Discover original Upcycled Denim Jacket Ideas to give your jean jackets sewing pattern an awesome new look. Follow these tutorials and tips to upgrade your denim jackets today.
Are you ready to renew the clothes in your closet?
In this post, I will show you 3 creative ideas to upcycle your denim jackets and make them look one of a kind.
So get ready to make these DIY distressed Jean Jackets and dig through your old clothes or fabric scraps, because we are going to use them here!
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I’m sure we all have at least one garment in our closet that we don’t use. What can be better than using them to reduce the environmental impact instead of throwing them away?
If you have been reading our blog for a while, you know we support the zero-waste sewing room movement.
We have all sorts of zero-waste projects too, such as the reusable sponge, a reusable grocery bag, the DIY Makeup pads, and even how to use candle leftovers!
But we have never mentioned how to reuse the clothes that you don’t wear anymore.
Maybe you have a torn jacket that you would like to patch.
Or maybe you are sewing your own jean jacket sewing pattern and would like to modify it to make it look special.
That’s where upcycling and mending techniques come into place.
Denim jackets are perfect for this project because no matter how worn they are, we can renew them and customize them any way we like.
How do you make a denim jacket look cool?
The most important thing is how you express your ideas. Sketch what you want your jacket to look like first.
You can use a theme you like or copy a style you would like to use.
Make a collage or save ideas from Pinterest to help you have better references of what you would like to do.
Finally, apply those ideas and techniques to your jacket. Don’t worry about being perfect.
If you end up having fun and with a renewed garment… That’s all that matters.
What can I do with an old denim jacket?
You can mix and match your skills to create something beautiful. There is an infinite number of possibilities of upcycled denim jacket ideas that depend solely on your creativity.
For example, you can embroider it, add patches, or if you like to paint, create a beautiful picture on the center back of your jacket.
And why not? You can remove the sleeves, distress the fabric, bleach it and do a natural tie-dye technique, and even add a different fabric such as tulle or lace.
If you like rhinestones add pearls, studs, or buttons.
Patchwork is one of the most used techniques to reuse fabrics and it is very easy to execute.
There are so many ways to take advantage of a denim jacket. And these options are just a few of them.
How do you patchwork a Denim Jacket?
The first thing to do is choose and select a variety of scraps or old garments and mix and match the colors and designs you like the most. Keep in mind that to upcycle a garment you must first have a big enough canvas to cut your pattern or design from.
My recommendation is to use fabrics of the same thickness to achieve a better result.
But if you want to use a lighter fabric you can always press some fusible interfacing to it.
When cutting out your pieces of cloth, think about the design you want to make at the end. They can be simple shapes such as squares or strips.
Or more intricate ideas such as butterflies, shadow silhouettes… Even a smiley face like I did on the back of this vest.
The next step would be to gather all the pieces and sew them together.
Once your design is ready, it’s time to cut out the pattern of your garment and you’re done!
Here are 3 of my ideas.
Upcycle Jean Jacket Ideas using Patchwork.
1. Quilted Upcycled Denim Jacket Idea.
For this idea, I added a layer of filling on each front yolk and reinforced it with a piece of fabric on top.
This way the seams will look good on the inside and outside of the jacket.
I stitched long oval-ish shapes with my sewing machine, grabbing all three layers.
Then, I opened only the top layer with the help of my seam ripper and my sewing scissors. To make it look more interesting I distressed the seams and pulled out a little bit of the filling fabric.
Using different colors of thread I made random lines of stitches. You can use a free motion quilt technique if your machine allows it.
The final step was adding different color accents using strips of yarn that I sewed by hand.
For the back, I used scraps of vinyl fabric that I had laying around.
I cut odd shapes to make it look like a smiley face by making a running stitch.
For the accents and texture, I used thread and buttons.
2. Embroider Upcycled Denim Jacket Idea.
For this Jacket, I wanted to practice my embroidery and hand sewing techniques.
On the front, I simply drew and stitched spirals in the flap pockets before sewing them.
For the back, I made a circular patch with a piece of fabric, first.
To make a perfect circle, I used an embroidery hoop to trace it into the fabric and left 1/2” of the seam allowance.
Then I snipped, folded, and pressed the seam allowance to the back.
Once our circle was ready, I sewed it on the center back of the jacket using a blanket stitch.
Remember to have your jacket lay flat so that it doesn’t wrinkle when sewing. Or worst! So you don’t grab and sew by accident another part of it too.
Finally, I draw with white pencil lines and spirals. And then embroidered over the design using a running stitch.
Tip: to seal your embroidery you can use fusible interfacing on the inside of your jacket.
3. Inverted patch with Beads Upcycled Denim Jacket Idea.
To upcycle this denim vest, I made an inverted patch with distressed fabric.
The first thing I did was make a copy of the back center panel shape on a contrasting color fabric.
I pinned it on the inside and secured it in place with the first stitches and folded the seam allowance in. With my sewing machine, I followed the original seam line on the front of the jacket to grab the hem on the new piece of fabric on the inside.
Then I sewed irregular shapes as if the jacket had been scratched. After doing this I cut the fabric inside the shapes leaving enough allowance to be distressed.
I thought this would look great with the animal print theme. Wasn’t wrong.
To put the cherry on top of this vest, I decided to glue fake stud beads.
I traced the word “Rwar” on the back and used a string of flatback beads on top.
That is all I had by hand at the moment. But if you like to add this kind of style to your jackets you can always use the real thing. There are even beads that already have glue on them and you just press on the fabric!
These are only 3 things you can do with your jean jacket to upcycle it. I hope you liked them. I’d love to see what new ideas come out of this post, so don’t forget to comment on your upcycled denim jacket ideas and let me know which one of these 3 upcycled denim jacket ideas you like the most.
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