Jealous of my denim jacket from last week? C’mon, you know me by now, I love sharing good tips! Today you will learn how to hand sew a thrifted random denim jacket into an original piece of art. Ok maybe not that far, but you get the idea. Now let’s grab some pins and go…
Inspiration : denim + sequin + Hokusai
When I was still in Paris, I use to live right next to a great asian museum called Musée Guimet. And I never went. Not even once. Shamed much? Yes, shame on me.
Yet I would often see on coming exhibition ads the famous Hokusai estampe of a wave, the one we have all seen somewhere at some point.
A few weeks ago, I read by chance this article from A Pair and a Spare. She was presenting embroidered jackets made by the génial Hatrik, a great (and young) artist using vintage clothes to create incredible drawings.
The graceful design, the art reference, the in-trend use of denim : it was love at first sight.
Luckily I quickly realise I happened to have at hand all the materials necessary: fabric remnants from my mermaid costume (not yet translated in english but you can have a look at the pictures)
And I found in Out of the Closet a cute second hand jacket from Free People (similar here, but much more expensive)
Let’s get things clear first. Did I copy Hatrik? Yes, in a way. I tried to recreate something close while adding my personal touch to it. I hope she won’t mind and rather take it as an homage. Which it is, really. Her work is amazing and I would never have the patience to sew 1 by 1 all the sequins necessary…
But Let’s go into the making process.
Step 1 – draw your wave
Using internet, find a picture of the painting (not really a painting, but you see my point). Draw your own version on white paper.
As you can see, mine way pretty basic. No need for a lot of details.
Trick : if you’re like me, not a drawing expert, type “the wave hokusai coloring”. The drawing in black and white is even easier to recreate. Believe me, if I can do it, so can you.
Step 2 – cut fabric
Cut 2 sets of fabric patterns, silver for foam, green for the water. I recommend cutting from the right side (which normally, you don’t) to be able to check which direction sequins are going.
Step 3 – sew the 2 layers together
I must warn you, sequin fabric is a pretty touch deal, get ready to bleed. No, not really bleed, but almost. The trick is to “wriggle” the needle around the sequin to find a point of entry (do not try to pierce sequins). If that makes any sense?
Step 4 – add pearls
To add depth, I used long dark blue pearls. A thin line of white pearls finished the look.
Step 5 – fix everything on the jacket
You just hand sew around the shape through the denim jacket. Do strong stitches, I have been wearing it for a few weeks now and already lost a few pearls on the way…
And… that’s it, done !
Technical details:
Cost : 30$
- 1 second hand denim vest : 15$
- 1/2 yard of sequin fabric, 2 colors : 10$ like the ones on ABFabric16 (Etsy)
- 1 box of dark blue pearls : 2,50$
- 1 box of tiny white/silver beads : 2,50$
- paper, scissors, thread, needles
Creation time : 1 afternoon chatting with my friend Tiffanie, 2 episodes of Harlots
What about you, fan of denim jackets or not yet?
To read more on my trip to peru, click here. To see how I wore the jacket in Miami, click here.
And you can always follow me on instagram to get a glimpse of what I am working on next!
La bise
see you next week
Alicia
This is absolutely beautiful! Now I just need to find the perfect denim jacket to try it out.
Oh I am sure you will come across one in no time, they are literally everywhere I look in San Francisco! In which city are you going to look?
This looks fantastic, I’d love to have a go at this! Also *MAYBe to do something mermaidy
Oh yes mermaid is always a good option 😉 #mermaidfangirl
Very creative! I love this, being able to make such upgrades yourself. I can only imagine how hard it is to sew sequin – I already struggle with lace, haha ;D
Thx Minn! Yes sequin is the worst lol. My first sequin project was a full length sequin skirt (mermaid costume). my fingers will never be the same since lol (and my flat still has shiny left overs appearing in the most unexpected places 6 months after lol). I’d definitely recommend a smaller project first! Lace has its trickiness too I agree ;-).
I have seen it and yes, that looks like a lot of work (and pain too)! But – and I guess that is what counts – it just looks good 🙂