A D.I.Y. guide

I’ve got to admit that I have a thing for leather jackets. I don’t know if it’s the feel of the leather itself or the whole “bad boy” conotation, but the truth is I fancy them. A trim fitting leather jacket, (running one size smaller to give it that sleek appearance) is a great alternative to have in your closet. However, I must say I prefer vintage leather as it has that worn-in, distressed look and has lost that overly bright sheen, trademark of brand new pieces (I’m aware that many of you might think I’ve lost it right now). The thing about vintage is that more often than not you’ll fall in love with pieces which are either too big or too small, leaving a bitter taste in your mouth. If the jacket’s too small there’s not much you can do, but if it runs a tad big, there are a few alterations you can have done at your tailor (talk to him to know which). As I’m always on the look for a “new” vintage leather jacket, I was excited to hear that one of my favourite stores was shooting a D.Y.I. (do it yourself) guide for shortening sleeves of so called jackets. The guys over at Por Vocação spent a whole day processing the alterations on one of their items and photographed the whole thing for our delight. I would advise against trying this by yourself on a new leather jacket (by the way they have some great ones instore), but if you score a vintage one at a ridiculous price it might be worth the test. Here’s the whole process with pics and captions, courtesy of Por Vocação:

The original jacket.

Measuring the new sleeve length.

Getting rid of the seams.

Unstitching the zipper.

Open sleeve and zipper on the side.

Cutting the lining after careful measuring.

Reattaching the lining back to the cuff.

Checking the seams’ resistance.

Marking and cutting the leather.

A preview of the final look.

Checking stiches’ size and distance on the reverse side.

The newly attached cuff.

Redoing the backstitch.

Hammering the stitches to flatten them.

Done!