Mood DIY: Studded Denim Jacket with Leather Sleeves

Denim has been a mainstay in our wardrobes for what seems like forever.  Intially used for work, this durable fabric has been a favorite since as early as the 1800’s….and just about everyone has a denim jacket tucked away in their closet somewhere.  Well one night while watching an episode of DON’T TRUST THE B— IN APT. 23 I fell in love with a studded collar black denim jacket Krysten Ritter was wearing. Totally inspired, I took to my closet to scrounge up this thrifted Armani Jeans jacket that I hadn’t even worn; however, I wanted to take it a step further.  Yes I’d do studs (galore), but I’d also take this amazing perforated leather that I saw at Mood…and give my jacket the ultimate touch of “cool.”

SUPPLIES
1. Heavy Duty Thread
2. Denim Needles
3. Straight Pins
4. Seam Ripper
5. Denim Jacket (I got this one for .75 cents)
6. Thimble
7. Tweezers
8. Scissors
9. Studs (I opted to mix my metals and use both silver and gold)
10. Leather
11. Sewing Machine

1.Take each lapel followed by the collar of the jacket and insert each nailhead with a thimble in your desired pattern. Remember to separate the layers with your fingers, so as to not have prongs from nailheads protrude to the underside.  (Note: I recommend laying them out to begin with to get a visual sense of how many you will need spatially in each row).
2. Cut the denim sleeves from the jacket (Note: Take my advice and measure twice, cut once). You should leave yourself about an inch allowance. Measure it on both the front and back.
3. After you’ve removed the sleeves, take one sleeve along with a seam ripper and take apart the two pieces (I didn’t bother to remove the cuff). This way you can use the two “halves” as a pattern for the two leather sleeves you are now creating.

4. Double up two large portions of the leather. Lay out the two pieces of the sleeve you just took apart, and use the straight pins to secure them to the two pieces of leather.
5. Cut out these 4 forms, giving yourself a couple extra inches for allowance at what will become the shoulders, and then remove the straight pins.

6. Now that you have two pieces from each layer of leather, take the first layer and begin pinning the sleeves together inside out at the seams, just like the denim sleeve you just removed.
7. Now pin the second seam of the sleeve to close it up.
8. Sew both seams on each sleeve.
9. Turn the completed sleeves on the correct side.
10. Make sure the jacket is inside out, and slip the sleeve into the arm hole on the correct side (Note: You’ll know you did it correctly when both finished sides of the sleeve and jacket are touching).
11. I didn’t take my own advice and measure twice before removing denim sleeves.  But if you left yourself that inch, you should be able to pin the leather sleeve to the jacket and recreate the same seam as before.
12. Sew the leather arm onto the jacket (Note: Start and finish sewing at the under arm — this way any excess can be concealed here if necessary).