordpress.com
Love this diy
Amazing the final look
Kiss kiss.*Jo
http://joandcompanystyle.blogspot.com/
This is super creative! I love how the dress looks on you š
The silhouette makes it a very chic outfit, but by cutting off the sleeves and accentuating the waist, you give it a very soft feminine undertone <3
Can't wait to try this for the holidays!
XO, Elizabeth
http://clothestoyouuu.com/
I cant believe how amazing this dress looks from the suit! I’m going to see if I can find a nice patterned suit in a thrift store and do the same <3
http://www.abigailalicex.com
Wow! Beautiful!! Great idea!!
Xoxo,
Love from http://www.trangscorner.com {a lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and food blog}
Great idea!! So cute!
I’m loving these menswear inspired DIY projects. These are great thriftstore finds to make into something new.
http://www.throughmyowneyes.com
This is a genius idea! I love this style of dress but couldn’t find a good one at a reasonable price point. The shoulder alteration looks much easier than what I would have imagined. I’m not crazy about the belt / cinched effect, so I might opt for a looser dress if I can’t make seams happen. Thanks for sharing another inspiring idea.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/HanoraFP
Your DIY ideas are always so great! Thank you so much for inspiration! š
Best wishes!
http://www.julitastefashion.com/
I’m really in love of all creations.
This dress is awesome !
Xx
Margot.
Only a woman would destroy a very nice looking jacket as this………
This is fabulous!!!
xx
http://www.fuss.co.in
A great idea! I loved it :))
This is awesome. Wonder if my man has any spare suits
Lauren
livinginaboxx | bloglovin
The waistcoats are so in trend. I did a blog post about them.
I think my husband wouldn’t like to me to steal his suit jacket!!!
http://thepaletteoflife.blogspot.com
Such a great idea!
Looks so nice, love it.
http://FRENCHIESUNDERTHESUN.BLOGSPOT.COM
xx
Great idea ! Will be trying that for sure but it probably won’t turn out like that !
That’s amazing!!!!
I think its a lovely dress, i feel that thats a very shic idea and im ready to start working on making one for myself ..love it…did i just said that…????
amazing!!!!
i know nothing about DIY, and probably i’m too lazy to start to learn it, but just by reading your DIY ideas would be simply inspiring!
menty
http://www.gustobeats.com