I’ve had this idea for my blazer in my mind for a while. I believe it appeared after buying two clearance jars of ombre buttons at a Joann’s in some state I was in (possibly Colorado.)
After such inspiration sprang in my head, I made the decision to always check out a fabric store in every city I travel to. Honestly you just don’t know what you’ll find: each city is unique!
To take my idea to the (in aespas voice) NEXT LEVEL – I decided to stalk Pinterest to find another style component I could add to the jacket. And wow, I found it. I LOVED the sleeves on this pink blazer and knew it’s be awesome to add to my button jacket.
To start, I found a men’s blazer from Goodwill for only $6 which was a steal in this current thrift economy. In general, I prefer wearing men’s blazers due to the comfort and structure they provide compared to the slapdash, lining-less, ill fitting choices that most fast fashion women’s blazers provide.
From there, I proceeded to strategically glue on over 100 buttons which surprisingly didn’t take long. I definitely needed to sew them on as well but didn’t feel like it. Hey, it happens sometimes with DIY’s.
After measuring, cutting and sewing the sleeves, I painstakingl, by hand, inserted each grommet around the arm until I decided to just order a handheld grommet tool to make my life easier. Once that arrived I finished the grommets and proceeded to thoroughly probe Amazon for hooks that would work for the sleeves.
I had to test out at least 2 variations of hooks until I landed on a chained shower curtain option! Who knew shower hooks would come in handy for a DIY.
Now fast forward 8 through months of procrastination and it is was finally complete! I gave it a few finishing touches and decided to test out the durability on a trip to Vegas in November to see Rain!
The result? Only one missing button but one hole ripped off the sleeve which thankfully was in the back so you really couldn’t see it.
Overall I’d give this Pinterest inspired DIY a: 12/10 for Creativity, 7/10 for Durability and 6/10 for Mobility
Due to the delicacy of the jacket it’s definitely one to be worn for dinner etc NOT in an airport picking up bags, reaching back and forth.
I can proudly say this is my first avante garde piece with hopefully more to come!
Have you ever had a DIY that came out so good you just had to hype yourself up? Yes? Let’s chat in the comments.
April Jay is a style and travel content creator who loves sewing, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and rocking out to coldrain.
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